Sure, there are plenty of people who can work their way around an eyeshadow palette, or pull off a simple highlight and contour, with a lipstick look to finish, but there’s no denying that some people possess more of a natural talent when it comes to makeup artistry than others.
And yes – the level and skill of makeup application we’re talking about here is an art.
If you’ve ever found yourself skeptical of that statement, you only have to take a look at the work of Ashton-native and “professional shapeshifter” Nicky Hill to have all of those doubts proven wrong.
The 27-year-old’s self-taught talents are to thank for her transformations into some of the world’s most famous and instantly-recognisable faces – from Cher and Angelina Jolie, to Adele and even Mrs Doubtfire – that not only have you looking twice to check it’s not the real thing, but have also, quite-rightly, lead her to becoming a respected name in the makeup industry across the UK.
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Some of the jaw-dropping celebrity transformations that Nicky – who is also a trained Microblading artist – has managed to pull off over her seven year career have amassed her a loyal fanbase of over 11.6K followers and counting on social media.
But they aren’t even half of what she’s capable of.
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“I started experimenting with SFX, illusion and artistic makeup around four and a half years ago now.” Nicky told us.
“Being a makeup artist is my full-time job and hobby, and some of my work [even] went viral [at the start], but because I was new to the makeup scene, I didn’t realise I needed to watermark my pictures, so I never got credited for it, which was unfortunate – and they still circulate to this day.
“I fell off the waggon a bit due to this, and my mental health wasn’t the best at the time [either],
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“So it was only in the last year that I’ve come back to the makeup scene, and a lot of my work has blown up [on social media] during lockdown.
“I’ve been receiving a lot of recognition, which I feel very grateful for”.
While makeup may a talent that Nicky has only been honing and perfecting in recent years, as you can probably imagine, her artistic interests showed themselves from an early age, and her clear abilities were pretty evident right off the bat.
“I have always been very artistic,” Nicky continued.
“I loved anything to do with art and had a keen eye for detail – I just love being able to use my face as a blank canvas and use art as a form of expression.
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“I started posting pictures online, and the more I posted, the more attention they received.
“I regularly look at illusion and abstract art, or anything which tricks the eye, and take inspiration from other fellow artists and their styles, but I always like to try and do original work and stay away from trends”.
She doesn’t neglect to mention the fact that it takes a lot of hard work to achieve what she has, but Nicky’s originality and intentions with her makeup looks are clear.
Though for the majority of us who find it hard to apply mascara without poking ourselves in the eye, or even come up against difficulty when trying to draw a convincing stick man, never mind attempting optical illusions, all of this still leaves one major question that we need answering.
How the heck does she do it?
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Without revealing too many of her industry secrets, Nicky tried to break it down for us.
She said: “My celebrity transformations [in particular] are done by contouring the face to the face shape of the people I want to turn myself into.
“I will look at a headshot of them on Google, see where the shading lands on their face and features, and recreate that on my own face, [and] this is done with heavy highlighting and contouring, and adapting to their facial expressions as well.
“My first ever look I did like this was Angelina Jolie, and I received a lot of attention for that when I posted it, so I was hooked ever since.
“[When it comes to] the illusion looks, [they are] inspired by optical illusions and illusion art.
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“I use my face as the canvas for it [and] it’s all about getting the shading right, and by doing that, I can create the illusion of 3D art, negative space, holes, cracks – you name it.”
You’re probably not shocked to find out that the answer to that is a pretty long time, as Nicky admits: “A lot of my looks take me anywhere from four to nine hours to complete.
“It takes a lot of attention to detail”.
Well it may take a lot of time and attention to detail, but when you have a talent and a passion that’s as clear as this, it’s certainly time well spent.
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You can find more of Nicky Hill’s work and keep up to date with her latest creations and transformations on her social media platforms – Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok.
Coffee Rules: The Greek-born cafe that’s gone on to become a beloved Greater Manchester brand
Danny Jones
It’s rare that you find a place in an already saturated food and drink scene like Greater Manchester’s that genuinely comes across like a local community cornerstone, but that’s exactly what we got when we visited Coffee Rules in Salford.
We went for a brew, one of those viral iced coffee we’ve seen on socials, and maybe a nice bite to eat – but we left with much more and the impression that these lot are onto something big.
Opened in Arta back in their home country (also up in the northwest, by the way), they’ve never struggled to get queues out the door, and it’s no different here. This one is run by two siblings, 23-year-old Thomas and his younger brother Marios, 30, who have been smashing it since 2023.
Since launching their growing UK brand in the likes of The Meadows neighbourhood – one of two they have in the city of Salford alone, the other being Swinton – they’ve brought the lines with them. With authentic Greek food and drink like this, it’s not hard to see why.
They’ve now expanded to more than eight sites total, including one still keeping their own local reputation alive over in Athens, and this looks to be just the beginning.
Having not only spread across the ten boroughs but further out into the region with their Liverpool locations as well as a Yorkshire stronghold up in Sheffield, there’s more to come from Coffee Rules, both in terms of premises and their plans to take on the rest of the brunch game and beyond.
Suburban Mancs may have already seen the regular midday and weekend crowds that pack out their Chorlton venue, the Rusholme one is often filled with fresh-faced uni students in need of their caffeine fix, and it’s an increasingly similar story for those based in Bolton.
Or maybe you’re one of the many people based in Manchester city centre, who nip to their quiet, tucked-away corner of Ancoats for a fresh bake or even to have your eye caught by some of their merch with that modern mythological-inspired logo.
Whichever one happens to be closest to you, you’ll have the same satisfying experience, from sipping on speciality coffee and the scran, to the service and all-around atmosphere.
They’re also about to start hosting board game nights over at their Salford site, where they’ll be making the most of their large terrace with plenty of seating, which also has the added bonus of a retracted pergola – perfect for sunny days or simply sheltering from the Manc rain.
One thing we also noticed was just how many locals not only popped in throughout our time there, but the sheer number that had chosen to start their day at this particular spot.
There’s a regular Greek crowd, of course, but there’s also the native Salfordian and those currently residing in and around the up-and-coming area, who were pulling up in the large car park and taking a pew, or even those just looking for quick and top-quality grab-and-go stuff.
In fact, it’s one of the quickest venues we’ve seen fill up that fast in a hot, Med minute.
Speaking of, whether it be one of their superb Spanish lattes, or the equally sweet, sultry and viral ‘Freddo Cappuccino’, or their traditional spanakopita, not to mention their many Mediterranean pastry variations, there’s a big call for pretty much everything on the menu.
We could go on at length in listing what impressed us about just this one Coffee Rules branch, and we’ve made many trips to their Chorlton one in the past already, but it’s probably best that we just urge you to give it a try sometime soon. Trust us, you won’t be disappointed.
This is one of the fastest-growing franchises in the UK, and it’s no wonder they keep pulling in plaudits and invites to bigger and better industry within the industry as time goes on events over the past few years.
Oh, and one more thing, there’s plenty of savoury stuff that you’ll likely fall in love with, but we highly reccommend ordering the red velvet. Wow…
One of the biggest and best new beer gardens in Manchester drops just in time for the World Cup
Danny Jones
You heard us right: what could very well be Manchester’s favourite new beer garden has just landed over in St John’s, and all can envision is non-stop sun, suds and sporting action all summer long.
This, my friends, is ‘The Green’.
Capturing a kind of mix between the simple combo of wide open space, booze and hopefully sun on the Stevenson Square we all know and love, with a bit of the Boxpark fanfare that will make it perfect come World Cup, we’re big fans of what they’ve put together here.
It’s also worth noting that this place is significantly bigger than you’ll find in most corners of central Manchester, complete with plenty of room to perch, from the rows of deckchairs to even tiered step seating that runs along the edge.
There’s new artificial turf laid down, complete with fresh wooden borders, lamp lighting, big benches perfect for squeezing plenty of mates on each side, as well as a decent number of small parasols. There are even QR codes to save time ordering at the bar.
Speaking of, the bar is already full up and running with a very solid lineup of summery drinks, for beers and fruity ciders to Aperol and plenty more. You are paying the expected St John’s prices, but when the rays hit just right, the footy’s on and you’re with your mates, you won’t hear us complaining.
Not just batch stuff being proud from the tap either – they’ve got cocktails, creative twists on frozen margs and lots of other stuff still in the pipeline.
But understandably, the instant start of the show is that large screen, which has already got us dreaming of the World Cup and tournament season year in year out, for that matter. And when we say large, we really mean it…
Just picture the scenes…
The lawn itself is plenty long, and the massive monitor is high up enough on the old studio wall that not a single soul will be missing a second of that action.
Be it the footy, Wimbledon, F1, rugby – whatever the discipline happens to be, we can’t wait to find any excuse to watch it all here (weather permitting). Only a short distance from Deansgate, Spinningfields, Castlefield and more, we feel like this spot is about to blow up.
You’ll also be glad to know that while you can’t take food and drink from other venues around the beer garden itself, they’ve got a food lineup all of their own coming very soon, centring around Manchester locals and regional indies. That’s what we like to hear.
It’s just what that Grape Street area needed, and regardless of whatever potential seasonal shifts it might need to make, we hope it stays here for a very long time. Good vibes all-round.
Emily Sergeant -
29th January 2021 
