EXTRA! EXTRA! Read all about it...by Cathi Singh

Hello IMPO readers and subscribers! I wanted to let you in on some very exciting news that our very own Melissa Street has been keeping secret until recently.

Melissa and her very good friend and professional colleague, Kim Greene, have combined forces to form a new company called Greene Street Beauty. This duo brings 40 years of experience in the beauty industry to consumers, students and professionals via YouTube, Facebook, Twitter and other social media outlets.

Currently, Greene Street Beauty is “under construction” while forming their first beauty app for both the iPhone and Android, which will be available in 2013. In the meantime, these ladies are bringing their knowledge of the film and television industry, proper makeup application, as well as providing support to students by filming tutorials and how-to videos for their YouTube Channel.

In order to get the word out about this new venture, Greene Street Beauty is running a contest on their YouTube Channel right now for all subscribers – please see the video below and make sure to subscribe in order to be entered! Also, make sure to “Like” their Facebook page because a little bird told me that another contest is forming over there too!

But, let’s give you a little bit of background info on both Melissa and Kim, just in case you are scratching your heads and asking yourself, “Who are these ladies?”

Melissa Street has been a freelance makeup and FX artist in the film, television, print and live event industry for the past 20 years. She attended the acclaimed makeup school, Joe Blasco in Los Angeles, California, and as luck would have it she would be mentored by the late, great Stan Winston, who gave her the opportunity to apprentice in his lab and help out on some big blockbuster movies that became iconic films – Terminator, Aliens and Invaders from Mars!

In 1992 Melissa moved to Las Vegas, Nevada where she worked on several live shows at the MGM Grand and Monte Carlo Hotels, as well as other live productions and music videos. There she met an amazing makeup artist, Jim Sacca, who took Melissa under his wing and helped form her career by giving her the opportunity to work with the incredible James Earl Jones.

In 2001, she relocated back to Southern California and began to form and build relationships within the freelance production community. Melissa would spend the next 12 years working hard to expand her business Epic Makeup, which now serves clients such as NBC, CNN, CBS, Food Network, Telemundo, E!News, ESPN, HBO and Comcast to name just a few.

She has worked with celebrities from Ron Howard, Arnold Schwarzenegger, The Rock, Jeff Bridges and Suzanne Somers to famous musicians like Carlos Santana, Foreigner, Kenny Loggins and Chris Ledoux to comics like Carrot Top and Louie Anderson.

Currently, Melissa works on national and local commercials, non-union films and television shows, YouTube web series, industrials, corporate videos, news media productions and live theater. She also co-owns InPoint Productions, owns and writes for this blog, as well as her industry blog, Epic Makeup and she has her own personal YouTube Channel.

Kim Greene is first and foremost a “filmmaker!” She has been Union Makeup Department Head on some of the biggest and most memorable films of the century, including Terminator Salvation, Anchorman, Superbad, Charlie’s Angels, The Wedding Singer, Scream 4, The Three Stooges, The Green Hornet, This is 40 and the soon to be released Identity Thief, to name just a few.

Her IMDB credits read like a “who’s who” in the film industry and she has been a personal makeup artist to Woody Harrelson, Drew Barrymore, Christina Applegate and Neve Campbell.

Kim began her career by studying under Vincent Kehoe, who was among one of the best makeup artists of his time, as well as an author and teacher. Mr. Kehoe would help Kim development the foundation for her skill set and prepare her for a tremendously successful makeup career. She would then move forward to meeting and working directly with Ron Berkley, who was so impressed with her that he brought her on to the Black and White music video set with Michael Jackson.

Kim is also an innovative entrepreneur and developed a very successful line of cosmetic bags both for the professional and consumer. The Kim Greene Line was originally formed because she realized there was a need within the professional makeup artist community for sturdy, easy to clean and comfortable to wear set and actor bags used to store and transport makeup from the trailer to the set for touch ups during filming.

There was nothing available at the time that wasn’t heavy, canvas and dark, which when you combine those three elements make it difficult for an artist to find the makeup or tools that they need efficiently. She became so frustrated with the bags that were on the market that she set out to change the standards.

Today, almost every professional makeup artist in the film and television industry uses The Kim Greene Line of bags at work everyday and they have helped many other Department Head’s keep organized even on the most hectic sets, like American Idol! Her bag line is great for travel and can easily fit inside your carryon luggage and because the bags are "clear" passing through TSA with those 3 ounce liquid bottles is a breeze!

When Kim is not on a film or television set, she teaches at professional makeup schools, writes incredibly informative blog posts on Kim Greene’s Tips from the Set and films tutorials for her personal YouTube Channel. She has also been a guest judge on season 2 of the SyFy Network’s makeup artist show, FaceOff, hosted by McKenzie Westmore.

So as you can see, these two are really the Dynamic Duo of the makeup world (I’m just not sure which one is Batman and which one is Robin). Together they hope that their passion to educate the public about the beauty industry is welcomed with open arms.

I hope that you take the time and opportunity to subscribe to their YouTube Channel, interact by sending them a comment, suggestion or question and “Like” their Facebook page or follow them on Twitter. They are always willing to reach out and answer your most pressing beauty questions and help ease your frustrations, so give then a shout!