Makeup enthusiast Chelsea Salmon brings a splash of colour into her customers’ day. Photo: Chris Roe.
If you’ve recently stopped in for a coffee and a snack at Gardens Cafe in Wagga Wagga Botanic Gardens, there’s a good chance you’ve come face to face with Chelsea Salmon.
It’s a colourful encounter you’re unlikely to forget.
Since taking on the role of cafe manager last year, the self-described “makeup enthusiast” has transformed her face into a canvas to showcase a new look every day.
“I do lots of things; different fruits, doughnuts, sprinkles, clouds and rainbows,” she says.
“I was a cow yesterday, I was zebra a couple of weeks ago and I’ve been a peacock, like our resident peacock ‘Clarence’ who comes up every day to say ‘hi’ and get a grape.”
Today, Chelsea’s eyes are surrounded by a spray of bubbles on a rainbow backdrop.
“I’m a bubbly girl,” she laughs.
Chelsea’s colourful hobby began by accident about five years ago.
“I accidentally flicked one of my eyeliners one day and went, stuff it! I’m going to make something out of this, so I did a little cherry blossom and everyone loved it,” she says.
“So I just kept thinking of things every morning and put a little thing around my eyes, but now it’s gone full blown to the face!”
She says the COVID outbreak inspired her to step it up and go bigger and brighter.
“I’m on a form of chemo and I’m highly immunocompromised so it distracted people who might say things about me wearing a mask,” she explains.
“It also kept people intrigued and took the conversation away from COVID. It was my form of expression while we couldn’t smile.”
A debilitating skin condition was another motivating factor.
“When I’m off the chemo I can come up with blisters all over my hands, arms and feet and I can’t even drive, so it was another thing that made me incorporate the masks and makeup.”
Chelsea says the best part of it is the reaction she gets from the kids.
“Oh they love it!” she says.
“They want to know what it is, what colours I use, whether I do tutorials and all of that, so that’s why I put a little card up on the counter for my Instagram so they can see what I’ve got on that day whether they’re at the park or not.”
Chelsea says it’s a pleasure to bring a bit more colour into people’s day as they visit her favourite spot in Wagga.
“I love the Botanic Garden; it’s one of my favourite spots with the zoo and aviary just doing amazing things,” she says.
“I also love our little business. It’s wonderful. We’ve got catering, we do functions here, weddings and all sorts of different things.
“There’s always a call for me to do something different, especially with the makeup.
“It’s really good.”
You can keep track of Chelsea’s changing looks on Instagram.
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