Nicola McGeorge Makeup Artist

Our Swedish pocket Princess.... A soft bohemian braid perfect for the southern Spanish back drop
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Latest work - Cover for Society Marbella Magazine
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Client Geoffrey Lopilato
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You may have been wondering why I haven’t spent the last two months in lockdown uploading images of my work or posting makeup tutorials on how to create the perfect winged liner. I just didn't feel comfortable doing so while people were suffering all around the world. Instead of using this time to promote myself and give me a chance of still having a career in the makeup industry when this is all over, I chose to do something completely out of my comfort zone. I would like to think I put kindness first.

Now that there seems to be a light at the end of the tunnel and lockdown restrictions relax, I will start to concentrate on my makeup work again.

For anyone who has been following my journey during lockdown, I have written about my experience for Society Marbella Magazine. Thank you again to ALL of you who helped along the way.

SHINING A LIGHT ON MARBELLA

How did you get through one of the strictest lockdowns in Europe? Will you be telling your grandchildren in years to come how you filled you days with TicToK dances, wearing pillows as dresses and perfecting your whipped coffee or will you be able to say you spent your time making a difference, one that you will be proud to share with the next generation? A crisis like this brings out the best in almost everyone, and the worst in just a few. I have been blessed to have spent the mandatory quarantine meeting many who fall into the former category and today, in my lockdown diaries, I would like to introduce to the true heroes of Marbella.

My Lockdown Diaries

Thursday 12th March

With rumours of a nationwide lockdown rife, my long-term partner Andy Clark and I sit down to have that fear inducing discussion every one of you reading this article will have experienced with your own loved ones. How are we going to get through this and what do we do next? Being a makeup artist, all my work for the next few months has been cancelled, so I will have no income at all. Andy, as the publisher of three magazines has a huge decision to make with his business partner, Constanza Martinez, about the immediate future plans of Icon Publishing. The following months are either going to destroy us or make us stronger. Life must be put first, then we’ll find ways to tackle the impending economic situation. We choose to let go of our fears and concentrate on the matters at hand. By looking at the bigger picture and using this time productively, maybe, just maybe, we could do something for the greater good.

After batting ideas back and forth, discussing how we can best use our skill-set to help support local businesses, our community and those who will soon be very much in need, Andy makes the brave decision to postpone all further printing of the Society Marbella Magazine, Utopia Magazine, and Confeti Magazine and temporarily continue to produce the magazines online. His clients will be offered their usual adverts at no cost until he prints again. Furthermore, any businesses concerned about their future can also take advantage of this promotion. We want to do all that we can to help support local business and the wider community until things return to normal, or whatever the ‘new normal’ may be.

Friday 13th March 2020

After sharing the decision with the staff, we are both humbled that everyone has agreed to waive their fees. A special mention at this point must go to Constanza who on uploading the May issue will have worked full time for the last two months designing the magazine without any income.

Saturday 14th March

Today seemed to go on forever, the hours slowly dragging by. My spirit is briefly lifted by a quick visit from one of my closest friends, Kara Jaye Caradas, the co-owner of The Boardwalk Marbella. She has thoughtfully been dropping off huge boxes of fresh vegetables and eggs to her friends after having to temporarily close her restaurant. From this simple kind gesture, came the ‘lightbulb moment’ thst would take over our lives for the rest of lockdown.

Andy, being something of a dab hand in the kitchen, set to work making a variety of tasty soups, stews and tortillas from the gifted produce. I took on the role of kitchen hand and the rest of the day consisted of helping, bickering, resigning, being reinstated and then sacked again until we had cooked a variety of individual hot meals which could be delivered to those in need. We put a call out on social media asking for anyone that was housebound to get in contact. The initiative was born and our new calling began.

Monday 15th March

We are officially in lockdown. I wake feeling anxious, the uncertainty of our future weighing heavily on my mind. I need to focus on something else, so Andy and I continue with our new daily routine of preparing and delivering meals to those who have contacted us via our post.

We finish up with more meals than people to feed, so I reach out to Tom Burns, president of Age Concern Marbella & San Pedro. We originally met in December while I was enquiring about the process of becoming a volunteer. I explained our current situation and asked if he knew of any elderly who would benefit from home cooked meals. Tom puts me in touch with their delightful volunteer coordinator, Sandra Sprawson, and we spend the next few days sorting out the logistics and putting our operation into action. Little did we know we were about to meet the most incredible group of seniors who would change our outlook completely and become a part of our everyday life for the rest of lockdown.

Wednesday 16th March

The Boardwalk Marbella have agreed to join our initiative. I am delighted to be passing the baton to Kara on Sunday who will be providing our new friends with delicious roast dinners. She will also be cooking on Tuesday and delivering an incredible feast to all those in need, which I am sure will brighten up their day.

Friday 19th March

The wonderful people at Delicias Gourmet World have very kindly donated meals today and have agreed to continue to do so until the end of lockdown. Penny Quinlan and Marc Quinlan, owners of The Harbour Marbella will be cooking and helping with deliveries from Wednesday. It warms my heart that people are giving up their time to help others in such terrifying times.

On another positive note, Society Marbella has been inundated with businesses thanking the team for taking such affirmative actions and the April issue is crammed full will nearly 250 pages of adverts.

Tuesday 24th March

La Sala, Puerto Banus announced their intention, in association with Society Marbella, to show their appreciation to the medical profession by preparing and delivering meals to their homes free of charge during the lockdown period. This show of gratitude was well received with many medics taking up their kind offer. Our first delivery is to a family with two young children, the husband is a pediatrician, while his wife is a nurse in ICU. They are both absolutely exhausted, so we offer to bring them food every day until the situation eases. It’s the least we can do. With the amount of deliveries growing daily, Elise Emanuelle Dünweberr kindly volunteers to help with the workload and soon, along with her children, becomes an integral part of the team.

Wednesday 25th March

It’s now been nearly two weeks since Andy and I stopped ourselves from going insane by cooking and delivering meals to an ever growing number of local elderly and those in need. It really has given us something positive to focus on every day and calmed me in moments of panic.

What has amazed me is just how positive and happy everyone is when we drop off the food even though their situations are challenging. Alan is 89 and nearly blind yet refuses to use his mobility scooter as it apparently ruins his street cred. Jack is 94 and completely deaf with breathing problems but always manages to make us laugh with his dry sense of humour. When asking him if he enjoyed Andy’s signature stew and dumplings, he replied, ‘Well, it was just ok, nowhere near as good as my Grandmas.’ The look of devastation on Andy’s face had me in tears of laughter.

This evening, after seeing numerous posts on social media from people struggling emotionally with the worsening of the crisis, I decide to share my own experiences from the past few weeks. What I was trying to get across was for everyone to look for the light in the darkness. These times show us that its kindness that matters and not material things. No matter where in the world you are, you can find a way to help those in need. It may be just what you need to get through.

Thursday 26th March

I wake up for the first time in weeks filled with hope. The feedback from my post has been astounding and I am absolutely blown away by all the kind words, support and love. Restaurants, catering teams and bakers have been in touch offering their services, which will allow us to expand the initiative and help even more people. With the addition of Sana Catering Marbella, Restaurante El Banco and Marbella Bakes to our team, we can now deliver homemade meals seven days a week to the elderly, medical staff working on the front line and the homeless community.

We have a busy afternoon. After receiving a donation of two dozen burgers from Kara, on top of all the meals we already have in stock, Andy speaks with Collective Calling to see if they could direct to us to anyone who was living on the streets and might appreciate a hot meal. Paul Carr, who founded the charity, explained he has been unavoidably detained in Tanzania, but could arrange for a volunteer to collect and distribute the food and so began their mission to assist with the coast’s crisis.

Monday 30th March Our initiative has gathered further momentum. We have been joined by the big hearted Ashan and his fiancée Dunia from I Bites, who today along with La Sala and Delicias Gourmet Group helped us to feed over FIFTY PEOPLE.

Other acts of kindness came from Kazumi Kirihatai, the renowned nail technician at Reflections, who donated masks and gloves to help protect our elderly friends and volunteers, whilst El Banco gifted radiators to keep people warm during this unseasonable weather. My buddy, Kara, has spread her angel wings and along with her twin Charley, her sister Penny and husband Marc Quinlan they have been organizing and delivering food packages to countless families and children in need along the coast. Their now registered charity, Hadas Caradas, AKA the Food Fairies, has been born out of necessity, and the amazing work that they go on to do, will forever be remembered, (you can read more about them on page 50).

Tuesday 31st March

Whenever I feel low, I try to think about the positive moments from the past few weeks. Jack’s face when he received his favourite dessert ever, homemade rice pudding from The Harbour Marbella. The local police arriving at a camp for the homeless with bags of food they had organized themselves. Being sent a photo of Mark, who lives on the streets, wearing my hat and scarf on a particularly cold night. The ever so thoughtful gifts of hand drawn thank you cards, specialty teas to help us stay healthy and freshly picked fruit to keep our energy levels up.

We had no volunteering experience prior to the crisis, we just felt we needed to try and do something to help others. It’s made me realize wherever you are in the world, you can make a difference. This crisis has made me acutely aware of how privileged I am. Even talking about my struggles during lockdown, seems so trivial when such a large majority of the population is under threat of being seriously affected, be it their mental and physical health, their jobs or their families.

Wednesday 1st April

I join Kara at Iceland in Puerto Banus to collect donations of non-perishable goods for the Food Fairies emergency packs. It gives me a much-needed boost seeing all the goodwill first hand. I was truly overwhelmed by the generosity from the people of Marbella. A lot of empty tummies are going to be filled tonight thanks to all of you.

Friday 3rd April

I wake up to the devastating news that my parents’ good friend and neighbour Gerado Rodriguez has lost his fight against coronavirus. I can’t begin to express what a special man he was. What breaks my heart even more is that his loving wife Elena, has also tested positive, meaning she has to self-isolate in her home in Nueva Andalucia. Imagine grieving the loss of your husband and having go through it totally alone. When you need your family the most they cannot be by your side. The reality of this cruel virus hits home and I feel extremely helpless not being able to do anything to ease Elena’s suffering other than leave her a meal outside her door.

Sunday 5th April

As Marbella mourns the loss of more Spanish lives, overtaking Italy and gaining the unenviable tag of the second highest worldwide cases of the coronavirus aligned to confirmation of a further 22 days in isolation, we are once again blown away by the incredible self-sacrifice of our amazing team of volunteers. This week we added many more individuals to our schedule, including the lovely French lady, Janine, who is sadly suffering from dementia. Given no support from social services, she relies on the kindness of neighbours to feed and bathe her. They themselves are now struggling financially so the daily hot meals and box of weekly essentials from the Food Fairies is greatly appreciated. With communities working together to help those who are vulnerable I am starting to think we might just get through this.

Tuesday 7th April

For the past week I have been given the task from Sala Group of trying to take a secret photograph of Andy on his deliveries. Not one for blowing his own trumpet this is no easy feat and I get a variety of expletives hurled at me on a daily basis whenever I reach for my camera. Finally, I manage to get a shot, only to be put straight back in the dog house when Andy sees today’s dedicated post on La Sala’s social media.

‘Sala Group would like to take this opportunity to give a special shoutout to Andy Clark, owner of Society Magazine Marbella for his incredible commitment in taking care of our local community during this difficult time. He won’t be happy with us for posting this, as self-gratification is not his motive. However, we feel it right to recognize him, his partner Nicola McGeorge and his business partner, Koni, for going above and beyond, providing and delivering food to the most vulnerable. Andy Clark and your team we salute you... you truly are our local heroes!’

⁠ I think I am going to stay out of his way tonight.

Sunday 12th April

Well, almost a month on, we are delighted to report that this kindness initiative appears to know no bounds. Interior Designer, Heidi Gubbins - Interior Design has donated an abundance of chocolate Easter Eggs to be shared out on today’s deliveries. New volunteers Nina Warda and Claudia Del Castillo cooked up a sensational banquet. Although
celebrating Easter today will seem strange to many, we hope that these small gestures will help bring some much-needed joy to many.

Monday 13th April

Our favourite Scotsman Iain Robertson dug deep today to donate baskets of much needed fruit to the local elderly, nurses and Marbella’s most vulnerable. A gift that really did keep on giving, the smiles of appreciation from the exhausted medical community reinforced to me that life’s joys have become simpler. Jack was particularly delighted with his strawberries which he tucked into while making Andy play Tipping Point with him. For some of our elderly friends, our visits are the only human interaction they get all day. They can spend days staring at four walls, so the time we spend with them becomes even more important than the food we bring.

Saturday 18th April

It’s been over a month since we started our initiative and the Marbella business community just keeps on surprising us with their acts of kindness. The lovely Oxana Mess of OWL MarbellaMarbella stepped up and donated two baskets cram packed with delicious goodies and will also be cooking over thirty nutritious meals this week.

Monday 20th April

Our appeal for bakers certainly resonated with the kind hearted Marbella community with no fewer than five individual bakers making a fabulous array of cupcakes, cinnamon rolls, loaves, brownies and banana bread. A big thank you to Marbella Bakes, Leandra Foti - Toro, Elina Sjoberg, Colleen Mayes, and the Holm Egeskov family for your sweet treats.

Thursday 23rd April

Oxanas Mess owner of OWL Marbella wrote a post today which brought a tear to my eye.

‘Wondering, how many of you guys, are aware of the severity of the lockdown we are facing here in Spain? The poverty is at a level with no income for over 6 weeks so many local families, (especially elderly and families with kids) have no money for food and essential supplies. Social security payments for March (due to ERTE) expected to arrive not before May?!?! As the state is “busy” going throughout 4 million new unemployment applications. The only hope and help is coming from locals like Society Magazine Marbella, who are collecting any donations, (food ingredients or ready-made meals) and making daily deliveries in the area, without any support from local authorities. Today’s menu donation from OWL was fish cake with rice and salad, tomorrow I am cooking chicken curry risotto. Please if you have time or any resources to support us, just do it!

Saturday 25th April

Society Marbella’s appeal for donations for The Food Fairies and Collective Calling last weekend raised over 5k for the two local charities, each receiving four figure sums into their coffers to help them buy much needed provisions for the most vulnerable people on the coast.

People who are deemed high risk are finding other ways to help the community. Our lovely friends Gavin and Joanna from VIX Horses donated a veritable mountain of fresh avocados, Sharon Melville supplied bags of delicious fresh fruit and Peter Brooks and Peter Annott gave us enough lemons to sink a ship. Laura Owens even managed to source a microwave for Janine, who has been having to rely on the neighbours to heat her meals. The community spirit is at an all-time high.

Sunday 26th April

I am delighted to see that our heroes are getting the recognition they deserve. Today the Sunday World newspaper ran a double page feature promoting the good work that Marc Quinan and the Food Fairies have been doing. Hopefully this will inspire others to follow their lead.

Monday 27th April

The lack of movement from self-isolation is taking its toll. Our elderly friends seem to be suffering with more aches and pains than usual and breathing difficulties have increased in severity. We have been running around like headless chicken trying to sort out pain medication and mobility equipment to make life more comfortable.

The good news is that Jack, who has been point blank refusing to use a zimmer-frame, even after seeing an increase in dizzy spells, might just have changed his mind. After seeing complete his hundred laps, Jack decides mobility equipment might not be SUCH a bad thing. Age Concern kindly donate him one and Jack is soon whizzing around the place. I wonder if Captain Tom ever imagined how many hearts he would touch with his good deed.

Tuesday 28th April

As we go to print, I look back over the last two months and realize my life has been changed forever. I can never go back to the person I used to be. I have no idea what the next few months will bring, but I do know I will continue to help others, volunteer wherever I can and focus on things that make life worth living. You see, if anything, isolation made us appreciate our loved ones more, made us understand who and what are really important.

I want to thank everyone who has helped us along the way. A special mention must go to Constanza Mtz. Along with everything she already does for the magazine, has also become our volunteer coordinator, medic liaison, translator, food drop off point and initial contact for those in need.

I must also mention that Andy has not had a day off helping people since the 15th March. There are not many people that can claim that. He really is my hero.

If you are sitting wishing you could help but not knowing how to, I promise you can make a difference. Keep an eye out for neighbours regularly and see if they need any help. Their situation could drastically change in a week. Volunteer for food banks or the NHS. If you are deemed high risk how about contacting local care homes and see if you can arrange upbeat daily calls to any residents who are suffering from loneliness. Even something as simple as a smile, a wave or a quick chat one meter apart of course, could just make someone’s day.

On a final note. When the sun shines upon Marbella again, and it will, please remember the people who stood forward and supported those who were not in a position to support themselves. Support local. Be kind. Stay safe.

Mandy Hale — “When you find yourself cocooned in isolation and cannot find your way out of darkness, remember that this is similar to the place where caterpillars go to grow their wings.

Latest work - Cover for
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A big thank you to the team at Charlottetilbury for gifting me these goodies for my up coming cover shoot. Super excited to try them all out as I am already a big fan.

Bridesmaids for a day, best friends for life 💕

Photographer: Eloy Muñoz Photography
Wedding Planner: Tucco Weddings & Afairs
Styling, decor and flowers: Pedro Navarro Event Styling
Catering: Alejandra Catering Málaga
Make up: Nicola McGeorge Makeup Artist
Peluquería: ALEX Fashion & Bridal, LLC

OHHH, how I love this image.

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