Experience: I do hair and makeup for the dead

I always ask their families for a photograph, so I have a guide to how the person looked when they were alive

When I was 27, I lost my nan and grandad within three weeks. It was horrendous, but I clearly remember how much they looked like themselves when I went to view them at the funeral home. At the time I worked at a bank in London, but I had also completed a beautician’s course as it was something I had always wanted to pursue. My sister-in-law encouraged me to go down to the funeral home to look behind the scenes and see if I could do the makeup. I took a day off work and went to the mortuary and into the room where my nan had been. There was another body in there and, for a moment, I wondered if I could do it. But I soon got over the wobble, and not long after decided to train as a mortician.

As I had already studied to be a beautician, the training didn’t take long. I learned techniques specific to applying makeup to bodies, such as how to use primers to cover discoloration, how to insert eye caps – which hold eyelids in place – and how to work with the heavier makeup products required for the job. I started working freelance, going to the funeral directors when they needed me.