A FORMER nursery nurse who taught herself make-up skills by painting children’s faces at work is using her incredible talent to transform herself into famous people.

Toni-Louise Fay's knack for face painting, which saw her being booked for children's birthday parties, has come into its own during the Covid-19 lockdowns, when she has made herself up as everyone from Boris Johnson to Eminem.

Lancashire Telegraph: Toni-Louise Fay as Boris Johnson Toni-Louise Fay as Boris Johnson

A nursery nurse for 10 years, during maternity leave in 2017 after having her daughter, Harper-Rae, now three, she decided to switch careers - enrolling on a two-year special effects make-up course.

Lancashire Telegraph: Toni-Louise Fay and daughter Harper-Rae, threeToni-Louise Fay and daughter Harper-Rae, three

Now studying for a second make-up degree at UCEN Manchester, she has entertained herself and her family during the pandemic, by making herself look like a dead ringer for everyone from Mr Bean to EastEnders' Dot Cotton.

Lancashire Telegraph: Toni-Louise Fay as Mr Bean Toni-Louise Fay as Mr Bean

Ms Fay, 30, who lives in Bacup, who funds her studies with part-time cleaning work, said: “I started out completely self-taught.

"I’d watch tutorials on Instagram and YouTube, then have an experiment myself with whatever I could find in the house.

“During lockdown, I haven’t had anybody else to practise on, so I had no choice but to use my own face.

“There are only so many different colourful eyeshadow looks you can do, so I started thinking outside the box and going for famous faces instead.”

Always a great lover of make-up, one of Ms Fay's favourite parts of her former role as a nursery nurse was face painting for the children.

Soon she was such a dab hand with a brush and palette that she began earning extra pin money by working at parties for local parents.

Then, in 2017, shortly after becoming a mother herself, she decided to take the plunge and turn her hobby into a new career.

She said: "My ambition is to turn it into a business in the future. It’s something I’m working towards within one of my modules at uni at the moment, promoting myself and setting myself up to professional industry standards.

"My long-term goal is to work behind the scenes in TV and film as a make-up artist. Getting into the industry is tough but it’s my goal to get there and hopefully one day I will achieve it."

Follow her on Instagram, @tlf.makeup