How I became a makeup artist
My love for makeup and beauty started as early as I can remember, honestly probably when I was like 3 years old and discovered my mom’s lipstick.
I used to sit on the top of the couch with my legs around them and do my mom and my dad's hair. My dad would play barbies with me and I would cut the barbie’s hair off their head and tape it on his head because he was balding. He even let me do his makeup (photo below). Luckily my skills have improved since then, haha.
Lipstick in one hand, binky in the other
I was never able to afford makeup school, and since there is no license for applying makeup in CA (this law varies within each state, so make sure to do your research first), I decided to research as many one-day classes as I could find. I took Kandee Johnson's makeup class back in 2009; It was super helpful at the time! My dad would drive me up to LA, where I would take courses through cinema secrets that were only $100, AND you got that in product. I did as many Mac Pro classes as I could, which took place at the MAC stores. I also obsessively watched YouTube videos on makeup, this was before YouTube makeup videos were really popular. I researched as much as I could online. I practiced and practiced on all my friends and on myself; I even made a YouTube of my own. I would set up my camera on empty shoe boxes and apply makeup on myself and grew a bit of a following through that. Below is the house I started YouTube in. I didn’t come from money and was lucky to have a roof over my head. The point is that you can achieve anything you put your mind to no matter the circumstance. My family struggled a lot during the 2009 recession, financially, mentally, and physically- my dad's health started going downhill. I think I was in the hospital with him at least 1 x a week because he had heart problems and diabetes. Stress did not help this by any means, it was hard to say the least. We went through many challenges (some I choose not to share) and got evicted from our home before this one, my father was an extremely hardworking pool man, and one of his customers let us live here before we got evicted once again. Still, I focused all my energy on makeup. It was my distraction from the real world, and although we went through so much, they taught me to stay positive through hard times and work towards my dreams.
This is my old home after it was renovated by the new owners. New paint, windows, etc.. It looks super cute now!
From my mom's Facebook (LOL), our front yard flooded every time it rained. To be honest, I was not too fond of this house because it had ALL the bugs, including scorpions and tarantulas, half the time, we didn't have hot running water. But now, I would do ANYTHING to go back to those times.
Eventually, I got a job working freelance for MAC. That was the best start to my career because I got hands-on practice with real clients all day and met some other amazing women who shared the same interest as me. We learned from each other and fed off each other's ideas. When I first started, I was so nervous I could barely apply an eyelash on a client's eye. It took me an hour and a half, but I gradually got better and faster! Whenever someone would come in wanting makeup, I would tell the managers to give them to me. I loved the artistry of makeup more than I loved selling. Little by little, I bought products and built up my makeup kit. Clients would ask me to do their wedding's outside of MAC, and I was so happy doing that. Eventually, I become busier with outside clients I decided to leave MAC.
If you are an aspiring makeup artist and don't know where to start, I recommend educating yourself as much as possible by taking classes, watching YouTube, and researching online. We are so lucky to live in a day and age with so much free information online. Many artists offer lessons where you can bring a model or by assisting. Getting a job at a retail makeup counter is the best way to get your foot in the door and learn the basics, and it's also helpful to be surrounded by like-minded people. That is one thing I do miss about working retail. If there's a piece of advice I could give to anyone wanting to become a makeup artist, it would be to follow your dreams and stick to them. You can achieve anything you put your mind to, I promise you that.