It's More Personal Than You Think
The other day I was getting ready to go to my grandma’s house, just down the block, for an impromptu Mother’s Day brunch. After two months of waving from the front door, we felt it was ok to finally reunite. Despite the fact that a bright blue mask would be covering my face for the majority of the afternoon, I took advantage of the first chance to get a little dressed up.
I threw on something more than the sweatpants I had been living in and headed to the bathroom mirror to start my makeup routine, if you can even call it one. I was almost nervous to open my hand-me-down pouch full of what was likely expired foundation. Months in quarantine made me too comfortable with a naked face, but once I dampened the beauty blender and drew NARS concealer on my face, I questioned why I ever stopped. Growing up, I never wore makeup. I mean never. In fact, it probably wasn’t until junior year of high school that I ever opened a bottle of foundation. Gone were the days of good ol’ BB Cream. The whole industry was daunting and I didn’t know where to start. Luckily, I was blessed with pretty clear skin, a product of my mom’s genes, which meant there wasn’t even the incentive to cover up the spots that did pop up here and there.
The first makeup advice I ever received was, naturally, from my mom. She told me, “You know you did it right if it looks like you aren’t wearing any.” Although this tip seemed sort of ironic coming from the woman who wears Bobbi Brown’s darkest shades of red lipstick, they hold some truth. Whenever I start to step too far out of my comfort zone, like standing in front of the mirror with a Champagne Pop Becca highlighter in one hand and a brush smothered with product in the other, I can’t help but hear her mantra in the back of my head. I live by these words now, but it took awhile for me to fully understand it. I’ve always been the most fascinated with makeup out of the three girls in my family—me, my mom, and my older sister. To this day, I like to think of it like face paint. The ability to completely transform and/or enhance your features amazed me.
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It took awhile for my mom to fully support my makeup endeavors. My sister and I used to do competitive cheer and if it wasn’t crazy enough to ask a herd of uncoordinated five year-olds to set up a sturdy human pyramid in front of a panel of judges, we were also required to wear a disturbing amount of stage makeup. Nothing was too much for the cheer world—blue eyeshadow, red lips, silver glitter, and really anything you can think of. To keep everyone away from my face, my mom told me and everyone else that I was “allergic” to all brands of makeup. All except hers.
Looking back at it now, I realize this may sound ridiculous. How could I be so gullible? But come on, I was practically a toddler. Besides, even if I had understood, it wouldn’t have changed a thing. My mom was never the type to cave. She took “no means no” to a whole other level. There was no swaying her, which is why I had to take my makeup education into my own hands. My timeline begins with British YouTuber Zoe Sugg, formerly known as Zoella. Zoe was kind, sweet, and everything you’d want to grow up to be. Little did I know she’d take the platform to the next level in the near future. It wasn’t until I stumbled upon Jenn Im, Sophia Chang, and Weylie Hoang, none of whom have the same following as Sugg, that I recognized the issue of representation in beauty.
Even with three beauty gurus, who looked more like me than anyone else on the internet (at least that I knew of at the time), I couldn’t see myself in any of them. It was comforting to know they came from similar backgrounds, but I couldn’t pull off winged eyeliner like Sophia or be bold with an eyeshadow palette like Jenn. I quickly learned to take what I liked from each of them. They were all creative and all had something to offer.
I can’t speak for everyone when I say this, but to me, representation extends far beyond the color of your skin. We’re all on the lookout for something special.
In the past few years, brands have released more shades of foundation than any other point in history. Commercials and ad campaigns are featuring a wider variety of people, but it’s still pretty impossible to find someone just like you. Maybe we have to stop placing all the responsibility on the industry and start asking ourselves what we’re doing to move things forward. A large part of the problem stems from consumers’ constant attempts to fit into a certain mold. Makeup and skincare are much too personal to be categorized into a “trend.” From all my years of trying to navigate the makeup world, I learned there are no rules when it comes to beauty.
It is for this reason why I fell in love with Vogue’s Beauty Secrets series so quickly. The magazine’s collection of the best kept beauty secrets of models (old and new), artists, actors, and other influencers is one of the few YouTube series I still take the time to watch. If I’m going to be honest, more than half of the people they ask to participate are unfamiliar to me, but that’s precisely why it’s such a genius idea. Beyond the odd thrill that comes from getting a peak at Cindy Crawford’s marble covered bathroom, there is something comforting about learning from people whose tips, just like everyone else’s, have been passed down from friends and family. For me, the OG Beauty Secrets started in the bathroom of one of my oldest friends, Delila Brown, my earliest friend from school and practically my second sister.
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Delila, Dede, doesn’t look anything like me. With wavy blond hair and fair skin, she’s quite the opposite. Even so, she taught me everything I know about makeup. She was more successful in training me than any YouTuber because she knows me better than anyone else. She knows I’m a minimalist, who won’t go near glitter or a bright orange eye. She also knows I would rather have a rogue blemish show through my light coverage foundation than feel like I have a second layer of skin to breathe through. And while I still don’t remember all the steps to contouring, one lesson I’ll never forget learning from her is that makeup should enhance your features just as much as they should strengthen your self-confidence.
I know not everyone has access to a “personal makeup artist” like Dede, but for the sake of all the little kids aching to take a stab at their own makeup look, take the time to experiment. It’s so easy to forget that makeup has no limits. You don’t need to look a certain way, you just need to be comfortable with yourself. Afterall, finding what works best for you, although difficult at times, can feel more rewarding than getting your eyeliner right for the first time (a challenge we’re all too familiar with).
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