Many artists spend days perfecting their work in order to frame it and display it. Makeup artists, on the other hand, spend hours on one look just to take a few pictures before washing it away.
Nicole Curley, ‘20, found her passion for makeup at the end of eighth grade after she started watching YouTube beauty influencers. Once Curley learned about the many ways makeup can be used, she decided it was something she wanted to try out.
“I realized you can do a ton with makeup, like you can change your face shape with contour and make yourself look like a monster,” Curley said.
Over the past two and a half years, Curley has grown as a makeup artist and has embraced it into her everyday life. “Most days I just do my brows and mascara. Sometimes I just don’t do it, but others I’ll wake up at like 4:30 to get something cool or I’ll just wash it off before school because it just gets me more relaxed for school,” Curley said.
Even if Curley isn’t preparing for school or an event, she often uses the makeup process to de-stress. “It’s just really relaxing because I’ll get makeup and see all the colors and instantly a bunch of different things I can do with them go into my mind. It’s so satisfying to spend hours trying to get it exactly right and when it is done it is like a piece of art,” Curley said.
Although members of the beauty community have recently been under controversy, Curley has been able to find influence in YouTuber Jackie Aina. “She speaks out about a lot of important things like shade ranges not being good enough in the beauty community like foundations being 100 shades of white with two dark shades,” Curley said.
Curley believes that the makeup community is for anyone that wants to be a part of it. “Just buy makeup, you can get really cheap and good makeup, and just do it at home and take pictures. If you don’t want to wear it out of the house then just wash it off, but create something you are proud of and maybe one day you’ll wear it out of the house,” Curley said.
Whether you know the most advanced techniques or don’t even know what eyeshadow is, Curley believes everyone should give makeup a try.