The Evolution Process

Dear Caravaners,

In this narrative I am going to take you down memory lane of where it all began. How the makeup artist that lay dormant for years was brought to life through Glitter and seriously bad Self-tan.

We are going to go way back to when I was 19 years old and just started getting into “normal” makeup practices, but even long before that, let’s get to the very root of this obsession! Let’s go back to the year 2000, when little 6 year old Shan discovers Freestyle Dancing.

The reason why I have normal in quotation marks is because between the ages of 7 to 18, I laid the makeup on real thick - only because I was a dancer. This was not a day to day occurrence - I only ever wore makeup when I was participating in a competition or performing a show - however this did distort my view on makeup by a fraction.

I just believed that whenever I would go out with friends to the Cinemas or even just a house party - in my mind - I just had to rim my eyes darker or just put an extra layer of foundation. This really just made it difficult for me to pull away from wearing makeup - not to mention the amount of damage I did to my skin because I just didn’t care for my skin back then and of course didn’t look after it properly.

My point of this whole story is that once I retired from the dance world and forced myself to take a step back from the show makeup and open my mind up to beauty makeup - it was a game changer. I had to force myself to learn how to do my makeup all over again. Luckily for me, I could still use my creativity and basic application knowledge from show makeup and bring it to life in this instance to achieve “normal” day to day makeup and I feel like it gave me a very good advantage.

I knew how to apply false lashes at the age of 11, only because my mom kept gluing my eyes shut (LOL I will never let that go Mama) I learnt how to hold a brush from my dad? MY DAD GUYS! For so many years my dad filled in for my mom in her absence when I just couldn’t get my liner straight. My dad and my mom took turns sitting and doing my makeup when either of us just couldn’t get it right that day, and I feel like this is where my roots really dug in when it comes to makeup. My dad did a lot of traveling for work at the time and he would bring back makeup for me (nothing expensive of course) and sometimes when he would give the makeup to me he would say “this would look so good with this costume” or “let’s use this at your next show”.

My favourite part of my shows and competitions was literally getting ready and doing my hair and makeup. Of course I loved the thrill of my dancing and that was awesome of course - but getting dolled up and just covering myself in glitter and Swarovski was just so exciting for me.

Often times before a competition I would look for different looks on the internet and practice it on myself first to see if I could do it and this is when I started trying to push to do all my makeup looks myself for every comp or show. Slowly but surely I was getting there and eventually I didn’t need my hair and makeup team to help me anymore. Look, given my blending was crap and I was painting my face for the back row but I was just so proud of myself for being able to blend blue and pink eye shadow together (I know! What the hell was I thinking?)

I have gone off topic again - let’s get it back on the main road here. I had to teach myself how to redo makeup and it was difficult because at this time, when I was 19, it was the year 2013 and beauty/makeup artists like Jaclyn Hill, Manny MUA and Lara Lee and Jeffree Star were all becoming super popular on YouTube. I remember coming home after work everyday and just sitting in my room watching them on YouTube and learning how to do my makeup.

I was working as a receptionist at this time and the people I was working for were very...unconventional. Bland. Nerdy. I am not in any way trying to be rude it’s just that for these people - looks were not a priority, if I can say that. Style or any sort of fashion sense was not important to them as much as it was to me although when applying for the position I was told that I needed to look better than the girls who sat in all center because of course I am the “front of the house” but that’s just an obvious observation at any office.

I used this as my platform to really push myself, creatively. Fashion and beauty have always been a big deal to me - being presentable is not a thing of vanity but we do unfortunately live in a society where people still judge books by their covers and if your cover doesn’t look good - people already create this perception in their mind of what type of a person you are, so if it looks like you don’t care - chances are - they think you don’t, and then the question that lingers overhead is what do you actually have to offer that’s good?

This was just my chance to practice and give myself a challenge, as I was literally the only person in the office who wore makeup and who didn’t have to wear a uniform. In my mind I wanted so badly to be an influencer and start my own YouTube channel like all the other makeup artists and I just became so absorbed in the fundamentals of makeup that it became life itself for me. I did a short course in makeup and became the biggest beauty sponge. I just soaked up all the information I could get and it is probably why I am so good with product knowledge and techniques now on counter. Everyone on counter treats me like Google because I just have so much information stored in my mind about makeup and different brands that I think I could literally write my own beauty encyclopedia?! You have to have a serious interest and passion for this to take you some where.

I like to keep up to date and learn about different brands and what is going on in the beauty community because just as much as I am trying to keep up with everyone and everything - so are all my customers. It is like beauty FOMO. I hate feeling embarrassed and so I don’t want my customer who has done her research to come to me and take me for a test drive only to look foolish because I don’t know what’s going on? NOT TODAY SATAN. I make sure I keep myself up to date and put in the research. Keeping in the loop is important and people appreciate honest insight.

ANYWAY. I keep going off on tangents and it is really frustrating for me - I can only imagine how you guys feel reading this.

In the end, my passion grew and it grew so far and so wide that it lead me to apply for a makeup position with Bobbi Brown. I also applied for MAC Cosmetics.

Bobbi Brown didn’t get back to me at all.

By some arbitrary chance, MAC contacted me. I had a screening. I had two verbal interviews. I did my makeup interview. 3 and a half years later, here I am working full time at MAC, I am on the events team and am absolutely LOVING what I am doing.

I honestly didn’t think that this is where I would be in my life - I wanted to be a wedding planner? But I am so grateful and so happy that this is where I am at right now and I’m just looking forward to what’s still available to me and what other opportunities lie ahead in the future.

To tie up all the loose ends of this infinitive blog. If you really love something, with your whole heart, and have a deep and burning desire for something. Don’t let it get away from you - keep it alive and just constantly work at it. The rewards are great and for me personally it feels so good to hear a customer turn to me and tell me how beautiful she looks, how she can’t stop looking at herself in the mirror how thankful she is that it was me who did her makeup that day (after she’s had a bad experience) it’s so rewarding watching your hard work come around full circle.

I know it sounds incredibly cheesy but I see it everyday in Trav (my husband) he just LOVES music and being a musician that it really inspires and motivates me to just push be a better artist. Watching him play or rehearse and just take music so seriously makes me so happy and so proud of him and I want his passion to be something that is contagious and just infect everyone that he meets because it has left an impression on me and I want to pass it along to everyone who needs it - especially since it is a new year and we are all looking for something to get us through.