Life’s Good-ish?

Life update anyone?

Okay, so remember when I was talking about pivoting? And not being ashamed of starting over no matter your age or whatever other concepts are limiting you?

Well, maybe it was subtle foreshadowing!

I took my own advice because upon further investigation, I actually do have a passion for something I once found joy in as a child, oops :)

REWIND

As a little girl, I remember volunteering to help my mom set up her Mary Kay makeup and skincare parties. Lining the tables with the pink travel sized magnifying mirrors, setting out the Styrofoam makeup palettes and filling them with disposable applicators and dollops of the products needed for the evening.

I enjoyed the setup, but even more, I enjoyed watching the ladies pour in and seeing their excitement as they prepared to learn about products that support their skincare concerns and how to properly apply each step of their makeup routine. I would follow right behind my mom as she helped match a lady’s foundation shade or demonstrate what direction to pat a product in.

I remember getting excited to see the new eyeshadow colors or how a bit of blush brightened up the ladies faces, and seeing how refreshed and confident they felt after the party.

At the ripe age of 7 years old I had a wealth of knowledge in makeup application before I was ever actually allowed to wear any myself, except on the rare occasion my mom let me join in on the fun at one of the parties.

SOME YEARS LATER

As many of us remember, the 2010’s were the peak time for YouTube Makeup Gurus. From Jackie Aina to Michelle Phan to Nikkitutorials… I mean the list goes on of course. And I was in itttt.

Though I had some age restrictions on when I could begin wearing certain types of makeup, once I hit 15 and was permitted to wear mascara. I began playing in a bit of everything at that age, starting with eyeliner and then when I was home I would try putting on my mom’s foundation (absolutely not my shade).  And then I started dabbling in eyeshadow when I was home with nowhere to go, trying out different makeup looks I’d find on YouTube.

It’s at this time I started exploring the idea of being a makeup artist when I grew up.

What changed?

Looking back, I think I may have been struggling with a bit of imposter syndrome.

At the time, my older sister was studying Cosmetology and diving into the world of hairstyling and makeup artistry, and she’d always been so good at it. I mean, she’d been doing my hair and her own since like middle school.

I think I looked at that and thought maybe I wouldn’t be as good? But instead of unpacking that, I questioned whether I wanted to do it because I actually loved doing makeup or because I was following in my sister’s footsteps.

So, I killed that dream and went another route.

MORE RECENTLY

Though I never pursued makeup professionally, over the years I continued developing the skill on myself, and I would do makeup on my mom for events she would attend and on my little sister randomly for fun. During Covid times, I passed a lot of time by experimenting with my eyeshadow palettes and watching makeup tutorials like old times.

Professionally though, I focused on other endeavors, primarily Social Media Marketing & Strategy which I also fell in love with.

However, the dream of being a makeup artist was a distant memory.

Until about 3 years ago, I started doing my moms makeup again for events and photoshoots here and there. Surprisingly, I found that the photographers would let my mom know that they really liked my work! I would give myself a little pat on the back, but still never thought much of it.

Eventually, as my little sister entered high school, she decided she wanted to enter pageantry a the Miss HBCU Teen Pageant and for me to be her Pageant Weekend makeup artist.

Of course, as an older sister, I do nothing without a little complaining first, but I agreed. We planned out what makeup she wanted based on inspo photos from Pinterest and it ended up being a lot of fun really getting to play in makeup getting and on a face other than mine.

Amidst this time, I’ve dealt with some unexpected changes in employment, was pushed into full-time entrepreneurship without full preparation, and then decided to go back into the workforce part-time a year later.

But, I wasn’t really feeling fulfilled.

I kept feeling like I was just dragging myself along and going through the motions. I was doing what I had to do, but never doing what I wanted to do.

NOW

At the beginning of this year, I decided to take a deep dive into discovering what it is that I really wanted to do for secular work. Or as I say, I took the time to figure my life out. I needed to reflect. So, I started brainstorming and researching to see what careers align with my interests and skill set. Though, on paper, there were a couple things that seemed like could’ve been right for me, when I looked further into them, something just wasn’t right.

Finally, I realized I kind of want something where I can tap into my creative side a bit and something where everyday may not look exactly the same. Another thing that was really important for me, is having a flexible schedule. I’ve found with my spiritual schedule, and with how much I value being able to show up for my family and friends when they need me, a flexible schedule is kind of a must have.

Looking into careers I was interested in when I was younger I explored wedding planning, interior design/decorating, and finally circled back to makeup artistry. THAT WAS IT!

It wasn’t an easy decision but after hemming and hawing for a couple of months, I decided to bite the bullet and enroll in Esthetics School to obtain a license and be able to do makeup professionally in the State of North Carolina.

TODAY

After starting school in August, I’ve already learned a lot and even fell in love with the skincare side of things as well. I love giving facial treatments and I can’t wait to use those skills in conjunction with my makeup skills to help people feel more confident and beautiful!

I’m excited for this next chapter of my life, as I see where this renewed interest takes me!

Though, around me, life is still doing it’s thing with financial problems, and personal problems… amidst all of that, I’ve been working hard to focus on the good stuff and just let God guide me through all the other mess.

All of this to say, life has been good-ish lately, with new things on the horizon I’m feeling pretty good!

Anyways, bye for now :)

coco x