Today we’d like to introduce you to Vanessa Estrada.
Thanks for sharing your story with us Vanessa. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
My passion for beauty began about three years ago, following makeup artists, brands and celebrities on social media. I have always been intrigued by a photo of someone with beautiful makeup, hair, and a great outfit.
I can definitely say Rihanna was a huge inspiration for that lol. I got to a point in my life about three years ago where I was feeling a void like something was missing. I wasn’t happy because I wasn’t doing something I loved and was passionate about. So, I thought to myself, I knew I was always an artistic person that needed that outlet to be mentally stable. I just didn’t know what I wanted to do. I was casually browsing YouTube one day and stumbled across a makeup tutorial. I watched one, then another, and another. They were addicting! I finally decided to try to follow one, and my makeup came out pretty decent. I got really into just learning different routines, tips, and tricks and became obsessed with wanting to perfect each look I tried. While I was practicing what I learned, I found that I was falling in love with how therapeutic doing my makeup actually was. Not only that, but there was always something new to learn. I love how makeup changes continuously and there is always new opportunities to educate myself. The more I learned, the more flawless my makeup became.
When I started getting compliments and having friends ask me to do their makeup all the time, I thought maybe I can turn this into a little side hustle. With this, I continued my education in makeup by watching makeup tutorials and I soon became inspired to make one myself. It was so exciting to create an entire set just to teach what I’ve learned on YouTube. I have always been an artistic person, but on this journey of finding myself I was able to see a different side of my artistic expression. About two years ago, I began to take my makeup artistry a little more seriously and created its own separate social media accounts, a YouTube channel and booking website for clients. My goal today is to continue to grow Looks by Vanessa as an artist and on social media to further diversify my experience and play a key role in my brands commitment to inclusive artistry.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
There’s definitely been a few bumps in the road. If you ask anyone running a business, starting it is the hardest part. In the beginning, I hesitated because I was not confident in my artistry or myself in general. I literally took a leap of faith and prayed people would not make fun of me. But when I did it, it wasn’t too bad. I definitely still cringe at myself in YouTube videos but its all apart of the process. Another thing with investing in yourself is having the money to actually do it. I am still in the process of learning that side of the technicalities when running a business but there’s been a few times when I had to stop doing makeup and making tutorials because I had to put most of my time in doing a different job just to have money to put into my makeup kit and whatever else I needed to continue my services. Also, its been a difficult journey learning how to balance supporting myself and running my own business. There’s been days where I only have two hours to film a look, take pictures, and start editing. I had to learn (and am still learning) how to sacrifice my time to make my dreams a reality.
Please tell us about Looks by Vanessa.
Looks by Vanessa is a beauty brand. It’s about enhancing natural beauty and educating others on how to enhance their own natural beauty. I specialize in the application of makeup on clients and educating people about beauty via social media networks. I am still and will always be a work in progress as I continue to evolve, learn and grow everyday but as of right now, what I am most proud of is actually getting to do what I love and what inspires me. Just having clients and people that follow me is such a huge accomplishment. As a makeup artist, what sets me apart from others I believe is my soft glam looks. I am a perfectionist when it comes to soft glam! I am also focused on developing and applying great interpersonal skills with people of various ages, cultures and backgrounds which has helped me become a responsible, creative and patient worker.
If you had to go back in time and start over, would you have done anything differently?
I believe everything happened the way it has for a reason and my brand’s journey will have so much more to come in due time.
Contact Info:
- Email: looksbyvanessa@gmail.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/looksbyvanessa/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/looksbyvanessa
- Other: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCdTJap70SBy2w1gkbg-Cz3w
Suggest a story: VoyageMIA is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.
