We were lucky to catch up with Chari Viana recently and have shared our conversation below.

Chari, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Can you recount a story of an unexpected problem you’ve faced along the way?

Hi, I’m Chari Viana. I am a very successful hair and makeup artist for 20+ years. So, last year I broke both of my arms at the same time and was out of work for 6 months. Yes I know what you’re thinking, how do you break both arms at the same time.. haha. Well, when you’re in your 30’s and think that going on your nieces hoverboard was a good idea that’s exactly what happens. You end up stepping on the hoverboard and the next thing you know your on the floor holding both wrists. As you can imagine, I was completely out of commission for a very long time. The break on my dominant arm was extremely severe. After 6 weeks of being in a cast I find out I needed surgery.. I was at one of my lowest points in my life. I didn’t know if I was ever going to be able to work and do hair and makeup ever again. I ended up teacher myself how to do makeup with my left hand. I was determined. Thankfully I ended up getting the surgery and it ended up being a success and even though my wrist still isn’t 100% I was able to go back to work. It took me a few weeks to get back into the groove. Since being back to work I focused on pushing myself to my greatest capacity. I’ve made more money and have been the busiest I’ve ever been in my life. I’ve been flown around the world to do hair and makeup and I also ended up coming in 2nd in the world in the IBI awards for the best creative makeup category. Just goes to show you that every storm in your life is followed by a rainbow just as long as your mind set is positive!

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I’ve been doing hair and make up since I’m 17 years old. I’ve always been into hair and make up and I was extremely artistic when I was younger. I turned that are into a profitable business. Ever since I started doing hair and make up I’ve always wanted to be the best so I strive to be able to do anything and everything I can to better my ability. My favorite thing to do is to learn new techniques and coming up with new artistic ideas. With doing that I was able to acquire a celebrity clientele. I’ve been very successful in the bridal business as well. Makeup has been a huge part of my life. I am a self-taught make up artist and I practice for hours on end every day. One of my greatest accomplishments and make up is teaching myself and mastering Halloween/fantasy makeup. I recently came in second in the world for best creative make up look at the IBI awards.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

The most rewarding aspect is being able to use my artistic abilities to make people feel beautiful.

Looking back, are there any resources you wish you knew about earlier in your creative journey?

I wish that YouTube or TikTok was around when I was first starting out but 20+ years ago it didn’t even exist. YouTube and TikTok are huge platforms that makes it much easier to learn new techniques and get new ideas to learn from. When I started out doing hair and make up you just had to either figure it out for yourself or learn from other artists. I’m happy that they are around now because Ive learned so many new things from those platforms.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: StyledByChari
• Facebook: StyledByChariViana