We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Tara Mascara a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Tara, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Have you been able to earn a full-time living from your creative work? If so, can you walk us through your journey and how you made it happen? Was it like that from day one? If not, what were some of the major steps and milestones and do you think you could have sped up the process somehow knowing what you know now?

I had a couple of moments where I went in different directions trying to find what I wanted to do for a career. As cliché as it sounds, the best advice I can give is to follow your heart and do what makes you happy. I originally wanted to be a dentist so that I could make people feel beautiful. After working in a dental office as a receptionist, I realized that wasn’t the path that I wanted to go in, so I stopped going to school for biology. I began working in hospitality full-time because I loved interacting with people. I was dealing with celebrity clients and other VIPS and was making the the most upsells for the hotel, but it wasn’t rewarding for me. I had to really sit down and think hard about what I wanted to do. For years, I always loved doing my own makeup or having it done by professionals. I was even nicknamed Tara Mascara when I was working in the hotel industry (ten years before I even started doing make-up). One day, Sam Fine, a professional Artist came in an complimented me on my Smokey eye and that was really what changed everything for me. I made the commitment to myself to go to school for makeup. I worked overnights at the hotel from 11pm-7pm and I went to school at Make-up Designory from 8am-5pm. I hardly ever got more than a few hours of sleep a day. I worked hard and I learned everything I could. My teachers started mentioning my name to another teacher Jackie Mgido. She then took me under her wing and gave me the opportunity to assist her on tv shows. I got my start working on Food Network and also ESPN. I really believe that you need to have faith in yourself and work hard for what you want. Other people will also see your dedication and your career will start to bloom. I feel that I kind of took a little from both of the jobs that I had before and I am using what I learned in my career today. I wanted to make people feel beautiful, I also learned how to anticipate the needs of others which is helpful as a make-up artist. . I just want to remind everyone that things take time. It took me years to meet people and network and build a career that offers me to earn a full-time living doing what what makes me happy. Money will eventually come, just keep working hard. Once you decide on a career, just stick to it because it won’t feel like work when you are doing what you love.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I’m Tara Mascara and I am a Make-up Artist for Television and Film. My makeup philosophy is that I want to enhance your natural beauty, I want you to feel like the best version of yourself. If you feel confident, then you will perform your very best. I try to make the workplace relaxing but very fun at the same time. I have been doing make-up for 15 years now and every job is still so exciting for me. In this career, you will always be learning. There are always new techniques and even old ones that you can familiarize yourself with as well. I am constantly trying to improve my craft and learn from my fellow peers.
I am very proud to be a member of local 706 and so grateful to work with such amazingly talented make-up artists and hairstylists. It’s such a blessing to being able to collaborate with other creatives in our industry and to be able to tell a story that was written by talented writers and performed by brilliant actors. To be able to see everyone’s hard work on big screens is so magical.

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

When I started out going to school, I was living out of my car for two months and staying with my friend Kisha and my cousin Brian from time to time. It all worked itself out with good support from them and my ability to stay focused on my goals. I didn’t want anything to stop me. Even when I went full force towards working on set, I was originally living an hour and a half away and I was a new single mom. I took the money I saved up and moved to LA with my two year old daughter. I didn’t have set childcare, but I had her in a good school. I woke up every day at 2am to pack my daughter’s bag and take her to friend’s houses, family like my Mom or my uncle George, or even my neighbors homes so they can take her to school. Then I would work a 12 hour day and come pick her up and get her ready for bed. I knew that if I kept at it, I would have a solid career and be able to provide for my daughter. I feel so proud and blessed that I have been able to do so for all these years. She is now in Junior high and thriving.

Where do you think you get most of your clients from?

I typically get new clients from word of mouth. I just try to do the best possible job and hopefully my current clients, or producers notice, then they pass my information onto the next possible job. I am truly grateful to all those who have recommended me in the past and who continue to do so now. Thank you all!!

Contact Info:

• Website: TaraMascara.com
• Instagram: TaraMascaraOfficial
• Linkedin: Tara Mascara
• Other: IMDB: TaraMascara II

Image Credits
Brittany Picasso, Xia Rashid, Stakiah Washington, Taylor Tomlinson, Laura Wright (Chesmark)