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Google PlayChristiana Cassell’s professional title may be makeup artist and hairstylist, but her work goes much deeper than just making her clients look their best. “I love how I make people feel,” Cassell said. “I’m such a people person so, the most important part [of my job] is building relationships and making people feel good.”
Some of those relationships include working with A-List celebrities such as Zerina Akers, Emma Grede, Malika Haqq, and music sensations ChloexHalle. For the Maryland-raised, Los Angeles based artist, combining her skills and professionalism with her warmth and kindness has opened several doors for her. One of the biggest included doing Chloe and Halle’s makeup for the 2021 Met Gala and painting faces for supermodels on the set for Beyoncé’s Black Is King project.
Growing up, it was clear Cassell was destined to work in the beauty industry. “I used to love watching my mom get ready. Through her, I learned it’s all about embracing your beauty rather than covering it up,” Cassell, who’s of Liberian descent, explains. “My mom had a home remedy for everything. She always made it a point to show me that beauty was about nourishing and taking care of yourself from the inside-out.”
Cassell still applies this mantra to her clients as well as herself. “I want people to stop me and say, ‘You look nice. Your skin looks refreshing!’ My approach is on the softer, natural, and more radiant side.” That said, Cassell loves using a soft blush to add color to the face, such as LYS Beauty’s Higher Standard Satin Matte Cream Blush in the color Passion. “I hate being overdressed or underdressed, so I try to aim for looks that land me in the middle of the road.”
“Sometimes your neck might be lighter or darker than your face and you definitely want to match your neck.” For concealers, Cassell suggests finding one that is one or two shades lighter than your foundation, “Depending on how much you’re trying to highlight and brighten the face,” she says. If you’re aiming to cover any circles around the eyes, Cassell suggests using a concealer with a hint of pink in it. “It saves you from having to color correct and cancels out any hyperpigmentation.”
It would be a while before Cassell could use a transition color on a client or herself, as her mom didn’t allow her to wear makeup growing up. So, she settled for giving her dolls makeovers, which included haircuts and coloring their faces with markers to achieve the “ultimate beat.” “I was doing a lot of things I wasn’t supposed to do,” she adds with a laugh.
