Daily Inspiration: Meet Victoria Rivera

Today we’d like to introduce you to Victoria Rivera

Hi Victoria, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
My journey as a makeup artist all began when I was in college not doing well in my classes and I really had to make a decision that would change my career path. After a melt down or two I decided to follow my passion of beauty and look up beauty school options in my area. At the time, I was living in Jacksonville Florida since thats where I grew up, so a year later I was able to enroll at Aveda Insititute while finishing getting my AA degree from Florida State College of Jacksonville. After graduating from cosmetology school, I was hired at Sephora as a makeup artist where I learned a ton of tips and tricks from the other artists and brand reps. During my time working there I started to assist Lia Croke who is a top makeup artist in Jacksonville. I assisted her for a total of three years doing bridal all over town every weekend. After two and a half years at Sephora, I started working for Benefit cosmetics where I was able to learn details about shaping the eyebrows that further helped me in my artistry with my own freelance clients. Fast forward to 2021, I got the opportunity to move to Los Angeles California and I knew that it was something I had to do. I moved in August 2021 and landed my first “big” job when I was hired at Pout by Lipstick Nick which was a beauty bar in North Hollywood where I worked for a year and a half doing makeup at the salon and going on location for their clients. Working there I had the privilege of being trained by Nicole Faulkner aka Lipstick Nick which was a dream come true because of her amazing talent as an artist in the industry. In July 2023 I was introduced to makeup legend Eugenia Weston by a colleague and started working for her as a makeup and brow artist where I continue to learn an perfect my craft as an artist.

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
When I first moved to LA I had to wait five months for my cosmetology license to transfer from Florida since there are many different licensing laws from state to state, so during that time I worked at a small boutique in my area. Another struggle I’ve experienced was living here during the writers strike. As a makeup artist who wants to work on tv, you can imagine how little work was around during that time. If the big artists don’t have work, theres even less work for the smaller artists like myself.

Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I am a contemporary makeup artist which means I specialize in beauty work. No SFX prosthetics will be found in my freelance kit. I am known for doing makeup on clients for red carpets events, photoshoots, tv, and headshots. The work that I am so far most proud of is when I did makeup on my client Jenny Zigrino for The Late Late show with James Corden. I believe what sets me apart from other artists is my professionalism. I will always show up on time, in dress code, have a very clean makeup kit, help out others on set, and am eager to learn. I truly love this industry and people can see that when they meet me.

Is there something surprising that you feel even people who know you might not know about?
When I do photoshoots I love when I get to be the creative director. A lot of people don’t realize that its a whole vision that goes into it, down to every piece of clothing the model is wearing. I have brought a lot of my own clothes and accessories to photoshoots and its so fun for me to get to decide what she wears and the color of the background etc etc. I absolutely love collaborating with models and photographers. We have so much fun creating magic together. I also love working on set and watching a crew of people work together to make a story come to life. I enjoying watching anything behind the scenes of how movies and tv shows are made and I would love to get the opportunity to do it more regularly.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.makeupbyvictoriacindy.com/
• Instagram: @victoriacindymakeup

Image Credits
Lilly Lilova- Los Angeles photographer
Juan A Herrera- Los Angeles photographer