Daily Inspiration: Meet Edith Bogarin

Today we’d like to introduce you to Edith Bogarin.

Hi Edith, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
I was born and raised in Los Angeles County. I grew up in the South Bay; Carson, Long Beach, San Pedro, and Wilmington . I currently live in South LA, Hyde Park.

I have always had a passion for art and faces. I love to draw and paint portraits, and facial expressions have always fascinated me. I began drawing at a young age, and continued to sporadically throughout my teenage years until I decided to become a fine arts major.

Despite the career risk, I wanted to pursue that aspiration. I ended up at Humboldt State University in Arcata, California.
I got away with it since it’s not out of state.
Humboldt was where I was formally introduced to painting. I had always drawn. But there, I learned to paint on canvas and was introduced to different art forms, mediums, and techniques. I learned so much and completed my very first painted portrait; a portrait of Frida Kahlo.

I eventually dropped out of Humboldt State University and moved back to Los Angeles because of a relationship. That same year, I transferred to Cal State Dominguez Hills. Around this time, my parents had already sold my childhood home, and I ended up living with my boyfriend at the time.

Over the next several years, relationship and housing issues affected my education, and I eventually had to dropout of Dominguez Hills as well. I then got my first long-term job.

By this point, I couldn’t paint. The need to create was there, but I no longer knew what form that creativity would take. I had felt disconnected from that part of myself and began venturing into different artistic outlets.

It was 2016, and I was sitting at my desk at work, sneakily looking through Facebook, when I saw an ad for Elegance International, a film and special effects makeup school in Hollywood. It no longer exists, I might add, sadly due to the pandemic.

My fascination with Hollywood and the film industry had been hiding under a rock, but it was still very much alive in my dreams. Growing up in Los Angeles, Hollywood had been so close to me all my life and yet so far.

Growing up with three older sisters, makeup was constantly in my environment, but it always felt out of my league. I felt too quirky, too artsy for makeup; too young, too innocent. As I got older, that feeling stayed with me.

Eventually, I found myself drawn back to the thing that had fascinated me since childhood: faces. This time, instead of pencil or paint on canvas, my medium became makeup.

Makeup artistry gave me another way to explore color, expression, character, and transformation. What began as another creative outlet eventually developed into professional work in beauty, editorial, runway, and film.

I began makeup school in 2016 and graduated in 2017. In the beginning, I had gigs here and there until I got an opportunity to work with a director who was also starting out. For the next two, I became the key horror SFX makeup artist, off and on, for a horror YouTube channel called Burnt Mill Road, working with them from 2019 to 2021

I juggled this with my full-time job, and eventually, balancing the two was no longer working for me. SFX makeup is my first love. If I had had the proper workspace at the time, I probably would still be doing it.

Eventually, I started looking for other opportunities. I was approached by my very first editorial opportunity with a magazine called FACE Mag which later transitioned into ERA Mag. I began doing TFP editorial work, which eventually led to working backstage at LA Fashion Week for Art Hearts Fashion.

Throughout all of this, I am still working my full-time County job, but it hasn’t stopped me from continuing to pursue my creative career.

My work, just to name a few, has been featured in publications such as ELLE Kazakhstan, Auxiliary Magazine, Kreep Mag. Collaborations with fashion brands such as “Catholic Guilt”, and a fashion campaign for the brand “Wod Von One” which ended up appearing on a billboard in New York’s Times Square. One of my proudest moments! I was part of Model Cons very first hair and makeup artist competition.
I’ve had the pleasure of working with many talented photographers, models, designers, and artists throughout my journey. I’ve also worked on a few indie feature films, one of which, “SAE”, is currently being screened at local film festivals. I was included in a group nomination for Best FX at the “Top Indie Film Festival” for my SFX work in that film.

I’m currently looking to gain more experience with hair and have joined Beyond the Combs Makeup and Hair Academy. I’ve joined an international agency called “Empower Cross EE. UU”that specializes in male-to-female transformations. Eventually, I would like to enroll in cosmetology school and continue expanding my hairstyling skills.

In addition to makeup, I also read tarot. I have my own spiritual platform called Tarot Eye Edie, which I share through YouTube, Instagram, and TikTok. It has become another creative outlet for me and another way for me to connect with others.

Looking back, I’ve realized that creativity had never left my life; it has simply taken on different forms. Drawing, painting, makeup and tarot, may seem like completely different worlds, but to me, they are all one and the same.

I want to bring these different parts of myself together. I would love to incorporate my visual art, makeup artistry, and spiritual work into one business and become the creative director of my own company.

My path has definitely not been a straight one. There have been times when I stopped creating, changed direction, or had no idea where I was going. But somehow, creativity has continued to carve my path.
And in one form or another, I keep finding my way back to where I started: art and faces.

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?
It has definitely not been a smooth road. One of my biggest challenges has been trying to build a creative career while maintaining a full-time job. There have been times when I’ve had to turn down opportunities because I couldn’t get away from work, and other times when I’ve gone straight from my regular workweek into long days on set or backstage. It can be exhausting trying to give both careers the energy they deserve.

Another challenge has been the financial side of being a freelance artist. Makeup artistry requires a lot of investment; building and maintaining a professional kit, replenishing products, traveling to locations, continuing my education, and sometimes taking unpaid or TFP opportunities because I believed they could help me grow. There have definitely been times when I’ve wondered whether I was putting more money into my career than I was getting back from it.

I’ve also had to learn that not every opportunity is the right opportunity. When you’re starting out, it can feel like you have to say yes to everything because you’re afraid the next opportunity won’t come. Over time, I’ve become more selective about where I put my time, money, and creative energy.

Probably one of my biggest personal struggles has been believing in myself enough to keep going when my life doesn’t look like the traditional version of success. I’ve had setbacks with school, relationships, housing, and my creative career. There have been periods when I wanted to stop but I just kept going.

Ive had to regroup plenty of times. I have changed direction, learned something new, and came back to it differently. I’ve done that several times in my life. I went back and finished my degree, I found new areas of makeup when SFX became difficult to maintain, and I continue to find ways to create even while working full-time.

I’m still figuring things out, and I think that’s important to admit. I haven’t reached every goal I have for myself yet. But I’m much more willing to trust that my path doesn’t have to look like anyone else’s in order for it to be meaningful.

Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I consider myself a multidisciplinary artist. Makeup artistry is currently the largest part of my professional creative work, but my background and interests extend into fine art, film, fashion, special effects, tarot, astrology, and visual storytelling.

As a makeup artist, I specialize in beauty, editorial, runway, film, and SFX makeup. I really enjoy transformation and character work, but I also love creating beautiful, polished looks and collaborating with photographers, designers, models, and other creatives to bring a concept to life. I think my background in drawing and painting influences the way I approach makeup. I pay a lot of attention to color, facial structure, expression, and the feeling behind an image.

I’m especially proud of how diverse my body of work has become. What sets me apart is that I don’t really see myself fitting into one creative box. I can go from creating a horror SFX look to soft glam, an editorial concept, or runway makeup. I’m continuing to develop my hairstyling skills as well because I want to become a more well-rounded artist.

Outside of makeup, I still draw and paint, and I also read tarot and interpret astrology charts through my different platforms. Although those things may seem unrelated, they all involve creativity, intuition, interpretation, and transformation in different ways.

I think what I’m most proud of is that I’ve continued creating and building this career while maintaining a completely separate full-time career. I didn’t have the luxury of dropping everything and pursuing art full-time. A lot of what I’ve accomplished has happened on weekends, after work, on sets, at shoots, and whenever I could make the time for it.

I want all of these different parts of my life to come together. Where I can incorporate my visual art, makeup artistry, and spiritual work into something that is uniquely mine.

Alright, so to wrap up, is there anything else you’d like to share with us?
Don’t give up on your dreams. Life is more worth living when you have dreams to chase.

Pricing:

• Custom Art Commissions — Pricing varies by size, medium & complexity
• Professional Makeup and hair styling Services — Starting at $150
• OTP: Tarot Reading: Tarot Reading: 2 Questions — $55 * Tarot Deep-Dive Reading — $75

Contact Info:

• Instagram: MAKE UP: @ediebo.mua TAROT: @taroteyeedie ART: @abstractluvmodernity
• Youtube: @taroteyeedie
• Other: TIk Tok: @edisuuhh

Image Credits
Photo#1 AI generated logo for Tarot Eye Edie

Photo#2
Portrait Drawing of “Lance”

Photo#3
Photographer: @mastermindfotoo
Model: @alusiichka
Designer: @yassimoradiart
MUA: @ediebo.mua

Photo# 4
Featured in: @rebel.mag
Models: @igbannedjay @itsjyeeeee
Designer: @wodvonone
Creative director: @madebyjameel
Shot by: @qxphotography
Makeup: @ediebo.mua

Photo# 5
“Midsummer Daydream” for @elle_kazakhstan
View the story at Elle.com.kz

Photographer: @tychenphotography
Fashion/creative direction: @tesselizabethw @tesselizabethvintage
Model: @meilivzheng for @mazzamodels @onemanagement
Hair: @kristina.hairs
Makeup : @ediebo.mua
Photo Assist: @caspenstudios
BTS/Set Assist: @itsmmwrld

Photo# 6
Feat. In @auxiliarymagazine #newtwist

Magazine: @auxiliarymagazine
Model: @angelmydarling
Stylist: @stylingbyrashi
HMUA: @ediebo.mua
Shot by: @saryn

Photo # 7
Model: @rentanguera
Photo: @tydivinee
Event: @modelcon_
HMUA: me @ediebo.mua
Hair Extensions from @loveqcura

Photo# 8
Portrait Drawing of my sister “EDTNA”

Photo # 9
Model: @shainarosee
Creative Direction: Maia Saavedra-Weisenhaus and Shaina Rose
Chainmail Garments @catholicguilt_clothing
Creative Design+ Styling – @shainarosee and @maia_saavedra_ Photography + Lighting @_chaseharding_
Lighting Assistant @juaanjromaan
Photography + Lighting @holysmokephotography
Makeup @ediebo.mua
Flames @maia_saavedra_
Flame assistant @tom.mendenhall