Today we’d like to introduce you to Gentle-Storm Wyatt.
Hi Gentle-Storm, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?
First, I’d like to say it’s my pleasure to do this interview with Voyage LA!
Since I was in middle school at La Tijera, I started playing in eyeshadow. I would sneak my aunt’s single MAC eyeshadows, one by one, and test them on my eyes. That’s where my love for makeup all started. Then in high school, I started wearing mascara and gloss. My aunt bought me a mani and pedi spa kit, which I eventually started collecting nail polishes in. It was an obsession. I was into my nails A LOT. I would go to the nail shop and pay attention to everything they did until I could do my own mani and pedi. Now I have a wall of polishes. I have everything you can think of to do a mani and pedi.
Hair- All throughout high school I got my hair done in a press-n-curl. I always had a part down the middle. Til this day, that is my signature style. I wanted to work in the salon, Salon Eberechi, so bad. I loved how it was such a community for women to come in looking one way and leave with a totally different type of confidence. I paid attention to how my hair was being done, the products my beautician used, and the tools she used on me. Before I graduated high school, I couldn’t afford to get my hair done any longer, so I bought my own tools. Lol- I was so dedicated to doing my hair and got so good that I didn’t really need my beautician anymore. I bought a stove, 2 pressing combs, a marcel flat iron, a wax stick, combs and brushes for my hair. I still have these tools to this day. My beautician told me I should go to cosmetology school but I was trying to impress my parents by going to school to be a doctor.
By the time I got to college, I started wearing a lot more makeup. I started putting on a full face. It’s crazy because I’ve done makeup for people going to proms & birthday dinners for fun and forgot until about ten years later when they showed me pictures. I never thought any of that would go anywhere though.
My instructor at Cal State LA said, “Storm, why don’t you just formulate your own makeup line, I will help you!” I literally was going to my classes in full glam and always had my nails done. At this point I was wearing my hair in natural heat-free styles.
I really started getting better with makeup from watching YouTube tutorials. It wasn’t perfect though. Iwanted to have that professional look. So my last semester in college, I also attended makeup school. It was hard. I felt so disconnected with college and the other students, but makeup was the best distraction while also giving me purpose. I graduated with both my Bachelor’s Degree in Exercise Science as well as obtained a certificate of completion at a makeup academy. Finally, I practiced makeup on others a lot. I really want to thank my family and friends who let me practice makeup on them.
A few years later I worked a corporate job after college, which I hated. I always knew that I never wanted a 9-5 kind of job, yet for years I did it. I told myself I could do both my corporate job and my side job -makeup- but I couldn’t. I knew I wanted makeup to be full-time. I knew I wanted to work for myself.
So here I am years later, an entrepreneur, and doing what I love! It has not been easy at all, but it’s the most fulfilling thing I’ve ever done. To wake up and do the thing you love, to get paid for it, and to make people feel absolutely good about themselves, that’s truly a blessing.
I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey have been a fairly smooth road?
Oh, absolutely not. The thing is my parents always wanted me to be either a doctor or a nurse. I couldn’t imagine being a nurse, so I decided I’d go to college to be a doctor. I love science and learning about the human body, but it just wasn’t something that drove me to want to pursue it after my 4-year degree. In fact, I struggled throughout college. I attended a junior college first and switched majors so many times trying to find what I enjoyed the most. I listened to other people’s opinions on what they thought I should do and who I should be. So at the junior college I was really trying to figure it out. When I got to the university, I only wanted to be in the arts. I really didn’t think there was a career in makeup though. When I told my advisors what I really wanted to do, they persuaded me to stay in school and go to Med School. So here I was really competing with students who wanted to be doctors and nurses or PA and PT’s.
I knew I didn’t want to do any of that.
I was on academic probation TWICE and finally academically disqualified. The Dean actually called me. We had a meeting and he believed that I was so much more than a college dropout. So he allowed me to come back during the Summer semester and if I got a C or better, I could finish out the year. So I passed and eventually graduated from Cal State LA.
Talk about a struggle. It was an identity struggle for me along with a lot of people-pleasing.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I specialize in makeup artistry.. but I can do a bit of hair, and nails as well. My apartment is like a salon, I have everything a girl could need. I started a YouTube channel in college where I was showing how I applied my makeup in my car (so funny now that I think of it). Right now I’m focused on makeup courses and having a product line. I’m super excited and proud of how far this journey has taken me.
I’m a makeup artist here in Los Angeles, who provides a luxury experience to my clients, in the comfort of their home. I’m super passionate about what I do.
I think what sets most artists apart from everyone else is the drive. It’s a calling that you really can’t help. My creativity and artistry has really opened doors for me that I never thought would open. I’m excited for the many doors that will open. I think a lot of us artists are just obsessed with what we do, we love it. I love it. I wake up and go to life, not work. When you do what you love it’s not work, at least it doesn’t feel like it.
I’m most proud of the inner voice that I didn’t listen to for so long, that kept pulling me. I can finally say throughout all of my struggles, the time that I’ve spent on doing everything else, this is what I continue to gravitate to.
Truly, I am proud to say I’m still here and doing what I love.
What sort of changes are you expecting over the next 5-10 years?
I think the makeup industry will only get bigger in the next 5-10 years. More brands will offer a larger shade range and it will be a lot less difficult for women of color to find their shade of foundation and powder in stores. I’m also looking forward to more brands offering travel sizes to make it easier for makeup artists like myself who usually depot everything to fit in a smaller kit. I also think as technology continues to grow, so will filters. Women want to see real skin though, so I’m hoping more influencers as well as makeup artists would showcase a lot less filters.
Thank you again Voyage LA for this opportunity to share my story. Much love, peace, and blessings.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: instagram.com/gentlestormwyatt
- Youtube: www.youtube.com/@gentlestormwyatt
