August 29, 2016

Meet West Hollywood Makeup Artist: Danah Cleaton

Local Stories

Today we’d like to introduce you to Danah Cleaton .

Danah, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
My love for Makeup began when I was only in the 8th grade. My older sister was a freshman and she received a makeup kit as a gift upon entering high school. I instantly feel in love with all the beautiful colors and assortments of blush, eye shadows, and lip colors. I found myself sneaking into my sister’s room and trying on all her products. Of course, I was caught, seeing as I left fingerprints in her eyeshadows. I was officially banned from my sister’s makeup. However, that did not stop my love for makeup. I eventually received my own kit as well. This was only the beginning of my journey. I’ve always had a passion for people and making them feel beautiful. I believe that it is everyone’s natural birthright to feel beautiful about themselves, yet unfortunately many women don’t see themselves as the true beauty they truly are.

Upon receiving my kit I began inviting girls over who were bullied and picked on due to their appearance and I’d give them makeovers including hair and makeup. Sometimes I’d even let them wear my clothes and we’d take pictures to post on their Myspace. It truly made me happy to see the effect that makeup had on a woman’s confidence. I went through high school experimenting with makeup on myself, most of the time I looked completely ridiculous for I had not yet mastered the techniques. After high school, I decided to go to college for a culinary degree because I had a passion for all things artistic as well as I absolutely loved food. Doing my years in culinary school I started noticing that maybe I didn’t choose the right field to peruse because I had no passion for my classes. I began to dread going to them. The highlight of my days would be my makeup applications on myself before class. I also noticed I was the only culinary student rocking a full face of makeup with a bold red lip to our 6-hour cooking classes no matter how hot the kitchen got. So in April of 2014, I made the decision to withdraw for my program in Culinary although I was 5 classes from graduation. I decided I wanted to peruse a makeup career and I did not want to waste any more time or money. I went to my local library and checked out 13 books on the topic of makeup artistry. Including names such as “Bobbi Brown makeup Manual, The makeup Artist Handbook and Making faces” I studied the books, watched YouTube videos, as well as practiced on as many faces I could get my hands on. In October 2014 I figured I’d acquired sufficient amount of knowledge and that I was good enough to get a job at Mac Cosmetics. I was hired as a freelance artist. However, on my first day of work as a freelance artist, I was offered a permanent position as 24-hour artist at a Mac location at the Mall of America in MN. I worked that position for a few months and gained lots of knowledge about products and makeup application on all races, ages, and sexes. After a few months, I realized that I was good enough and that I could freelance on my own and establish my own clientele. So I left Mac and worked as a freelance artist for myself. Business was slow so I began serving at a fine dining restaurant to cover my living expense while still doing makeup on the side. In October 2016 I decided that I wanted to become a professional celebrity makeup artist and in order to do that, I had to relocate to LA.

I moved here Oct. 21, 2016, and embarked on my journey as a makeup artist. Through Instagram, I met a celebrity makeup artist who allowed me to become her Makeup Assistant. She took me under her wing and began to teach me the ins and outs of the industry. Overall she helped me with my professionalism as well as advancing my makeup techniques. I even began working for her glam agency and was able to participate in events doing makeup as well as makeup-assisting for Award shows such as “The BET Celebration of Gospel” and TV Networks such as “WETV and TVone” I gained a lot of knowledge as well as a bit of exposure from her. Now here I am today still working towards building my name and clientele in this industry. So far my journey has been amazing and I’m excited to see how I’ll continue you flourish and prosper. I am a strong believer in empowering and uplifting women with the use of makeup. I feel makeup is a powerful tool that can enhance one’s natural beauty. Moreover,

“If it takes a bit of concealer and a red lip to make you feel like the Queen that you are, then so be it!” –Danah Cleaton

Has it been a smooth road?
It has not been a smooth road for I’ve struggled with not having clients or being booked for extended periods of time which begins to weigh on you and makes it easy to get discouraged or dismayed. It is also a lot of competition in the area so it has been a bit of a struggle to become and stay relevant seeing as there are so many talented artists in the area.

What are your plans for the future?
My plans for the future is to be able to uplift, inspire and cultivate the hearts of millions of women around the world by creating a cosmetics line that is dedicated to teaching women their worth by enhancing their physical beauty but also letting them know that true beauty comes from within.

Let’s go backward a bit – can you tell us about the most trying time in your career?
The hardest time in my career has been moving to LA and beginning the process of becoming an established well-known artist. It has been so hard because I’m in an area that’s unfamiliar, I have no family, and I don’t have any connections. As humans in this day and age we also seek instant gratification and I am one of those people, to say the least, I expect so much from myself and I want to be so successful at this moment that I find myself being hard on myself when I don;t have as many clients as I feel I should have or if my skills aren’t as perfect as I want them to be. However, to get through it must come to terms with the saying “Nothing worth having comes easy!” I also must accept the process and know that with every adversity comes an equivalent seed of benefit. I believe that I will make it maybe not immediately but absolutely and definitely. I just have to relax and continue moving forward. Though this move has been quite difficult especially being here alone, it has been the best thing I’ve ever done because being here I have truly become a better version of myself. I’ve become, wiser, stronger, as well has have found a better knowledge of self.

What about “Wow-moments” – any moments that stick out? Any moments when you felt like you had made it?
The moment I felt that “wow” feeling like hey my career is really starting to workout! was when I began work for Melissa Hibberts “Glam Agency” and I was able to be a working artist at Award shows, Tv networks, and with high-end clientele. It made me feel a sense a pride. I felt like “Hey I’m good enough!” “My skills are good enough!” At those moments I felt that was only the beginning of an amazing journey that I’m about to embark on and it only gets better!

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