Today we’d like to introduce you to Sabrina Ozuna.
Hi Sabrina, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I’ve been a makeup artist for 16 years and the time has truly flown by.
If you told me as a little girl who would wear winged eyeliner and lipliner every day that she would grow up to become a professional makeup artist, I don’t think I would have believed it.
To be as transparent as possible I started wearing makeup because of being extremely insecure. That insecurity then eventually evolved to a skill set. I went from never being able to be seen without makeup to the “go to” girl to do everyone’s prom makeup while in high school.
I started during the days before YouTube tutorials and I would do makeup on my friends, which lead to doing makeup for small local theater performances, which then lead to doing a little time as a retail makeup artist for a brand we all know, after that my journey lead to doing makeup for photoshoots, then independent movies, then shortly after that being flown to New York Fashion Week as a key artist, to television and film for streaming services and then to a celebrity list of over 90 actors.
I definitely grazed over the process because a lot of “blood, sweat, and tears” went into every transition. I remember working at the counter and creating foundation samples for a freelance gig I would have that weekend because I will still building my professional kit and didn’t have an abundance of foundations and picking up more hours at that counter so I could add to my professional kit. I remember sleeping on a thin piece of foam on an independent film that they said lodging was available hours away from home and all they had was a thin piece of foam no bigger than a piece of paper for both hair and makeup to lay on. The days of lugging both beauty hair/makeup kits and special effects kits to other states to apply zombie after zombie and run back to the green room to do beauty touch-ups and after a long day of being both beauty makeup and sfx at a huge event coming out to our rental car with a boot on it because the machine messed up and said that spot wasn’t paid for but it was and having to wait hours for the boot to be taken off. The amount of non-glamorous stories about a glamorous job that I have are truly countless. From other makeup artists stealing products out of my kit during a local beauty pageant makeup gig to not getting paid by film companies and everything in-between. But you know what has been absolutely apparent during my 16 years is my passion for what I do. Whether it was the girl in high school who had a few friends ask her to help with their makeup or the makeup artist who gets to apply makeup on actors we all grew up watching. My love for it has always grown and there’s never been a day where I wondered is this what I should be doing because I always knew this is what I love.
Even today 16 years into it, I always wonder where my path will lead me next. Some years I do more beauty makeup some years I am booked for more sfx. Some years I’m on sets working 12+ hour days and some years I’m in green rooms of amazing conventions with iconic stars doing back-to-back makeups. Whatever that year brings for me, I love it all. This is why I went from the girl who would wear winged eyeliner and lipliner every day to the girl who does beauty makeup, hair, special effects, and sculpts.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
The road will always be a bumpy one. That’s the honest truth. I feel with social media and how we show our wins constantly, it’s hard for people to truly understand the journey. The world sees the final images of a great gig, they don’t see the struggle of when it’s been a couple of weeks without any jobs and only a few gigs booked for the near future. They don’t see the highs and lows and honestly, there hasn’t been a year that I don’t have lows but when the highs come, I am thankful. The world sees 16 years, over 30 films & television shows, and a list of over 90 celebrities and they see success. But to be fully honest a year from now, five years from now, my roads will always be filled with twists and turns but when you love something so passionately you are along for that ride no matter what. I appreciate all my success so much and I truly couldn’t be more thankful for the wonderful people I’ve worked with along the way. All the highs make the lows disappear on this wonderful journey.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I am a makeup artist of 16 years. I currently specialize in event and red carpet makeup but if you need a creature who’s covered in prosthetics from head to toe as well, I am your person. I am the one who will give you the most crisp red lip but can also sculpt and mold my own custom prosthetics to create something you wouldn’t want to see in your worst nightmare. Haha
Is there anything else you’d like to share with our readers?
What I want people to get from this the most is to know when you love something and you are passionate about it pursue it to the fullest. Don’t compare yourself to someone else and automatically assume they are doing so much better than you are in your craft because of the posts they are doing. Know that everyone has their journey and some parts of our journeys are wonderful but other parts are hard and when you fight for it, you know it’s your true passion. This doesn’t only apply to your journey if you want to become a makeup artist, this applies to all journeys in life. If you found a passion worth constantly fighting for and striving to be better in year after year that is truly a gift!
Contact Info:
- Website: Sabrinaozunamakeupartist.com
- Instagram: Sabrinaozuna
