Today we’d like to introduce you to Shawna Gaspar
Shawna, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
I feel like my career started the second my mother placed a Clinique pressed powder in front of me on my way to school pictures in the second grade. Not only was I thinking “what the heck do I even do with this thing?” but also thinking “I might just love this thing.”
While the makeup collection grew, so did my curiosity for it. I would come home from middle school and put on any sort of powdery bright glitter I could get my hands on; go through the routine of staring at myself in the mirror, show my mom, then take it off minutes later. It occurred to me one day that I should maybe start documenting this and show it to people who love it as much as I do.
I got inspiration to utilize social media as much as I could from YouTubers like Jaclyn Hill; who is not only an avid makeup lover from Tampa, Florida like myself, but with a contagious bubbly personality that I felt I had a true friendship with, despite any interaction coming from her Florida beauty room to my princess TV that made the move from Tampa to Greenville with eyeshadow from Claire’s. Nevertheless, I still accredit majority of my confidence to her.
I started delving into more creative makeup looks around Halloween and Christmas. From Cruella De Ville to Heatmeiser to Pamela Anderson: I felt a need in my soul to dedicate 3 hours after school to achieve it.
Soon enough, I was added onto PR lists like Kylie Cosmetics, Lancôme, and Prada Beauty. Also, shoutout to my tagging skills on Instagram for featuring me on Ulta Beauty’s website multiple times and on Hailey Bieber’s instagram story (which was only once but was the best day of my life for obvious reasons).
I started doing freelance makeup for my pageant and prom girls and had an absolute blast doing soft glam all the time. It wasn’t until I got hormonal acne while doing makeup on clients where I realized good skincare is so crucial for good makeup.
It’s pretty ironic, making people feel beautiful while feeling the absolute worst; painful and swollen cystic acne on my cheeks, forehead, and chin that took over my whole life. I knew I wanted to help people who also deal with this and that’s when I decided to enroll at an esthetician school at Paul Mitchell in the middle of the 2024 summer; it was a great decision. I am learning so much, I’ve fallen in love with skincare again, am now exploring some of the best female friendships, and am so pleased to be in a community that share the same passion.
I am still currently in the program, finishing mid-November. It’s bittersweet, but I can’t wait to see how many more things are waiting for me when I receive my esthetician license and finally obtain the word “professional” before “makeup 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?
Posting my makeup looks on social media was something I was never embarrassed about because I’m lucky enough to receive so much love from friends and family. Of course there was the occasional southern-mama-drama growing up regarding the boldness of my makeup that had the conservative women shaking their heads; but I had my own supportive black-eyeliner-wearing mom and a Jaclyn Hill video waiting for me once I was done getting critiqued. So the haters were definitely outnumbered. Most people aren’t as fortunate to have that cheerleader, either in person or on a phone/TV screen; that’s why I do what I do. So I can be that person for those who need it.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I am a makeup artist and aspiring esthetician. Most people know me for posting TikTok’s about makeup tricks, opening up PR packages I receive, and my recent videos of facials and waxes I advertise while enrolled in the Esthetics program at Paul Mitchell. My online presence is very apparent which has helped my career indefinitely.
How do you think about luck?
The power of right place, right time is truly unreal. I’m very glad social media blew up right at the time I was beyond in love with makeup; so having years of pictures and videos built up with brands mentioned and popular hashtags in captions definitely worked in my favor. Furthermore, social media has become my main territory and keeping up with the trends is second nature to me now. I’m so grateful for having that in my back pocket, because I don’t think the apps are going to be slowing down any time soon.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://linktr.ee/shawnasglam_?utm_source=linktree_profile_share<sid=079fc666-b0b8-4006-a0db-4710a057f329
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/shawnasglam?igsh=Y3FjMXF1amdvYWpw
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/share/Yeh9U5ehkJwc11sX/?mibextid=LQQJ4d
- Youtube: https://youtube.com/@shawnasglam?si=iAslLBu3-0K9Pci2
- Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@shawnasglam
