Glammed up from top to bottom with a cosmetology student
As a top 10 trending song plays on the radio, she cautiously moves closer to her client while keeping her hand as steady as possible in order to create the perfect, sharp-as-a-knife, winged eyeliner.
Standing immobile as a statue, Carla Skalman, 19, cosmetology major, makes one slight movement and her hand slips and the eyeliner goes just a little farther across the eyelid than she had hoped.
“Oops,” Skalman said. “Fumble.”
She moves onto the next step in her beautifying process of making her client look party ready for the night and laughs as her friend/client cracks a joke and they sing along to the same songs.
Wearing casual jean shorts, an oversized hoodie and sandals, Skalman may seem ready to lounge around in her living room in front of the TV but she is also ready for a night out on the town as she is decked out in full makeup.
When she’s not getting others glammed up, she is in the process of completing her hours in the cosmetology program at El Camino College.
Skalman decided to enroll at EC because she didn’t want to go to beauty school immediately out of high school and it was the closest thing to studying makeup until she was able to transfer.
“I chose to go to El Camino because it wasn’t as expensive as going to a makeup school,” Skalman said. “Plus, El Camino has one of the best cosmetology programs out of any other community college so I figured I would get my hours done there and then transfer later on.”
Once she completes the required 1600 hours of the program, Skalman plans on transferring to the Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising in downtown Los Angeles where she will study beauty marketing and merchandising.
“I want to study beauty marketing and merchandising because they put you in the product industry where they teach you how products are made and marketed,” Skalman said. “They also help you put yourself in the industry and make your own industry.”
Makeup wasn’t always Skalman’s calling. When she was younger she wanted to be a doctor until she watched her first makeup tutorial by Michelle Phan on YouTube when she was 10 years old. From then on, she was fascinated with becoming a makeup artist and started by doing makeup for the school dances.
“I would sometimes get a bunch of clients in one day when it came closer to the prom and homecoming seasons,” Skalman said.
Once deciding makeup was her true passion, Skalman created an Instagram for her work and in her captions she would include full details of the products used and her process of application.
While Skalman works independently as an aspiring makeup artist, she is also currently a seasonal worker at the Clinique counter at Macy’s.
“I enjoy working there because not only am I selling makeup (but I) am able to do people’s makeup,” Skalman said.
Meanwhile, back in the living room, Skalman applies the finishing touches of highlighter to her client’s cheekbones for that natural glowing look. She sprays her client’s face with setting spray so the look lasts the entire nigh.
And as if effortlessly, the client is camera ready.
Skalman’s “smokey fall glam” look transcends to the camera and she snaps every angle in order to post her look on social media for all to see the final product.
As she admires her new look in the mirror, Skalman’s friend and client Patty Calderon recalls what first caught her attention about Skalman’s technique.
“It’s glamorously intense, bold and creative,” Calderon said. “She knows how to make it look natural too.”
Skalman’s artistry caught the eye of her classmate Cindy Moran who praised her skills and her personality.
“She is genuine and at the end of the day she is a super nice person and is passionate about her work,” Moran said. “And her blending skills are always on point.”
Skalman continuously has the support of her clients, friends and family members when it comes to pursuing her passion. Her nephew Kennedy Nack knows how much becoming a makeup artist means to her.
“She’s getting better and better everyday,” Nack said. “She needs to keep pursuing her dream. What’s the point in life if you’re not pursuing what you love?”