“The secret to achieving true beauty lies in accepting one’s flaws and imperfections.
In all the decades of its existence, the makeup industry has enticed millions of users for its ability to create new products that play with different colors and textures. But nowadays, people don’t just simply apply makeup on their faces willy-nilly. Instead, they’re learning to accept that the ideal way to create head-turning looks is by using products that also benefit their natural skin.
Carissa Cielo Medved, a professional makeup artist to celebrities and beauty queens, shares the same idea when applying makeup. Her rule of thumb is good skin before good makeup.
“For me, the key ingredient for a beautiful glowing makeup look is making sure our skin is healthy,” she said. “There is a large misconception that makeup is only meant to conceal imperfections, but that’s an overaged thought. I believe makeup is meant to enhance our natural beauty and not to cover up our skins.”
Medved advises makeup users to first invest in good skincare and priming products. However, this doesn’t mean that they should purchase what’s trending. The best course of action is to determine their particular skin type before looking for a product that fits their budget and, most importantly, meets their skin’s requirements.
She explained that there is no general template in skincare, so users need to put in the effort to find the right product to achieve the best results.
Other must-have products she suggests having are makeup bases, false eyelashes at a natural length, and lip balm. However, she believes the secret to achieving true beauty lies in accepting one’s flaws and imperfections.
“There is beauty when you begin to focus on loving yourself. When you start loving yourself, you become more attractive to yourself, and people become even more attracted to you. You become this epicenter of radiance and love that inspires others to also begin loving themselves more,” she said.
As a professional makeup artist, Medved is responsible for the glamorous looks of celebrities like Janella Salvador, Venus Raj, Alex Gonzaga, Carla Abellana, Kris Bernal, and more.
She describes her signature look as soft glam that emphasizes the eye area. Medved’s creations are inspired by red carpet glam looks. Despite this Western influence, she honors her roots by highlighting Filipino skin tones.
Medved’s interest in makeup started when she was a teenager who was inspired and taught by her mentor, who was also a makeup artist.
While studying fashion illustration at the La Salle International School of Fashion, Medved also joined pageant competitions and accompanied her mentor in her gigs as her main assistant.
Every time they worked together, Medved’s curiosity about makeup encouraged her to practice the craft and fall in love with how transformative the art of makeup is.
By 2007, Medved began her career as a makeup artist by working on weddings. She eventually branched out to work in pageantries for universities, leading her to the pageant camp Aces & Queens.
“That’s how I met my good friend who is a designer that introduced me to the world of beauty pageants from local to national and international levels. My career took off from there, and I became constantly booked for gigs, and the rest is history,” she shared.
Now a constant presence in celebrity shoots, Medved’s best achievement in her career is the chance to interact with senior MUAs who’ve been in the industry longer than her. And despite the time that she spent in the industry, Medved promises to be an innovative MUA who can create glamorous looks that enhance a person’s natural beauty.