Meet Chelsea Carreira / CCBeautymark | Makeup Artist & Esthetician

I have told this story time and time again. Those who have been beside me since day one are probably tired of hearing it! However, I feel that it is my mission to talk about my experience and help others in anyway I can.

Growing up I was bullied pretty badly. Im talking, from the time I entered the schooling system until early adulthood. I seemed to have a giant red target on my back that said, “Pick ON me!” I was always a friendly outgoing kid and over all, I really loved people and being social… however, after years of being beat down emotionally I started to distance myself from my peers quite a bit. I was sad and depressed that I was an outcast when I so desperately wanted to be everyones friend! (I say desperately sparingly, as I was never one to alter my beliefs or lower the quality of my morals to “fit in”, but I still wanted to have friends to do fun stuff with!) I was even a cheerleader and on the dance team. I was a social person through and through. However, I was told OFTEN how ugly I was, how weird I was, how this or that I was. Being told I was too bubbly made me depressed, being depressed made everyone call me a “b-word” or they would assume I was stuck up. I couldn’t win. Being called ugly though, over and over really is what catapulted me into my now career. I was tired of feeling ugly. I was tired of hearing it. I was tired of BELIEVING it. So I started to do my makeup much thicker, heavier and so much more dramatic than the norm at the time (keep in mine this was the early to mid 2000s so makeup back then was rough to begin with. Not a lot of YouTube tutorials to help out! LOL.). I now refer to the makeup I wore back then as my “mask”. That way, whenever anyone told me I was ugly, I could confidently walk away because they didn’t “really know what I looked like beneath my mask”. As an adult, I know the logic to that wasn’t really… logical lol…. but as a hurt teenager, grasping at anything to feel better in my own skin, it made perfect sense. At this point my mother was my best friend (still is) and the only source that grounded me during these hard times. A day doesn’t go by that I don’t feel gratitude for her  she was the main reason I was able to make it through all those difficult years.

Through my “mask” wearing journey, I found an empowerment within myself. I found love for myself that wasn’t there while I was at my worst bullying phases. I also realized, I wasn’t too bad at doing makeup! I started to do makeup on the (few) friends I had for things like cheer and dance tryouts. I had my first real makeup client as a freelance artist in 2011, right after I graduated. To this day I still remember that day and the client. I am forever thankful that they gave me a chance! They helped me to break the seal and start gaining more clients! From there I went on for many years freelancing on the side as I worked other jobs in retail, sales and offices. I was barely making much off of these side jobs. I was mostly just doing them for the experience and the hope that one day I could make a real career out of it. I finally decided to go to beauty school to receive my estheticians license so I could open a real shop to work out of, instead of traveling to every single job, I was also hoping the official location and license would bring in more clients and opportunities. While I was at beauty school, I discovered that I enjoyed facials, waxing and all of the other parts of an estheticians scope of practice. So, I went forward with those things as well. Once I graduated I did work on getting to open my own shop. I unfortunately opened my shop doors in Nov. of 2019 right before the dreadful year of 2020! So needless to say, I was nervous about how I could keep my doors from closing after I JUST opened them. At this time, I was still working my 9-5 jobs, afraid to go completely out on my own especially with the current affairs. However the leap was finally made and now I am doing what I love as my main and only job! I am so grateful for this opportunity every single day. It keeps me so humble knowing where I started and how hard I worked to get here. I couldn’t imagine taking my business for granted.

Since I started in 2011, I have had some of the coolest opportunities. Working with well known and popular brands, well known film directors, awesome people, beautiful brides and soooo much more!

Being a business owner is HARD work. People think often times that it is just glitz and glam. It is not always that. Sometimes it is grueling, stressful and tiring. Recently I spent several weeks traveling all around LA for a film production. Commuting from my home base down to LA was tiring in and of itself! However, despite the challenges, I love what I do so much that it makes those hard moments soooo WORTH it. I’ve had to learn a lot about budgeting my expenses, keeping track of everything for taxes (Don’t want to skip any of those write offs! LOL!) I have had to travel solo to out of town jobs and figure out how to navigate different areas, network with new groups of people fearlessly (which can be hard when you have battled social anxiety on and off after bullying). So much to learn and not enough space or time to share it all with you here! Lol!

Sometimes you’ll meet people/clients that don’t always appreciate you or your work or what you bring to the table those times can be HARD! BUTTTTTTTT it’s okay! Not everyone needs to appreciate and understand you. I have had to learn that all that matters is that YOU value you.

It took a while, but now I finally feel comfortable in my skin enough to stop wearing make 24/7, or feel the need to hide behind “the mask”. Especially incorporating skincare into my services, it is important to showcase my natural beauty as well as the made up version of myself! I am who I am, whether people like it or not!

I strive to make a difference for as many people as possible. I am open with my story because I know that it can help people and I want to continue to help people. I have had clients who are parents that have relied on me for advice and support because their own child is being bullied, as well as individuals who may feel like an outcast themself, but know they have a safe space to be themselves with me.

I also want to teach people the POWER of makeup… how it can remind you, each time you apply it, or even when you simply take care of your skin, how amazing, powerful, strong, beautiful and loved you are. We often forget these things about ourselves, but when you look in the mirror after giving yourself some TLC, you remember WHO THE HECK YOU ARE!

There is a confidence behind applying your favorite lipstick. Looking good makes you feel good, and if you can maintain that feeling of “feeling good” long enough, it lingers even after you wipe the lipstick off. I guarantee it! Trust me, I know from personal experience. I’m here to remind everyone of their power and beauty! That’s why I do what I do! That’s why I LOVE what I do! You are already naturally beautiful in your own unique way! Im just here to help enhance your natural beauty so that you can see it too!