Meet Piper Nelson | Content Creator & Creative Makeup Artist

We had the good fortune of connecting with Piper Nelson and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Piper, any advice for those thinking about whether to keep going or to give up?
If you’re following your passions and dreams, I don’t think you should ever give up. I don’t just mean it in the cliché sense, but I think that accomplishing big things always requires a bit of delusion and a lot of perseverance.

It requires believing in yourself when no one else does and pushing forward despite everything that might be going on around you. It requires believing in the “impossible” and knowing deep down that you will achieve it eventually. This isn’t to say that there won’t be bumps in the road or times that things have to be paused as that comes with life for every single person. I am a huge believer in intuition and trusting your gut so I constantly check in with myself to see if it’s really supporting me to push through a hard time or if taking a break is the option that will really serve me best.

What might feel like “giving up” in the face of struggle, many times is the catalyst that allows me to continue moving forward. I continuously try to only measure my success by progress and not by accomplishments. This reminds me to keep taking risks, keep betting on myself, and to know that it *is* working.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
Ever since I was little, I absolutely loved every single form of art. I took all of the art courses that any of my schools offered and although it was a huge passion of mine, I could never see myself being a career artist for some reason. Whether it was societal push towards more “financially stable” career paths or a lack of confidence in my skills, I decided that I had to choose something else to pursue.

I began wearing makeup in middle school as a way to hide my insecurities and to try to fit in. I was bullied a lot growing up and it destroyed my self-confidence. What started as a mask to hide behind, slowly became a way to express myself and a huge interest of mine. My family didn’t really wear makeup so I took to YouTube to teach myself. I became obsessed with watching the different makeup artists and dreamed about starting my own YouTube channel. However, I still cared way too much about what other people thought and feared their judgment. Over the years, makeup became a huge part of my world and eventually, all my friends would ask me to do their makeup for various events.

Now in college, I was studying to go to law school but I still constantly dreamed of doing makeup online. I filmed so many “first videos” that never saw the light of day. After graduating and working in political campaigns full-time I really started to question my career path and decided to put a pause on law school applications. At the end of the campaign cycle, I was out a job and I needed to look for another political job, but my gut was telling me that I would regret never giving my true dreams a chance. I began seeing creative makeup artists post online and their content moved me so much that I knew this had been the missing piece all along. I loved makeup but never felt that passionate about doing traditional makeup looks online. Creative makeup combined my love of art with the medium of makeup.

I took a full-time job in insurance knowing that I would be able to cover my bills while spending all of my free time starting my creative makeup social media page. The journey was not without challenges; I faced doubts from others who believed I should choose a “safer” career path and wanted to try to protect me out of love. I became extremely burnt out and struggled to find any sort of balance. Over time, my skills and confidence grew, leading me to a point where I felt ready to pursue social media full-time. After nearly two years of juggling both worlds, I took the plunge and left my job to focus on my content creation.

I was so excited to finally follow my dreams, but this is when the real self-doubt began to creep in. I would constantly compare myself to other creators and never felt happy with my content. I took a step back, realized the negative patterns I was creating for myself and decided to change that. I decided to try a few looks that felt more “me” but I was terrified since they were very out of the box compared to what most other makeup artists were doing at the time. I began my “Creepy Christmas” series and to my surprise, people loved the looks as much as I enjoyed creating them. This led to my most viral video featuring a Christmas clown look that received 24 million views! https://www.tiktok.com/@piperartistry/video/6902087308548246790

I truly began to understand that being “different” or “weird” my whole life wasn’t my greatest weakness, but instead my greatest strength. It helped me stand out and think outside the norm so I started to embrace being weird. This helped me grow my social media profiles, but more importantly, it helped me grow exponentially as a person and healed so much of the pain I still held onto. I felt free from the judgment of others but also the constant judgment I didn’t realize I was inflicting on myself. I was actually *excited* to make myself look as weird as I possibly could and I finally felt more like myself than I ever had before. This really resonated with my audience and I began creating some of my all time favorite looks: https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZPRW4rMwT/

Working with brands has been an amazing opportunity that allows me to bring my creativity to life in exciting ways. One of my favorite collaborations was with Xfinity for the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo. I created a look supporting Team USA that was featured in a commercial shown during the Olympics closing ceremony:
https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZPRW4VCmr/

Another incredible experience was working with JCPenney for their Holiday Spectacular event. I did a winter-themed makeup look that was recreated live by the one and only Backstreet Boys:
https://fb.me/e/35NIElZgD

I believe that the looks I create and the content I promote should reflect positivity and inclusivity, fostering a space where everyone feels welcome and inspired to explore their own creativity. It’s about trying new things and supporting one another while having fun along the way!

Over the last 4 years, I’ve had the incredible opportunity to create a beautiful community of 1.4 million amazing people on my social platforms. I hope to continue to inspire others to embrace what makes them different, express their creativity, and explore the endless possibilities of makeup!

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
I am obsessed with thrifting and estate sales so we would definitely have to hit one of the flea markets depending on which one was happening (Rose Bowl, Melrose Trading Post, Silverlake, Los Feliz, etc.).

Museum trips are also always a huge go-to with my friends since they can be really inspiring and interesting so I would love to go to either The Broad or The Getty.

We would also have to go to Brain Dead Studios which is an independent theater that shows a huge variety of older movies.

At the end of the day, I’m a huge nature girl and I’m always the happiest when I spend time outside so I would also probably head to one of the Griffith Park trails that we can catch up on while doing.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
When I reflect on my journey, it’s truly impressive to see how many incredible people have played a crucial role. I couldn’t credit my success to just one person or source. I really wouldn’t be where I am today without the constant love and support from my boyfriend, family, friends, dogs, and especially my community of followers.

My family always encouraged me to follow my dreams from a very young age. They constantly showed me the value of working hard and having bravery in the face of adversity. They believed in me long before I ever did and I know they will always be there for me.

My amazing boyfriend has supported me through all the highs and lows since I first decided to create content. He keeps me grounded, reminds me to not take life too seriously, and is my best friend. He contributes so much behind the scenes and I wouldn’t be where I am today without him. We have two dogs together, Indigo and River, that are the sweetest and a huge part of our life. They always keep things interesting and they mean the world to me.

I have so many amazing friends that I couldn’t imagine life without. They all bring such different things to my life, however, each of them are extremely genuine, keeps me weird, and constantly inspires me to be a better version of myself. They encourage me when I’m feeling down, celebrate the highs with me, and are some of my biggest supporters.

My biggest shoutout will always go to my followers and online community. I am completely awestruck by the amount of people who have taken the time to show me any kind of support since I started posting in 2019. They’ve helped me discover who I am and have inspired me to be confident and proud of what makes me unique. They mean more to me than I could ever put into words and without each and every single one of them I wouldn’t have this opportunity to live my dreams.

I am unbelievably thankful to everyone who has helped my dreams come true and will never be able to fully express my gratitude.

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/piperartistry/

Youtube: https://youtube.com/@piperartistry

Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@piperartistry