THE ART OF EXPRESSION

By Brandon N

Self-love, self-expression, and a passion for simple beauty. For Ruby Castillo, a 16-year old junior at Yerba Buena High School, these three ideas can only mean one thing: makeup.

It started at the age of twelve, when she grabbed her mom’s purse. Amazed by the vast amounts of products inside, she tried putting some on herself. This was her introduction to the realm of makeup and beauty. This single event would spark a fire in Castillo that would become a favorite pastime of her’s for years to come.

“I feel like I always want to look good. So like, I always do stuff for myself. I always do the things I wanna do,” said Castillo. The impact that makeup has had on her life is one that has been a positive one for her.

Her self-confidence as an individual has improved thanks to makeup, says Castillo: “It has become an important thing to me because… it makes me feel confident, I enjoy doing it.”

Of course, that doesn’t mean it’s an easy thing for her. Just like any other hobby, makeup requires time and practice to develop the skill. There have been many times where she began to doubt her own abilities when things didn’t turn out the way she envisioned them to, said Castillo.

She has said, “I’m not really a patient person. Which is bad because what you need is patience; time shouldn’t matter. Yes, there’s lots of times that I’m like ‘Oh I suck, I should never do this.’ Because I get so impatient.” She has also mentioned that she struggles particularly with eyeshadow.

But the self-taught student doesn’t give up easily. She aims to have her own business in the future, and eventually her own brand. With ambitions like those, she works hard to perfect her skills and constantly improve. “All it takes is practice.” Said Castillo.

Inspired by the techniques of YouTube makeup artists like Ariadna Juarez and Les Do Makeup, she plans to take classes that will teach her more about beauty and cosmetics. All in hopes of bringing her dreams ever closer to fruition.