Beauty guru: Lauren O'Jea

Makeup by Lauren O'Jea, photo by SCPhotoshoot

Lauren O’Jea got her start makeup in an interesting place: Myspace. She competed in Myspace makeup challenges. “It was just girls sitting at home doing makeup on themselves, taking their own pictures, and submitting them to be voted on, and the winner would choose the theme for the next week.” Lauren says. She did those makeup challenges for 6 months until she was asked to do her first photo shoot. She parlayed that into fashion shows, weddings, makeup for parties, and Halloween makeup. She kept the momentum going and applied to the Mecca of makeup, MAC Cosmetics. She started off as a freelancer until being hired as a permanent makeup artist. When she’s not working for MAC, she’s busy doing makeup for photo shoots. She leans toward the alternative scene since there is a huge market in Providence.

Lauren O'Jea at work

Makeup by Lauren O'Jea

Lauren studied fine arts for two years and Bridgewater State College, before moving on to take an esthetics course at Empire Beauty School. She has received advanced makeup and airbrush training with Orlando Santiago, former MAC trainer and current department head of the Makeup course at Empire Beauty School in Manhattan.

Makeup by Lauren O'Jea, photo by Tiffany Ann Photography

Lauren loves being a makeup artist, but her goals are a little different for when she gets older. She says she wants to continue with fashion and beauty makeup while she’s young and has the time and energy to run around. Eventually she would like to go back to school for camouflage makeup to be a paramedical esthetician. She wants to work with people who are scarred or burned to teach them how to apply makeup on their own. She wants to help people learn how to feel beautiful in their own skin.

Makeup by Lauren O'Jea, photo by Dustin Genereux Photography

Lauren can be contact through her Model Mayhem page, where more of her work can also be viewed.