Meet Jackie Wyers, ARDELL’S Beauty of the Week. She is detail oriented, transformative, pop-culture obsessed and is sharing her beauty secrets with us!
AR:
How did you get started working in beauty?
JW:
I started working in beauty in 2011 when I first created my YouTube beauty channel as a teenager. I had grown up watching Michelle Phan, Bethany Mota and reading Seventeen magazine, so I was drawn to creating beauty content and it has been my passion since! After graduating high school, I attended a makeup and artistry school called CMU in Toronto, Ontario to train to become a traditional makeup artist. I also loved being in front of the camera and editing content, leading me to make the decision to dedicate my time to filming and editing tutorials rather than building a clientele.
AR:
Tell us about yourself.
JW:
As I mentioned, I feel I made the right decision for myself to be a full-time content creator instead of working as a makeup artist as it has been over ten years of filming and editing beauty content and I still get excited to create new videos! I grew up in Canada and Belgium before moving to the United States on a visa living in California, New York and since the pandemic - sunny Florida! My passion is to create fun, educational content that breaks down iconic makeup and hair looks to encourage my audience to celebrate what they love and switch up with style with confidence. I've always had fun changing up my style and not sticking to only one look.
AR:
What inspires you?
JW:
My biggest influences in beauty are new pop culture releases (tv, film, music) and the impact they have on beauty trends. I also love vintage beauty icons like Jean Shrimpton and Sophia Loren. It's been really inspiring to see the makeup transformations that incredible artists have created for recent biopics as it brings iconic people and their makeup style back in the spotlight. Over the years, the "biopic" style of transformative yet wearable makeup has been my favorite challenge for my own content. I've recreated my version of Pam Anderson's '90s look, Daphne’s regal style from "Bridgerton" and various vintage icons.
(wearing ARDELL Naked Lash #424 x2 for the Pam look)
I also am very inspired by beauty trends on TikTok and think it's a really fun platform to bring your own take to viral trends like the "Cold Girl Makeup."
(wearing @ardellbeauty Naked Lashes (420) in the "cold girl" picture)
AR:
Describe your earliest beauty memory.
JW:
My earliest beauty memory is stealing my mom's makeup in 5th or 6th grade! My mom worked as a teacher and left for the school she taught at before I walked to my school - so I had 10 or 15 minutes alone to raid her makeup drawer. I kept it pretty subtle and washed it off before coming home, but loved wearing makeup from a young age.
AR:
What is something that you no longer believe about beauty that you once did?
JW:
When I was younger, I was very hard on my own appearance and I think through learning about people's innate colour seasons/palettes and how to bring out your natural essence helped me embrace my natural self. While I've spent years learning to subtly contour to transform into various celebrities, I think it's equally important to know what suits you makeup, hair and outfit wise before feeling the need to "change" anything to look like anyone else.
AR:
How do you define beauty today?
JW:
I define beauty today as confidence! While I think there is an art to subtle makeup and knowing which tones and techniques will make each person look their best, I'm equally as inspired by teenage Gen Z and how much more expressive and bold I've seen the younger generations present themselves. I see a lot more experimental "aesthetics" that I think are so fun. The thought of wearing non-skinny jeans to school made me so "weird" in high school, so it's cool to see young people being bold with self-expression and style.
“My biggest influences in beauty are new pop culture releases (tv, film, music) and the impact they have on beauty trends. ” – Jackie Wyers
AR:
If you could switch lives with someone for a day, who would it be? Why?
JW:
If I could switch lives with someone for a day, I think it would be Taylor Swift or someone working behind the scenes of a Taylor Swift music video shoot for a day. I have loved Taylor's beauty looks in all her elaborate music videos so much and am very excited for the Eras Tour.
AR:
Instagram or Tiktok?
JW:
Instagram! I love communicating through stories and love the cleaner aesthetic.
AR:
Do you have any favorite beauty practices that you swear by?
JW:
Always prep the skin! Makes all the difference to have a well hydrated base.
AR:
Do you have any words of advice for others who may want to embark on a beauty career path?
JW:
My best advice would be to lean into your strengths. As much as makeup artistry is a fine art skill, traditional makeup artistry is also a very social job. If you thrive with talking to people, making people feel good emotionally as well as physically, it can be a great fit. If you love the idea of creating content, it's quite an introverted career path if you are planning, filming and editing on your own. Both depend on showing up and being consistent and constantly practicing your craft and utilizing the best tools on the market. I've learned from both traditional makeup artists and strictly social media influencers.
AR:
What’s your go-to makeup or skin care routine?
JW:
My go to makeup routine is a glowy base, soft contour, natural fluffy brows, brown smoked out shadow and liner, a bit of mascara, lip liner and lip oil! For the holidays, I love a red lip too.
AR:
Do you listen to music when you get ready? If so, who is on your playlist?
JW:
I love listening to all of Taylor Swift's albums and my favorite band is "Cannons." They have a very whimsical feel to their music that I feel super relaxed listening to.
AR:
What would someone never guess about you?
JW:
I never got my final drivers license! I have lived in major cities so it wasn't much of a complication, but now in Florida I really should be able to drive. If I did get a car, my favorite will forever be a vintage Volkswagen Beetle.
AR:
What makeup trends do you love?
JW:
I've been loving K-Beauty trends! I just came back from Seoul for a beauty event called the Olive Young Awards and Festa and it was really cool to see Korean influencers and the different fashion, makeup and hairstyles worn to the event. I also picked up Ardell lashes at Olive Young to complete my look.
AR:
In an alternative universe, what would you do for a living?
JW:
That is a tough one! Instead of being a makeup artist/content creator, another career path that seems appealing to me is to be a children's book author and illustrator. I used to want to be an author as a child and wrote a lot of stories that I think would still make great children's books if reworked as an adult. Maybe one day I'll still go down that route.
AR:
What is the best beauty tip you’ve ever discovered?
JW:
The best beauty tip I've ever discovered is NOSE CONTOUR. When I first learned how, I did two lines down the bridge of my nose and it really widened the nose bridge on me. Once I learned to create sharper, more subtle lines to add definition to my already existing nose structure, I felt like I cracked a beauty code!
AR:
What’s next for you?
JW:
With the rise of short form content, I've been re-inspired to make more beauty content that is more fun and engaging rather than educational with every step laid out. I'd love to continue to create beauty content as a career and I also have a vlog channel where I share more of my life as a fun passion project. It's been fun to keep a video diary for travel.
RAPID-FIRE: ARDELL BEAUTY QUESTIONS
AR:
What are your favorite ARDELL lash styles? Why?
JW:
ARDELL DEMI WISPIES are the go-to. Used them for years and they look good on every eye shape, especially trimmed for a more natural look. The NAKED lash collection is so fluffy and finishes off subtle makeup beautifully while the faux mink lashes are great to finish off a bold eye.
AR:
What keeps you coming back to ARDELL lashes?
JW:
The thin and flexible lash band, the price and how comfortable they are to wear.
AR:
What is the trick for the perfect ARDELL lash application?
JW:
First, curl your natural lashes and apply mascara. I find this makes applying lashes so much easier because the mascara holds up your natural lashes firmer and it's easier to get closer to the lash line with the falsies. Add glue to the ARDELL lash band and wait until it gets tacky, apply to the center of the lash line above the lashes first and press the outer and then inner corner down to the lash line. The inner corner is the trickiest, so I hold that section the longest to make sure it stays down. If you constantly struggle with the inner corner lifting, try trimming the lashes from the outer corner and applying the beginning of the lash closer to the center of the eye.
I love the DUO BRUSH-ON STRIPLASH ADHESIVE in clear. It is super gentle, latex and formaldehyde-free! I always use this for brides when I occasionally do bridal makeup especially if the client isn't used to wearing false lashes to ensure no adverse reaction on sensitive skin.
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