Makeup Artist Christen Dominiqueās Future Is Getting Brighter by the Day
If you speak to Christen Dominique and see how gracefully she carries herself, it would be difficult to ever imagine the beauty-influencer-turned-CEO as anything but confident. With 1.5 million followers on Instagram and 4.2 million subscribers on YouTube, the makeup artist has taken the world by storm with her makeup tutorials, and, more recently, her own cosmetic line. But according to this self-proclaimed āsuper shy, reservedā woman, a childhood insecurity is what started her journey to success.
āI was super self-conscious about my [dark] under-eye circles and I was constantly getting teased. Itās so sad that it started that way, but it did,ā Dominique recants. After two years of getting teased for her under-eye circles, a seventh-grade Dominique decided it was time to do something about them. Even though she wasnāt allowed to wear makeup at the time, she found herself getting into her momās purse and discovered a yellow corrector. āAfter [putting it on] I went to school [and] I feel like everyone treated me so much better. This was seventh gradeāthose little things make such a difference. In my head, everything was just better. And I felt more confident.ā From then on, there was no going back.
āI started doing makeup for my friends in the locker roomāI was literally a locker room makeup artist,ā she laughs and shakes her head. āIt just happened that way. Everyone went to me for makeup.ā
What began as a fun, creative thing to do with her friends soon launched into a full-fledged passion. āI knew that I wanted to continue to pursue it even after high school because it made me happy,ā says Dominique. āI love making people feel good about themselves. So eventually, I just [freelanced] on the side, [and I did that] for a long time.ā
For Dominique, it was clear from the beginning that she had a natural knack for makeup. āI just fell in love with it,ā she expresses. āI was contouring when I didnāt even know I was contouring. It was before Kim Kardashian made it a thing. I was brightening all the way up to the temple and I didnāt realize that I was almost, like, highlighting, and I was doing this to everyone!ā By teaching herself, she found a lot of successes, but she was also able to see where she needed to improve. Starting out as an artist, she āwas broke, but really had a passion for it.ā She was working and experimenting with $10 makeup products, but after a while she decided to plan for the long term and āsave for better palettes so that [her kit could] look a little bit better.ā
While her choice in products and tools began to evolve, her schedule was becoming busier by the day. No stranger to juggling a busy lifestyle, Dominique recalls how she was balancing school with work and her personal life with her passion. But soon, she found herself facing the very real possibility of having to give up her freelancing gigs as well as her new YouTube channel.
āWhen I first started I was really shy; I didnāt want to go on YouTube. But then I went on YouTube, gained confidence and then I just found a love for it. I was creating content and getting to connect with so many people. I kind of felt like maybe this could be something, and I’ve always wanted to create my own cosmetic line just starting out as an artist. It was a fantasy for sure for me at the time, but when I got a call from a company [where] I wanted to [work] full time, I took the job.ā
Thankfully, her husband, Cesar, had other plans. āMy husband pushed me [and] was like, āNo, this is a once in a lifetime opportunity. Let’s go and try it,āā Dominique gushes. āI’m so grateful for him. He is my rock. I mean, [without him] I would have stayed in my comfy little Houston home behind the cubicle doing insurance.ā
With that, Dominique immediately set to work. She and her then-six-year-old son, Jaden, moved out to LA, and even though they were on their own in SoCal for two months, Dominique only used this to keep pushing forward and to continue building her following. What started as 45,000 subscribers when she made the move swiftly flourished.
āWithin about two years I went to one million, and then my views kept growing and I was like, āWoah! You guys really like me! Weāre like friends!āā
Similar to her experience with perfecting her makeup skills, creating her content and editing her videos took time, passion and patience. āI just had fun with it, and I always had technique education in [my videos]. If I had inspo for a beach look, Iād go to the beach and I’d cut to music and that was a cool thing I liked to do,ā Dominique explains. āI also really enjoyed editing, but I knew I had to take it to the next level. It took hours and hours to learn how to change color and use Final Cut Pro. There were so many editing techniques that I really had to learn.ā
Since then, she has gotten her routine down pat. Her studio is always set; the only things that change are the background and the light filter. She also has a professional editor to help her with her videos, but she still likes to be hands-on. āIāll still take another two hours to kind of go through it and make sure he didnāt take out any of my āpersonality moments.ā I donāt want it to be too boring!ā she adds. āHonestly, nobody’s in front of me. It’s just me by myself talking to a camera. It’s for funājust me connecting with my fans.ā
Through her videos, Dominique has seen so much success as a beauty influencer that she has been able to launch her own makeup line: Dominique Cosmetics. She has always dreamed of creating her own brand, so when she had the opportunity to create her own products, she built them according to what she thought was missing in the industry.
ā[With other brands,] my brushes would dip into all the other colorsāthey weren’t big enough for me. And the placement of the color was never right, like I would have to grab a bronze or blush and blend it in. Iād really have to get creative with it all the time,ā she explains.
Currently, the line consists of three eyeshadow palettesāLatte, Berries & Cream and Lemonadeāfour shades of lipgloss and six shades of a Cream Matte Liquid Lipstick that wonāt dry out your lips. āMy main reason for creating the brand was to create something suitable for an artist as well as a makeup lover. I always wanted to create and customize [an eyeshadow palette] with a bigger pan size, which is what we have, and when you look at the palette you automatically know what you’re going to do with it.ā
āWe also just launched our lips, our permanent line, which is gonna grow into a full-color range, and theyāre doing really well. They’re amazing. Oh, my god,ā she grins. āThey are super-hydrating, fill in all the lines and when you take off this matte lip, your lips are smoother and softer than they were before.ā And for anyone whoās rocked a matte lip, itās easy to see how amazing a feat this is. Although long-lasting, mattes are typically very drying, uncomfortable and have a tendency to crack. But according to Dominique, āthe Cream Matte Liquid Lipsticks are non-drying and very wearable.ā
Watching and listening to this powerful, well-spoken woman present her work and share her story, itās clear that Dominique has truly come into her own. From her humble, hopeful beginnings to her rise to success, thereās no doubt in our minds that the future is bright for Dominiqueāand we canāt wait to see what she does next. But until then, you can find her in her natural habitat doing what she does best: inspiring and motivating her fans in front of the camera.
āKnow that you can literally do anything you want if you just believe in yourself,ā she says and flashes a brilliant, genuine smile. āAnd don’t ever stop!ā
Photographed By: Damien Noble Andrews Christen Dominique
Photography Assistant: Maxx Kaitlynn Christen Dominique.
Styled By: Teresita Madrigal Christen Dominique
Hair By: Julia Savitskaya Christen Dominique.
Makeup By: Brian Bond Christen Dominique
Born and raised near the Pacific Coast, Jordan Nishkian is a California girl through and through. She graduated from Cal State Long Beach with a BA in Creative Writing and a BA in Anthropology, and her favorite place to be is curled up in a comfy chair with a book in her hand and a pen in her hair.
- Jordan Nishkianhttps://localemagazine.com/author/jordan-nishkian/
- Jordan Nishkianhttps://localemagazine.com/author/jordan-nishkian/
- Jordan Nishkianhttps://localemagazine.com/author/jordan-nishkian/
- Jordan Nishkianhttps://localemagazine.com/author/jordan-nishkian/