Junior expresses herself through makeup

Bleary-eyed but excited to start her morning routine, junior Katrina Sung shuffles to her vanity, a wooden dresser with a harshly lit mirror that is perfect for applying makeup precisely. She hunts for the first of nearly 20 products that she uses daily in her makeup routine, an art she has been working to perfect for years.

“I’ve been late to school almost every day because I also love sleep,” Sung said. “The hardest part is to try to limit myself from going all out and trying to perfect every detail because I need to keep in mind how much time I have.”

Sung hasn’t always such a makeup enthusiast. She entered the makeup world in seventh grade and only wore minimal makeup that she “didn’t know anything about.”

“I was just playing around with makeup and not taking it seriously, but as I got older, I started looking into it more because it was fun,” Sung said.

Her looks vary depending on her mood and the amount of time she has to complete her routine. She could be having “the worst day of her life” but have a full glam look on her face. When she feels “lazy,” she “sloppily” draws in her eyebrows and calls it a day. Regardless of her mood, Sung gets a boost of confidence when she has a full face of makeup on.

Sung considers mixing and playing around with different eyeshadows to be her favorite part of the routine. She also will not step out of her house without her eyebrows done, as she considers them her “most defining quality,” yet the most frustrating aspect of them is that “one stroke can make or break your brow.”

As a perfectionist only when it comes to makeup, Sung commits to every look by “taking it slow to perfect every detail.”

“A lot of times I don’t have patience for things that take too long,” said Sung. “Spending time and effort on my makeup gives me a sense of control. I don’t have that much control over everything in my life, but this is the one thing that I can make my own decisions for.”

Learning through trial and error and several YouTube videos, Sung’s flawless makeup has garnered much attention from friends and peers, and she even receives requests to do makeup for other people.

“Whenever people compliment me I always feel funny because I think back to middle school when I used to be horrendous at it,” Sung said. “I had no eyebrows for a long time because I didn’t know how to draw them in.”

Sung struggled to perfect some of her looks as her interest in makeup grew, as it did not appear the same way on her face as it did on a YouTuber’s or model’s face. However, she reminded herself that people are unique, with differing skin types, face shapes and sizes of features.

Now a makeup expert, Sung knows that most quality makeup products do not come cheap, which is why she buys a combination of high end and drugstore products. With the internet finding substitutes, known as “dupes,” for most high end products, Sung can get most of her products at a reasonable price while occasionally splurging to obtain the best quality products. Still, she understands that quality can only take her so far.

“There’s a obviously a difference between the quality of the products, as high-end products can be more pigmented,” Sung said, “but buying expensive products doesn’t make you a better makeup artist.”

Though applying makeup is one of her favorite parts of the day, Sung can get tired by doing multiple people’s makeup for events. She is content to keep the art of makeup as a side hobby rather than to pursue a career in this specific field.

“My dream is to be rich enough to buy any of the products that I want,” Sung said. “If I were to ever do anyone’s makeup, it would be for friends or acquaintances, nothing too big.”