Professional makeup artist Jackie Aina had an eye for all things color and creativity ever since the age of ten years old. Everything is unique about her, all the way down to her full name. Born Jacquelyn Lonje Olayiwola Oyeshola Bolayemi Aina to very strict Nigerian-American parents she was taught at a very young that when you grow up you become a doctor, or a lawyer, and nothing less; becoming an artist was never an option.

But something deep down Jackie always wanted more. She quotes “when I was in the 4th grade I walked around the playground telling people I wanted to be a cosmetologist; I didn’t even know what that was, I just knew that’s what I wanted to be when I grew up!” Up to age 18, Jackie considered a degree in fashion. It was well into adulthood that she discovered – not only a fascination with makeup, but she was also good at it.

“My main frustration with going to a makeup counter or getting my makeup done was I would walk into a store, and people would run around frantically as if they’d never done makeup for a dark-skinned girl. I got tired of being told what I was limited to as a woman of color: black women can’t wear silver eyeshadow, black women can’t wear nude lips, the list goes on. I got tired being told what I could and couldn’t do, so I started learning ways of doing things myself!”

 

Practicing on herself led to practicing on other family members and friends which eventually led her to getting a job as a makeup artist for Makeup Art Cosmetics in 2009. Jackie credits her experience with MAC as a great way to gain inspiration from other artists and to learn things you aren’t exposed to in makeup school.

That same year a close friend convinced Jackie to make her debut on YouTube and start doing makeup tutorials. Very hesitant at first, she finally decided to give it a try doing makeup tutorials, product hauls, and how-to instructional videos. Jackie’s approach to makeup videos have been credited as “very informational, eloquently put and techniques are very well explained.” Since 2009 Jackie’s popularity on YouTube has reached to over 70,000+ subscribers, with over 5,000,000+ video views. The rest as they say is history!

Jackie is a full time makeup artist/beauty vlogger servicing the greater Los Angeles and Inland Empire areas of Southern California. Her experience has also led her to bridal, beauty, print and celebrity work. She is recently enrolled at the Vidal Sassoon Academy of Santa Monica, California and looks forward to being a licensed hairdresser in the fall of 2013.