It’s easy to see why so many people love working with Czari Domingo. Her eyes sparkle and, as she chatters on, it feels like passion in its most genuine form. Domingo began her beauty blog (www.legenczari.com) to help women with makeup, as well as to promote makeup as a tool for female empowerment. Despite the pressures of college, she’s ready to do whatever it takes in order to make it in the local beauty industry. Though she may still be young, and this choice comes with quite a risk, her resolve is resolute—she knows what she’s doing.
Legenczari beauty
Domingo initially got her start while managing her personal fashion blog. She would occasionally post makeup tutorials in addition to her regular fashion posts, and saw that these tutorials were better received than her #OOTDs. After a yearlong hiatus due to personal matters, she decided to dedicate her blog to makeup. “I felt like I could make more of a difference if I did a beauty blog,” Domingo shares. “I felt like all I was talking about was myself and when I started writing beauty related stuff, it felt more helpful.”
And throughout the process of her rebranding, Domingo also decided to use her blog as a reminder to women about feeling comfortable in one skin. “I just want make-up not to intimidate girls anymore. And instead, find it fun, and see it as something they can use to enhance whatever they were given,” she adds. Domingo shares that it has always irked her that there is a common misconception that “only insecure girls wear make-up.” She wants to use her blog to remind girls that they should feel free to wear as little or as much make-up as they please, while promoting the values of self-confidence and self-respect.
Shu Masters, photoshoots, and magazines
One of her early breakthroughs happened when she was in her junior year of high school. Her English teacher—who had connections in the industry—gave a few students the opportunity to take on internships with makeup artists or stylists. Domingo had the honor of working with Claire Diokno, a makeup artist from the popular Japanese beauty brand Shu Uemura. Diokno is a Shu Master, makeup artists handpicked by the brand for their exceptional skill in their craft.
Domingo says the experience helped her see the difficulties behind the work she was interested in. “I was tagging along on all her photoshoots, and I used to think it was so much fun. But, it’s actually not fabulous at all,” she admits. “Being a makeup artist involves a lot of waiting and people bossing you around.” Despite this, her passion for the art did not waver. “At the end of it, I still realized that it was what I wanted to be doing.”
Eventually, Domingo started to participate in more photoshoots and events, which led her to booking jobs with major celebrity clients. Domingo has already worked with the likes of Patty Laurel and Tweetie de Leon Gonzalez, and has also worked on a newspaper spread for the Philippine Star’s Lifestyle section.
Despite all of this, Domingo remains humble and eager to take on more work. “When I talk to older beauty bloggers, they always talk about how you’ll come to a point where you’re not excited to attend events or blog about products anymore. But I always tell myself, I don’t want to get to that point,” she shares. “I think that it’s important to treat every single thing as a highlight, so I don’t take it for granted.”
The challenges that change you
Domingo confesses that her biggest difficulty is balancing her blossoming career with academics. “I’m [bad] at time management,” she admits. “How can you put your attention on something [else] when right there in front of you is your passion?” After finishing her academics, she plans on pursuing further studies in the art of makeup. Though she may struggle with keeping focus, Domingo says she still recognizes that at the end of the day, she is still a student.
She also admits that she sometimes feels intimidated by the people around her. “As a makeup artist, there are so many people who are good,” Domingo says. “You kind of get that vibe that they think you’re not good enough yet, and that’s a lot of pressure on me.” It sometimes comes to the point that she even doubts herself, but she takes this in stride, saying, “Sometimes I have to remind myself that I deserve to be there [the industry], too.” And this very insecurity is what motivates her to keep on working.
Domingo shares that her practice regimen also involves testing on all kinds of faces. Whether they be round, oval, light-skinned, dark-skinned, her tip for aspiring makeup artists is to make sure you practice on all complexions and shapes. Rather than only working with the kinds of faces you feel comfortable with, Domingo believes that it’s important to challenge yourself, as it’s the only way you get better. Other than that, she believes that it’s about appreciating all kinds of beauty, and not just the kind you see in magazines.
“Work hard, put yourself out there, and believe in yourself,” she says. “There will be days where you love your work but your client may not,” however, this must never detract one from pursuing one’s passion, “like what my old boss [told me] ‘You’re allowed to cry. You’re allowed to feel bad about it. But you have to move on. You have to get better.’”
Girl power
When asked about her personal inspirations, Domingo says, “All girls inspire me. I know it sounds so cliché, but I just feel like every girl has the potential to feel her best. I love all women.” And through the use of her talent, Domingo intends to help her readers achieve the level of confidence that she believes every girl should have. Her personal mission of advocating self-love is a resonating theme she hopes to insert into her blog posts.
On a concluding note, Domingo says, “I just think that makeup, if anything, can show what true feminism is. This is what freedom is to me. If you can’t live without makeup, it doesn’t mean you’re insecure in your own skin. It just means you’re free. You do whatever you want.”
With her bag full of brushes and her perfectly done eyebrows, Czari Domingo is ready to use her powers to help Filipina girls realize their inner beauty. Ending the interview, Domingo apologizes with a laugh for “talking too much.”
“I just get carried away whenever I talk about the things I love,” she says. Though she may still be a rookie in the makeup world, her resolve and drive prove that she is still humbly waiting for what her passion has in store for her next.
