Hardly anyone has ever seen senior Marissa Bertocchini without makeup. Wearing it nearly 24/7, Marissa is determined to always have her face prepared for an emergency. 

“I wouldn’t recommend it, but I still wear [makeup] at night,” Marissa said. “I have this fear that if my house catches on fire and some firefighters come in, they’ll be like ‘Dang, she has some good makeup; we have to get her out of here.’ I constantly wear it.” 

Even without the potential need for firefighter assistance, however, Marissa would still wear makeup as much as possible with the artistic freedom that cosmetics provide.

Beginning at an early age, Marissa started her makeup career through competitive dance. She quickly adapted to the makeup required underneath the stage lights, and she would eventually show up to school with makeup due to the hassle of removing it. 

Initially, Marissa stayed true to the makeup styles of her dance studio with bright red lipstick and smokey eye makeup, but she has more recently been inspired by the designs in the TV show Euphoria. Going with whatever fashion feels right on any given day, Marissa most appreciates makeup’s ability to portray her persona. 

“Makeup helps me express myself without having permanent results,” Marissa said. “I can always change my makeup, and especially with my EMT uniform, I don’t get a lot of freedom with how I look, so my hair and makeup are my main ways of communicating my personality. I try to connect with people as best as possible.”

In addition to making colorful connections with the people she works with, Marissa has also bonded with friends in the process of getting ready for school dances and helping fellow dancers at her dance studio. Flourishing in her love for the art, the makeup’s capability of uniting people is a facet that Marissa has never taken for granted. 

Likewise, senior Athan Hillman finds fulfillment within the makeup community; although, in contrast, he creates content for fans online. With a variety of different posts, Athan has accumulated thousands of followers on his TikTok account (@athanhill).

Athan defines makeup as “a way to escape and have time fly by,” and he finds immense entertainment through the act of entertaining others. It’s always exciting to test out new designs and techniques.

“Right now, I just got a bunch of water-activated eyeliners,” Athan said, “and I’ve been doing a lot of geometric designs with dots, squares, or stars surrounding the eyes in different areas.”

The process of making a video involves around one hour of preparation and two hours of filming, taking separate video clips and editing them together. He greatly enjoys the hobby, but of course, pursuing any form of art doesn’t come without its difficulties. It takes consistency to keep his artistic skills sharp. 

“A few months ago, I got kind of out of makeup,” Athan said, “and now I’m getting back into it. It’s [about] sticking with it because I lost a lot of the progress that I had with my techniques. Now, I’m trying to get back to that, and it’s hard.” 

Knowing all about the struggles that come with makeup, junior Olivia Oorbeck—another renowned makeup artist at FHC—laughs about the process of taking makeup off. Unfortunately, no makeup masterpiece can last forever. 

“Some of my funniest memories would be more so the taking the makeup off aspect,” Olivia said. “Due to the amount of makeup that I apply—because it is usually face paint—it tends to make a huge mess, so I usually call my friend and laugh about how horrible it looks coming off.”

Due to the transience of the art, it’s fortunate to have the camera technology to capture Olivia’s face paint sensations. Some of her favorite creations are inspired by movies and pop culture references, such as her Spider-Man or 2022 Snow Miser vs. Heat Miser renditions.

With her immense talent, one would expect her to showcase her love for makeup on a daily basis; however, she rarely wears makeup in a casual sense. 

“My friends and I joke around about this, but I actually don’t wear regular makeup that often,” Olivia said. “For me, because it’s more of an art, I don’t really see the need sometimes to wear it. Plus, it’s nice to not have to worry about reapplying your makeup throughout the day.”

From this, it is evident that the makeup lovers of FHC enjoy their craft in a variety of different forms. Whether they use makeup for specific occasions, on social media, or on a daily basis, they all agree that makeup allows them the freedom to express themselves in a way that nothing else can.

All of the artists encourage others to pursue something that ignites the same passion and confidence that they found through makeup. 

“[Makeup] has influenced me to express myself in ways that I didn’t know were possible,” Olivia said. “It has taught me to embrace my true self rather than what others want me to be.”