Senior Cora Kelly is naturally blessed with what a lot of women pay good money for: eyelashes. 

Many women spend loads of money just to have the illusion of long, thick eyelashes. Whether it’s hundreds of dollars on appointments to get them professionally done or simply disposable ones bought from the drugstore, eyelashes are a treasurable feature.

Cora tends to unintentionally trick a lot of people with her curly, lengthy lashes. So much so, the CEO (Chief Executive Officer) of Unique Models and Talent—the modeling agency she just recently signed with—was astonished by them when first meeting Cora.

“The main CEO woman told me to take off my eyelashes, thinking they were fake,” Cora said, “but I just naturally have long eyelashes. I explained to her that they’re my real eyelashes, and she was [so] stunned she yelled to her co-worker [who then] ran into the room and did the exact same thing—it was so funny.”  

Acquiring long eyelashes is an easy trigger for developing a love of makeup. If blessed with so, people will use mascara to accentuate them even more. Within that, it leads to the exploration of more makeup products; this is how it all started for Cora.

“I was very young [when I realized my love for makeup],” Cora said. “I got a huge colorful eyeshadow pallet for Christmas, and I would do five different looks everyday just for fun and even make silly videos about [makeup] in 5th grade.”

Through Cora’s dabbling in makeup at such a young age, over the years, she became more and more familiar with foreign products and designs that worked for her own personal pallet—her face.

“I got into makeup more from my sister, Brenna, because she is older than me,” Cora said, “and I realized I was good at it once I started to do more and more looks on myself for fun.”

Besides her sister, Cora was also influenced by makeup artists on Youtube and TikTok; they made her strive to create unique looks and confirm what looks best on herself.

From there, Cora began catching people’s eyes with her makeup sketched to perfection. So much so, she was asked by not just her friends, but strangers as well if she could help them do their makeup for special occasions. 

“I did a few other girls’ makeup for school dances,” Cora said, “and then other people’s makeup for Halloween.”

Although, the fun and dawdling of makeup evolved into a passion of Cora’s. After receiving countless compliments on her makeup, and other people’s makeup she had done, her determination to go to a school dedicated to cosmetology had strengthened.

“People would comment saying really good things about [my makeup],” Cora said, “and I knew I could have a future with it if I went to cosmetology school—which I am.” 

Cora plans to attend beauty school while receiving her cosmetology license after high school. Her fingers are crossed for her life after school so that she can fulfill her dream and become a registered cosmetologist. 

“I do see a future with myself and makeup,” Cora said. “I hope to go into cosmetology and esthetics for beauty school, and to then work with doing people’s makeup and hair everyday.”

However, a new opportunity aside from cosmetology school arose not too long ago when a modeling agency reached out to Cora begging to work with her. She gladly accepted and met in person with the CEO of Unique Models and Talent. 

“They ended up wanting me to sign with them,” Cora said, “and I did. While I was there, they took cool pictures of me and told me everything to do in order to be successful in that industry.” 

In five years, Cora sees herself occupied as a working hair and makeup artist, working on other clients, and on the side, because of her new convenience, modeling. 

Cora’s love for makeup has deepened over her years of creativity. Cora admires how makeup has the potential to create confidence within one, but, also, the way makeup itself can be stylized to adapt to individual features.

“[Makeup] enhances people’s natural beauty,” Cora said, “and it’s fun to mix and match certain colors with [each other]. I also enjoy how you can combine makeup styles with your outfits to create a great overall look.”

Natural and glam makeup are two very different things. One is known as a “no-makeup, makeup look,” which is an allusion to make one appear bare faced, but naturally gorgeous with the accentuation of personal features. Glam is the complete opposite, displaying that one is wearing a full face of makeup. However, the two styles are in no particular categorization. There is no right and wrong of where a glam or natural look should be worn to—it is whatever brings out the most comfort and confidence from one in the public eye. 

“I like [both natural and glam makeup],” Cora said, “because there is a look for so many different occasions whether it’s [for] a wedding or just going to the mall—[they’re all] diverse looks.” 

Cora doesn’t do makeup to “look pretty,” or “fit in,” she does it to express herself and suffice her passion because makeup is what brings her the most joy in life.

“Makeup for myself is therapeutic,” Cora said, “It’s like a hobby where, when you do good makeup, it’s satisfying. And, while [I’m] doing it, it calms me down and releases all the anxiety from [me].”