On her first day of high school, Christina Choi remembers applying makeup to cover her cystic acne. But applying makeup wasn’t only about finding the right shade, but also about helping to improve her self-esteem. Choi continued to experiment with the power of makeup and to what she calls hobby or side jobs working as a makeup artist at Hard Candy and M.A.C. Cosmetics throughout college.

After graduation, she realized her side passion could become a career enhancing women’s natural beauty. She worked nearly eight years at M.A.C., with the later time spent on the industry side at M.A.C. PRO, a division of the beauty company that works with people in the industry. From there, she went to Bare Escentuals, working her way up to designer of makeup artistry and national makeup artist, which allowed her to travel across the country giving women makeovers and teaching them about applying makeup. Choi wanted to take her career to the next level, so she took her years of artistry, education, business acumen and sharing and launched her eponymous cosmetics line of BB creams, brushes, eye shadows and lip glosses.

Dumpling caught up with Choi to talk about her experiences, beauty ideals and, of course, makeup.

STEMPAK: What was one of your most memorable looks, good or bad?

CHOI: I think I had interesting moments in high school. I think I was naturally talented in doing makeup, but I followed the trend of over-plucking eyebrows. I totally fell into that, and they took a while to grow back. That was a trend, real thin eyebrows, you know?

For sure. Even finding a good aesthetician to do your eyebrows is pretty risky business.

Definitely! I actually just did my own. I looked at magazines and tried to follow what celebrities were doing. Thin was in style.

I’m curious. Growing up, what kind of magazines were you reading or celebrity looks you turned to for inspiration?

I can remember I loved Seventeen magazine when I was younger. Back when I was a teenager, there really were no role models or celebrities that looked liked me, being Korean American, Asian American. I could never find someone who looked like me that I could compare myself to. That was really the challenge.

I tried doing my makeup to focus on my natural features, essentially the features that I had and not try to emulate, for example, a Caucasian eye shape. The lack of role models back in the day inspired me to start my own cosmetics line because I wanted to give women the resources, the tools, the makeup and education to celebrate their unique beauty, celebrate their features and work with what they have.

Often, we learn about makeup through magazines and friends, but family members can also play a role. Did anyone in your family influence or shape your idea of makeup?

I can definitely say my grandmother. I don’t think there’s been one day I’ve seen her without her makeup on. Even now at 85 she still wears her makeup. I look up to that because she was really inspiring. She was born and raised in Seoul, Korea, during the Korean War, but she really took great care of herself, took pride in how she looked. She was a fashionista — and still is. My grandmother has been influential in my career.

I’m guessing she did your makeup at some point.

Actually, I feel like she didn’t. She never pushed that on me. I actually did her makeup a lot of the time. It was fun. I loved it. I still do!

Do you have a beauty routine?

For my everyday routine, I like to use the sultry neutral eyeshadow Namu, a taupey shimmery brown. I love to use that one around the eye area and as my brow color, too. That’s one of my go-to colors. I also use Creamsicle in the crease line of my eye, and I put that color onto my cheek, too, for that perfect golden coral color.

The brush that I always go to for a quick look is the Deluxe Stamp Brush because it instantly gives you that definition without much time. For lips, I love the color Seoul Mate Luxury Gloss; it’s a mauvy color, which is perfect for day or evening. Then I like to layer On Vacay Luxury Gloss right on top. That gives a beautiful highlight to the lips. The other thing I’m using now is our newest product, the BB (beauty balm) Cream. I like to do a combination of the light and medium BB Creams mixed together. That’s pretty much my go-to palette. If I want to kick it up a notch, what I typically do is add a bright color. The trend right now is adding Splash, a sparkly blue, or Agave, a lime green, as a liner.

You know, I’m not surprised you worked at M.A.C. Cosmetics because looking at your collection earlier reminded me of shopping at the M.A.C. counter. They have really great colors and so do you. How did you go about designing your makeup line and executing your vision?

It was a process. I had taken my years of experience in the industry, speaking with so many women, taking all that knowledge and also my own expertise in creating a line that I believe in and works with all different skin tones. I really wanted to make sure that it complimented an Asian-American skin tone, an African-American skin tone, a Caucasian/fair skin tone. I really wanted to make sure the colors are versatile and that they be made of the highest ingredients, like vitamins C, D and E. All of our eye shadows are hypoallergenic and 100-percent fragrance free.

I really like your mantra, “Celebrate your unique beauty.” How did you come to that?

I think it was back when I was in high school. I remember when I got my makeup done for my senior portrait. When the artist applied it, they created a fake crease on my eye. It wasn’t true to what my features are, or were back then. I was confused by that message because I thought my eyes were fine. The makeup didn’t compliment my Asian features.

I think if I had to think back on it, it would be that time when I realized you don’t have to change the way your features are. You can just work with what you have and find your beauty through makeup. I think that stuck with me.

I was going to ask you what you would tell your younger self, but your younger self sounds wise beyond her years.

I think I was pretty self-aware when I was younger. I realized a lot of Asian women have the same struggles, and they don’t know how to really do makeup on their eyes so that’s the inspiration. I like to address that. I make sure that my brushes and eye products work especially well for Asian features and a complexion that may be a little darker or what not. Whenever I’m developing something, I’m always thinking about that in the back of my mind.

I have to ask for your advice. I’m stuck in a makeup rut. I pretty much apply brown eyeliner and maybe a colored lip every now and again. After a certain point, it feels like a chore. How do you combat that mindset?

I would say I think it’s a normal thing. I’m always talking with my client base on Facebook or email and trying to create an open dialog, which I love because it’s almost like we’re creating a network of women. They’ll shoot me emails saying, “I’m in a makeup rut,” “How do I work this color?” or “What do I do with this?”

That inspires me to give them suggestions on how to infuse some color like maybe a bold blue shadow to their everyday routine. I actually had a lot of questions on how to work with the bold colors in the collection, and I just did a video tutorial addressing that. That’s part of the joy of what I love doing: helping women. I get to give them great ideas because they want to feel good and feel empowered and know what to do with the product.

I’ve noticed I have a lot of clients who currently are going through a lot of health issues or are sick with cancer. What I’m finding is it’s just not a makeup line, it’s actually giving these women pride in their beauty. They’re going through so many changes in their body and their appearance. The makeup is empowering them to make them feel really good even when they’re sick and not feeling so well. That’s such a great feeling to witness what the cosmetic line is providing for women that I didn’t expect. The makeup is really helping them and providing them with a little bit of an outlet to be creative and also work with their brows falling out and how to define their brows or little things like that. It’s been, in a way, great for their soul.

Find Christina Choi’s products at her website, and check out her Facebook page and follow her on Twitter @ChoiCosmetics to stay up to date on all her makeup happenings.

Photos provided by Christina Choi.

Be sure to enter our contest for a bottle of Choi’s all-new BB Cream tailored to your complexion.

Tags: Christina Choi Cosmetics, contest, makeup, Namu eye shadow, Seoul Mate Luxury Gloss