Beautiful Minds

Going off the grid, our homegrown beauty content creators give us a closer glimpse into their passion-driven careers

- NOEL KHOO

Nicole Chen and Sabrina (@thenictionary and @sabrinalexandr on TikTok) bonded over their love for makeup during the pandemic. Before even getting to meet each other offline, they launched a collaboration with other beauty content creators for a makeup series on TikTok that quickly drew attention to their talent.

On the beginnings…

NICOLE I used to feel insecure about my body and I didn’t like the way I look. When studying abroad in the UK, I started to learn makeup and it helps me feel great about myself — not to cover who I am, but as a practice of showing up for myself and exploring different sides of myself. It eventually evolved into a passion and endeavour.

SABRINA I started just creating content. After some time, people came to me and asked if I can also do makeup for them — I was like, why not? When the pandemic hit, I noticed the audiences were more engaged with short-from videos that are less than 60 seconds. From there, I started to experiment with more bizarre makeup content on TikTok. Now, Instagram is more of a portfolio for me as a makeup artist, whilst TikTok is where I express and explore my creativity.

On finding one’s voice..

NICOLE On TikTok, being talented and having your own style are not enough, you need to have a personality that people can latch on to. You have to carve a niche out for yourself. For me, being authentic to myself and my audiences without giving away too much of my personal life hasn’t been the easiest, but I found humour a good way to give me sustainability over a long period. With that, I get to interject my personality, and at the same time, protect my own energy.