- If there's not another color blind makeup artist,
then I'll be the first one.
(bossa nova music)
My name is Andrea Tomlin,
and I'm a makeup artist who
happens to be color blind.
The type of color blindness that I have
is called deuteranomaly,
and it is a red-green weakness,
so I tend to confuse red, green,
orange, and brown colors.
I've kinda always known that
there was something different about me.
As a child, I was definitely bullied.
I really tried to be like everyone else,
and tried to wear
certain matching colors.
I could never quite grasp why
everybody else was looking a certain way,
and they didn't look at me the same way.
I joined the Air Force when I was 18,
and I was diagnosed with color blindness
after we did our color blind test.
And they did tell me that
I would never be a pilot.
When I left the military,
I went into wedding planning,
and unfortunately a lot of the
makeup artists never showed up,
so I had to learn how to do makeup.
I came to DC and I got hired
as a manager at Sephora.
I was terrified.
I accepted the job,
and I really loved how
they taught me a lot about color theory.
One day, I was talking to one of my trainers,
and he was talking a little bit about
the color balance that I had
for eyeshadows that I was wearing.
I was really trying to put a lot of colors on,
and they weren't quite meshing.
I told him.
I said, "You know, I'm color blind."
He was like, "What? You're colorblind?
Tell me how that relates to what you do here,
"so that I can help you."
I went home and cried,
because I was so happy that
I wasn't made fun of,
no one was judging me,
and everything from that point was,
how do I grow?
How do I work with what I already have,
and make it what I want it to be?
I started really telling people,
hey listen, I'm a makeup artist
and I'm color blind.
And now the reaction that I get is like,
wow, you're color blind?
I never knew that.
I'm really grateful for all the people
that were supporting me in my life.
The people that were teasing me?
I'll do your makeup.
The colors that I typically
tend to either confuse,
or I can't see all of the hues,
are reds and greens.
When I open up an eyeshadow palette,
or if I look at a lip palette,
sometimes I see five colors
when there's really 12.
When it comes to red,
I could sit there and look at a red
or several reds and do my best
to figure it out.
But, I can't make myself
see something that's not there.
I'm very good at seeing purples.
So I know about color theory,
I'll add blue to turn it purple.
And when I mix it with several
of the lipsticks, I see which
ones darker and which ones lighter.
I see which ones going
to be brighter, more bold,
and I also see which ones
going to be deeper.
The one that turned purple
is a true red.
The one in the center
is turning brownish,
so that's going to be
closer to an orange.
And then this one
is a little bit deeper,
but not quite a purple,
and not quite a brown.
So that's going to be
more of like a terracotta,
salmon, that type of color.
When it comes to eyeshadows,
and when it comes green
its a little bit different.
Because green is already
a secondary color.
I rely a lot on textures,
so I have a lot of matt greens.
I have a lot of shimmers,
and I tend to not put the two together.
If there is a customer
or a client that
really wants a matt
monochromatic green eyeshadow,
I rely more on my
knowledge of brushes.
And I will diffuse it
and make it look like
its several different colors
of green when its really
just one eyeshadow.
I would use my camera filter
on my cellphone.
I'll definitely put it to
a color that I can see,
I switch to several different filters.
I take a picture and
cycle through the different filters.
If the foundation match that
I've done matches in all
of the filters, then its a good match.
But if its off in
one or two of the filters,
I know that I need to change the shade.
We kind of collaborate,
and we really make it a project
that we're both invested in.
People are already nervous
about getting their makeup done.
So just involving them,
having fun,
having them relax,
and just telling them,
listen, its just makeup.
Everything that I do
is really customized
for the person that's
sitting down in front of me.
I don't consider color blindness
to really be an obstacle
that can't be overcome.
It is definitely something
that's going to be more of a challenge.
But its not something
that you have to
say is going to limit you
from being in the cosmetic industry.
I am self taught,
I never went to cosmetology school.
I wish I had.
But that's okay,
I literally kinda jumped in it.
Going into Sephora
with zero makeup background,
I'm like set up for failure right there. (laughs)
Whenever I punched out
and went home,
I had homework to do.
I made sure that I studied.
What our products were,
what's going to give me
the best color payoff,
what I'm going to put
on a deeper complexion customer.
What I'm going to put on somebody
that's a lighter complexion.
What am I going to put on
somebody that's red?
What am I going to put on
somebody with a yellow undertone.
I had to sit and figure out,
how am I going to blend these colors
that I don't see?
I literally put on makeup
every single day.
Every single day.
Because its not just me doing makeup.
Its not me being vain,
its not because I can't go out
without makeup on.
Its because this is my craft,
this is the art form,
and I have to practice.
I would like to have a cosmetics
line that is super pigmented.
So even people like me
can see the colors.
I would like to have some
type of product that
doesn't have to be one solid color,
you can play with it and
turn it into something else.
I'm excited that its not the same
beauty industry as it was
fifty years ago,
or ten years ago,
or even 5 years ago.
Or 3 years ago.
Its including so many more people.
Its just showing people,
the more creative you are,
the more free you are.
Don't worry about if this
person's going to be upset,
or this person's happy,
or this person's sad.
It is your life,
and if you don't start
embracing the differences that you have,
and really just going for it,
later in life you're going to say,
"(sigh) I really wish I could have done that."
Just say positive,
there's always a rainbow,
and there's always a pot of gold
at the end of it.
Even if you can't see all the
colors of the rainbow.
- So you might've noticed Boldly is now As/Is.
- But don't worry,
you'll still get all the same
awesome content you're used to.
- Plus even more new great stuff.
- Click to subscribe!
- Do it!
- Yeah!
- Click it, click, click
(slow bossa nova music)