BEAUTY BLOGGERS TO KNOW: VANESSA // @CUTCREASER
VANESSA // @CUTCREASER
Vanessa, also known on her social platforms as @Cutcreaser, is an indigenous Salvadorian beauty blogger known for her glowing photos and artistic eye makeup. Vanessa is using her platform to highlight the importance of diversity in the beauty industry and how to unapologetically flaunt our unique beauty.
SHEER: Tell us a little bit about yourself and where you're from/based?
VANESSA: I’m a 21 year old Salvadorian girl from New York City who does makeup on myself and takes pictures/videos of it in the sun for fun. I’m currently a senior at the Fashion Institute of Technology, getting my bachelor’s in Advertising and Marketing Communications. I love spicy chicken wings and I’m a massive geek about superheroes, Star Wars, anime and nearly everything else.
SHEER: How did your interest in beauty and makeup develop?
V: I was very anti-makeup up until I turned 13. I was a massive tomboy (I still am) and I never was interested in it. Until my mom started wearing winged liner. She finally taught me how to do it for my 8th grade prom. She made me tug on my eye to create the lines and stuff (I now tell her that it gives you wrinkles). I decided to wear it everyday after that until I was about 15. That’s when I discovered Beauty Gurus on Youtube. I learned the basics of eyeshadow, foundations, etc from girls like NikkieTutorials, Desi Perkins, Samantha Ravndahl, Jackie Aina and Kathleen Lights. Then I started experimenting on my own and documenting it on Instagram. You can still see my first few looks from 2015!
I was heavily influenced by superheroes in comic books when I was a teenager. I decided that “Cutcreaser” was my superhero alter ego. Peter Parker and Miles Morales have Spidey. I have Cutcreaser. 🦸🏼♀️
SHEER: What are some of your favorite beauty brands/products at the moment?
V: My current favorite brands are Milk Makeup, and Colourpop! My all time favorite products are liners from Glam Vice and Skeddit Beauty, the Glow Oils from Milk Makeup (they’re super tiny but still worth it) and the Pretty Fresh Tinted Moisturizer from Colourpop. I’ve also really been loving the minimalist makeup type of brands like Glossier. Their Stretch Concealer is severely underrated!
SHEER: Where do you mainly draw inspiration from for your makeup looks?
V: I get inspiration from everything from shapes, films, TV shows to comic books. I draw most of my direct inspiration from the LGBTQ+, Drag, Editorial and Avant Garde Makeup Communities. Their looks are so otherworldly and a breath of fresh air for me. It doesn’t feel too perfect and glamorous and it’s kind of freeing, in a way. I’ve stepped away from what is now known as Instagram Glam Makeup. In general, my inspiration for creating is Tyler, the Creator. I love his process and the way he thinks. I try to mimic that in a lot of how I come up with certain looks.
SHEER: Do you have a recent beauty look you were most excited about and how did you achieve this look?
V: I was super excited about this look in particular because I had just finished listening to Tyler, the Creator’s IGOR album for the 20th time (probably) and I was looking at his shoe line. I noticed his logo for his Golf Le Fleur brand. This was during the time when Instagram filters were getting extremely popular and that’s all you saw when you looked at someone’s stories. I thought that the Fleur logo would look so cute as a filter so I decided to actually draw them on my face. I just went whimsical with it and did different colors and variations of the Fleur using Fenty Beauty Vivid Liquid Liners and NYX Cosmetics Vivid Brights Liners. I hated it towards the end but then I went upstairs to my dining room (where I take my pictures) and took photos in the sunlight and it looked 10 times better than it did in ringlight lighting. I got excited and I came up with the name Golf Le Filter. I don’t know if I could get in trouble for it but I actually found someone (@bethanweston) to make the filter for me. You can find it on her profile now! If Tyler ever saw it, I would love for him to take a golden hour selfie with it.
SHEER: The concept of "self-care" is a major selling point in beauty marketing nowadays. What does self-care mean to you?
V: Self care is so important to me haha. I am always telling my friends this. Even if its taking a day off from work to have fun with your friends or taking a day off from school to sleep. That is self care. I don’t identify my version of self care with beauty nowadays. I have anxiety so my version of self care is getting off of Twitter and Instagram, watching Hot Ones on Youtube or watching a movie I’ve never seen before. It gives me a break from the world and my own mess and stress from school and social media.
SHEER: How do you achieve that natural glowy skin look in your photos? What are some of your top skincare essentials, especially for winter months?
V: My number one tip is heavy moisturizing + SPF. I can’t stress this enough. Those extra layers of moisture and the SPF over top is the best primer for any base. I also stopped using liquid foundations because they’re thick as hell and don’t sit well on my textured skin around my jaw area. I love using stick foundations like the Milk Makeup Flex Foundation Stick and tinted moisturizers like the Colourpop Pretty Fresh one. I only look for light buildable coverage, luminous finishes, and I love liquid/cream products as opposed to powder products. I only set underneath my eyes, my chin and nose area. Everywhere else, I just leave it alone or apply some highlight on it.
Most of the skincare I have, I’ve received in PR. My favorite SPF is the Unseen Sunscreen from Supergoop. It feels like Maybelline Baby Skin but has SPF 40 in it and doesn’t pill up or makes my skin white. I bought it with my own money and it’s SO WORTH IT. My favorite moisturizers are the Milk Makeup Vegan Milk Moisturizer for dry patches and the Glow Recipe Banana Moisture Cream because its super thin. A serum I want to mention is the Lancome Advanced Genefique for overall radiance. (Since I am on their PR list, I only realized it is almost $200 about 5 days ago… so I use it sparingly now haha.)
SHEER: How do you believe mainstream beauty culture can improve in being more inclusive and diverse?
V: For a while, inclusivity and diversity felt like a gimmick when brands began to claim these words after finally extending shade ranges from fair to deep with cool, earthy undertones. It goes beyond shade ranges now, too. Where are the models with cystic acne in skincare campaigns? Where are the models with hairy faces and mustaches with makeup on? Where are the models with wide noses and crooked teeth? Marketing in the media has become so outdated. We want to see ourselves in these campaigns. I also think there needs to be an abundance of Black and Brown creatives on these teams to get this across. It starts with us being allowed in the industry to extend our arms in campaigns and launches.
There are also SO many content creators who are different sizes, ethnicities, skin types, features, with disabilities and speak different languages, who give amazing (if not, BETTER) advice and content in the community to support and stan. You just have to go and look for it. But we sure need to give them the spotlight in the first place!
As an indigenous Latinx who was born and raised in America, I have to use the privileges I do have to speak out and share my favorite artists who have deeper skin and afrocentric/indocentric features for people to follow and enjoy their content. I feel like everyone who has some type of privilege and a platform in the beauty community should be doing everything in their power to make a change.
SHEER: What are some golden pieces of makeup advice you wish you knew when you were first starting out on your beauty journey?
V: What I would’ve said to myself:
Don’t think too hard. Stop comparing yourself to everyone who is succeeding before you have had your moment. Your moment IS coming. And when it happens…. it HAPPENS. Stop baking with powder. Stop trying to be like everybody else! No superhero has the same power. (Except for the Flash and Quicksilver…) Don’t be afraid to step outside of the box. Learn your eye shape, face shape and the way your skin works. Learn to love yourself. And spread that love, once you do.