Numbers and Makeup

Graduating with a major in finance, a minor in economics and earning an international business certificate, UW-Milwaukee student Ana Fuentes has a future full of numbers. Ask her to calculate any equation and within seconds, if not minutes, she would have the answer. Numbers may come first in her life, but what most people don’t know is that she has a strong passion for make-up.

Fuentes was introduced to make-up through a co-worker at her current job, El Rey Mexican Products. Her title is known as the Controller, who takes care of accounts payable, tax information and balancing accounts. She worked at this grocery store prior to graduating from college. When she graduated, she left to work at U.S. Bank, and then came back to El Rey Mexican Products when offered a better position with higher pay. The make-up obsession turned into a passion as her collection started to grow over the years.

“You can really express yourself through make-up,” said Fuentes. “You can wear whatever colors you want depending on your mood. It’s a great way to express yourself.”

Monica and Edith Fuentes are Ana’s sisters. They get the perks from her collection. Ana will do their make-up for special occasions, and if they need a certain product, they can guarantee that their sister will have it. Ana says she is continuously giving her sisters make-up that she doesn’t use often, or samples she receives from stores.

“Make-up is definitely the worst obsession she’s gone through,” said Monica Fuentes. “I think this obsession will stick with her. She’s so passionate about it and very good at what she does.”

Having a passion for make-up does not come cheap. An eye shadow palette from Ulta and Sephora can cost anywhere from $20 to $60. Lipsticks range from $5 at Walmart, to $36 at Sephora. Foundations range from $10 to $50. It all depends on what Fuentes is going to buy.

Her collection includes, eye shadows, face primers, eyelid primers, foundation, blushes, bronzers, highlighters, lipsticks, lip liners, eyeliners, face setting sprays, powders, concealers and much more. Some will know what these products are used for and some won’t. Some may not even understand what the purpose of the product is or why it exists. If Ana is ever asked what a product means, she can go off on a 15-minute speech of the benefits of using it. She has a variety of make-up from the drug store (Walmart, Target, Walgreens) and high-end stores (Sephora, Ulta Beauty, Macys). It’s no wonder her collection added up to over $500.

Ana gets her motivation through watching make-up tutorials on YouTube. She sets aside her afternoons and weekends to catch up on videos that she may have missed. Watching a 16-minute video may seem too over the top for the average viewer, but for her that’s a short video. The video lengths range from 10 to 30 minutes. The beauty gurus that she watches record their basic eyebrow tutorials, skin care tutorials, Halloween looks, videos of their own make-up collection and countless other videos. It leaves Fuentes with hours upon hours of entertainment.

Fuentes may dedicate a handful of time to her passion for make-up, but she never sees it as a career for herself. She plans to keep doing make-up for family and friends on special occasions, along with continuing to build and grow her collection. If a paid opportunity would present itself to her and if it fit into her schedule, she would consider it. She is currently not seeking out any opportunities as a make-up artist. She plans to have fun with it and keep practicing.

“I may not pursue make-up as a career, but I do not plan on letting this obsession fade out,” said Fuentes. “I have too much fun with it, even though it takes all of my money.”