I’m Aaliyah — and I spent seven years doing makeup before I wrote a single word about it

Professionally trained makeup artist, seven-year freelance veteran, and the person behind every article on TrendTint.

My grandmother wore lipstick like it was armor

She worked a beauty counter at a department store in Atlanta for almost twenty years. Every morning — without exception — she sat at her vanity, put on a full face, and walked out the door like she owned whatever room she was about to walk into. I was maybe six years old the first time I really watched her do it. I didn’t understand makeup then. I understood power.

Growing up in Atlanta, I was surrounded by women who took beauty seriously. Not as vanity — as craft. As communication. I started experimenting on myself at 14, on my friends at 16, and by the time I enrolled in cosmetology school at 20, I already had more practice hours than most of my classmates. I just needed the formal training to understand why things worked, not just that they did.

Seven years behind the kit

After I completed my training, I went straight into freelance. Bridal work, mostly — with editorial and event makeup filling in the calendar around wedding season. I worked across Atlanta and Nashville, built a client list through referrals, and for a long time, I loved it.

The work itself was genuinely fulfilling. Sitting across from a woman before the most important day of her life and making her feel like the most beautiful version of herself — that never got old. What got old was everything around it. The 4:45 AM alarms. The venues with no natural light and no mirror. The clients who brought in inspiration photos of women with completely different complexions and expected me to recreate a result that wasn’t designed for their skin in the first place.

By 2023, I was burnt out. Not on makeup — on the grind. I stepped back from freelance work and started thinking about what I actually wanted to do with everything I’d learned.

The problem that made me start TrendTint

While I was freelancing, I started noticing something that bothered me more and more each year. Women would come to me after trying to follow makeup advice they’d found online — and the advice had failed them. Not because they’d done anything wrong. Because the advice wasn’t written with them in mind.

Foundation shades described as “medium” that read orange on warm brown skin. “Universal” contouring guides built around one face shape and one undertone. Lip color roundups where every single swatch was photographed on the same pale complexion. It wasn’t malicious — it was just careless. And it was everywhere.

I launched TrendTint in 2024 because I was tired of seeing talented women give up on makeup because the content they were using as a guide was never written for them. This site exists to fix that — not as a gesture, but as the actual standard.

What I cover — and how I think about it

Foundation and complexion — with real range — Every foundation guide on this site is written with deep and medium-deep skin tones centered, not added as an afterthought. I’ve matched hundreds of women. I know how formulas oxidize, how finishes read differently across undertones, and what “buildable coverage” actually means in practice.

Long-wear that actually holds — I did makeup for events in Georgia summer heat. I know what lasts and what doesn’t. When I recommend a setting technique or a formula for longevity, it’s been tested in conditions that matter.

Drugstore vs. high-end, honestly — I have no brand partnerships influencing what I write. When a drugstore product outperforms a luxury one, I say so. When the price difference is worth it, I explain why. No affiliate pressure shaping the conclusion before the review starts.

Color theory you can actually use — Undertones, color correction, why certain lip shades work and others don’t — I translate the technical knowledge from my training into practical guidance you can use the next time you’re standing in front of a mirror or a store display.

How I write

Seven years of client work taught me one thing about communication: people don’t want to feel talked down to, and they don’t want to feel left out. Every article I write is tested against both of those standards. Is this useful to someone who doesn’t have professional training? Is this written as if the reader actually exists — not as a generic “woman” but as someone with a specific complexion, a specific lifestyle, a specific reason for caring?

If the answer to either question is no, I rewrite it.

Want to reach me?

Questions, suggestions, corrections, or a collaboration idea — I read everything personally. Find me on Pinterest or use the contact page.

Business and partnership inquiries go to [email protected].

Makeup is for everyone. The advice should be too. — Aaliyah