For Ignacia Soto-Aguilar, professional film, TV and print makeup artist, beauty is about feeling confident in yourself. As long as she can remember, she always viewed her mother as the most beautiful thing in the world, and not just because of her young-looking features and comprehensive morning routine.
“I just loved [my mom’s] process in the morning,” Soto-Aguilar shared. “She had this little bag that was like, ‘you don’t touch that bag,’ and I remember just being so fascinated by her process and this thing that she held so dear.”
Despite her subconscious admiration for her mother’s beauty routine, Soto-Aguilar did not wear makeup until she went to college. She thought makeup would never be her path, so she went on to study political science and prepare for law school. Before she could enroll in law school, Soto-Aguilar realized her love of art and creativity was more powerful than her interest in law, so she went to beauty school right after graduating from UC Davis.
“I always loved art, and I’ve always been really good at putting ideas to paper or picturing something in coloring, [and] how colors go together,” Soto-Aguilar revealed. “I ignored those skills because I was trying to be a lawyer, but then I think when I was in my last week of college, literally a week before graduation, I was like, ‘you know what, I need to do something artsy. I don’t know what that is, but if it makes money…’”
Soto-Aguilar taught herself makeup skills by observing her mother and channeling her ability to create portraits, even though she would not have considered herself very “feminine” before college. This inherent artistic creativity allowed her to understand how to produce good-looking makeup because she understood facial structures through portraiture.
Using these newfound skills, Soto- Aguilar set out to create looks that would never go out of style. “I felt like I had a good understanding of the face without adding trendiness to [it],” she said. “Fast forward to the years when I started [doing makeup], I applied that knowledge instead of getting too trendy with it or learning too much of what was current. I always wanted to have a timeless approach with my makeup before I became a film makeup artist, which really doesn’t give me all that much freedom to come up with my own looks.”
Soto-Aguilar is now a sought-out makeup artist for many major Hollywood films and television shows. Her most recent, and perhaps biggest, projects include FX’s “The Bear,” TNT’S “Claws,” and “The Hunger Games.”
To create these detailed, camera-ready looks, Soto-Aguilar considers all the small details, even as seemingly tiny as the lighting of the set and the actor’s nail color. “The makeup just has to compliment and tie things together. You have to build the world that these people live in before you come to the set and be with them…I feel like the makeup is the sprinkle on top of the cupcake,” Soto-Aguilar explained.
Although makeup is the last part of developing a visual, Soto-Aguilar has especially loved the projects when she has the freedom to create. “The ones that I’ve loved the most, what they have in common is that they all let me have a creative part in the show…It’s really special whenever the director is like, ‘look, these are some points to hit. Create something,’” she revealed.
Matching makeup to the costumes, hair, lighting, set design, etc. is not possible for Soto-Aguilar without collaborating with colleagues on set and asking questions. “You go and talk to the wardrobe people, you talk to the set designer…it’s such a collaborative, beautiful dance,” Soto-Aguilar described. “I’m so glad that I asked the questions that I asked because I think early in my career, I wouldn’t have thought to ask some things that I asked, and [those questions] helped.”
Soto-Aguilar’s emphasis on collaboration is one of her biggest pieces of advice for those starting in the makeup industry. Things have changed a lot in the makeup world since Soto- Aguilar started as an assistant, but common courtesies in the creative industries should be maintained.
“It’s very important to respect the people who came before you and learn from them and the way they present the material instead of just coming in and affecting the energy of the workflow when you’re starting out,” Soto-Aguilar shared. “So, I would say listen to people who are older than you in the craft. Assist, assist, assist. And if you know how to do something really well, don’t tell people, just do it because people will see that you’re good.”
She continued: “Be situationally aware…be two steps ahead. Be open to collaboration and understand that it’s not always about your creativity; it’s about the collaboration more so than it is you showing what you can do.”
Soto-Aguilar is also an advocate for bettering and supporting mental health, especially through her social media presence, and she sees how her work’s emphasis on what the definition of beauty is can be detrimental to mental health.
“I’m such an advocate for [makeup] products and beauty, but I also get nervous about the message getting lost where I don’t want it to come across like [putting on makeup and looking a certain way] are necessities…” Soto- Aguilar said. “I’m making characters; I’m not telling people, ‘this is what you need to look like.’ So, I think that is why I’m so involved is because I want to counteract what it can come across that I represent.”
On a larger scale, women are expected to present themselves in such a way that society has deemed worthy based on a certain perspective of beauty that is extremely narrow. Soto-Aguilar hopes to change this narrative while still emphasizing that beauty is a feeling of confidence and self-love.
“This currency exchange system of beauty is planted in us so young, just by default, and some of us spend our entire lives chasing this idea of beauty because we equate it to our own worthiness all of our lives,” she explained. “Then this just gets reinforced our entire lives: what beauty should be and what it is. Unless you’re constantly deprogramming and going to therapy [for it], it’s really easy to get lost in this worthiness spiral.”
To promote her philosophy of beauty from within, Soto-Aguilar has perfected the “natural” look, focusing on her natural skin first. Her new favorite “trend” is less corrective makeup and more dewy, plump skin, which she strives for by making sure she completes her skin care routine every day.
“I’m huge on hyaluronic acid right now…I love plumpness. I love dewiness. I love the way it makes people look, how it makes the makeup look…” Soto-Aguilar shared. “I feel like health is kind of the new currency, to just display a more natural, dewy, ‘where you can’t see the makeup’ face is what people want now instead of, you know, everyone having that perfect contour and highlight…”
Healthy skin comes from the ingredients in different products and what goes into the body, like the kind of food you eat. Soto-Aguilar says she continues to be aware of these things and incorporates many little details into her routine to keep her skin healthy.
“You don’t have to make [your skin care routine] crazy. You don’t have to buy into all of the trends of buying the six-, seven-step regiments” Soto-Aguilar said. “If you find a good cleanser and then a toner, stabilizer pH, and a serum that’s going to hydrate you and a moisturizer that sits well with your skin, you’re good.”
Even with a detailed skin care routine and long work hours on set, Soto- Aguilar finds time to parent and be with her teenage son. She has a very supportive, understanding and responsible kid who appreciates her art, she shared. For Soto-Aguilar, all of this has been a balancing act, but she succeeded.
“I honestly don’t know how I pulled that off,” Soto-Aguilar joked. “I think I just knew that there was no plan b and I just had to make it happen.” She also is big on trust when it comes to figuring out how to manage so many big roles and encourages others to look within themselves to find the answers. “Trusting your gut. Trusting that you’re doing the right thing. Quit googling because nobody in the world has ever been you before, so you’re not going to find that answer. You have to believe… And when you have no plan b, it’s really easy to [trust yourself], and your gut will be more accurate than you think,”
Soto-Aguilar shared. So, trust your gut, feel beautiful in your confidence, show don’t tell, take care of your skin and follow your passions and skills because no one else can define your beauty and success, and thanks to Ignacia Soto-Aguilar for leading this journey of self-compassion.
Creative Credits
- Written by
- Emily Weiner
- Image courtesy
- Ignacia Soto-Aguilar
- Photography
- Toni Riales
- Creative Credit
- Ignacia Soto-Aguilar
- Photography
- Michael Stewart
