Hi Darlings!
Finally the time has come to tell you about the beauty world through the words and advice of one of our favorite Italian entrepreneurs and make-up artists, Giulia Sinesi.
We had the chance to interview her, to share with you her story and the best beauty tips for the summer season.
Hello Giulia, thank you very much for accepting our invitation. Tell us about yourself, who Giulia Sinesi is and what choices have led you to where you are now.
My passion for make-up started very early on. I always felt far removed from the beauty standards that were trendy when I was a teenager. My very fair skin and dark hair always made me feel uncomfortable.
Make-up was a way of enhancing and accepting myself: I used it to lengthen my eyes, correct what I then saw as my skin flaws. It was a fundamental tool to improve my relationship firstly with myself and then, also my relationship with others.
I started experimenting during high school. Nowadays it may not seem so early as make-up and beauty are now very popular among teenagers, but back then it was quite early.
After high school I attended an academy for make-up artists in Milan, and then started working for a major Italian make-up brand. I started as a salesperson, and before long I was in charge of staff training. By the time I was 22, I was personally managing most of the brand’s shops in northern Italy and teaching people how to apply make-up and sell the product.
I have always been very ambitious, for me it is essential to grow, experiment and evolve at work as well. That is why I interrupted my experience to start working as a freelance make-up artist and as an assistant to the artistic director of an important Italian brand. I mainly assisted him in all his daily activities. For example at make-up conferences or fashion shows. One year I had the honor of attending New York Fashion Week. This allowed me to enter the world of fashion make-up, doing make-up for internationally renowned models.
At the same time, I was working alongside the artistic director on the product development side: we went to the laboratories testing colours and formulas, taking care of the whole evolution of the product and, later, I also started managing the brand’s social profiles.
At the same time, I also started looking after my Instagram profile. My luck was that I was quickly noticed by brands and I was able to understand the meaning of working on my own and managing and organising my own work in complete autonomy. This experience then led me to detach myself from the brand and become totally independent.
Thanks to social media and the trust of brands, I was able to try out most of the products on the market and understand what was not commercially available yet. This is where my book Vitamine di Beauty comes in, which is like a kind of easy-to-approach manual in which I explain how to apply make-up and skincare according to skin types and different needs.
Once the book came out, I started working on my own company GOFU, a gentle skincare brand that was born out of the need to combine the requests coming from my community and my need to answer all their questions. I wanted to find a single reference that could solve all their problems, in a universal way.
How has your perception of the beauty world changed from when you started to today?
So, generally, when a person becomes a make-up artist they think that the ultimate accomplishment is to do make-up for fashion. During my journey, however, I have turned this view upside down. My idea of the beauty and make-up world has changed a lot over the years mainly because I have collected various experiences over time that have allowed me to have an almost complete view of the industry. In my time within what we can call make-up fashion, I realized that it was not for me.
I found that for me the important thing was to give normal people a tool to make them feel more confident, feel better about themselves, giving them well-being in their daily lives. On a human level, in fact, it gave me much more satisfaction to interact and give advice to people who had frailties or insecurities, revealing to them a way to be able to overcome them and find a way to live with them. These are all emotions and small satisfactions that I couldn’t get from doing makeup for models or celebrities for red carpet events.
Social Media also gave me the right tool to be able to reach as many people as possible who actually have a need to know the things I was sharing.
You have achieved a lot of important milestones in the last two years, including the publication of your first book, Vitamine di Beauty, and the launch of your beauty brand GOFU. How have these two beautiful events impacted your work and what do you see in your near future?
I can say that these two events have changed me, and no doubt in a positive way. I have a lot more responsibility, and because I am no longer working individually but working with other people, I am responsible both financially and motivationally to my co-workers. It is exhausting at times, but it is at the same time electrifying and makes me feel deeply fulfilled.
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Dealing with a team is challenging, but I am happy with the direction I have taken and the people who surround my life right now.
My week now is geared toward the company and making sure everything is going right, continuing to be there as well for my community. This dual job is intense but I would never go back because it gives me so much satisfaction.
For my future I definitely see an expansion of my brand because our products have been highly appreciated. The greatest satisfaction is to reach as many people as possible and then we will see. Everything that has happened to me in life has happened from one moment to the next, out of the blue, and it was almost a natural evolution of things. I am ready and excited for whatever is in my near future.
Beauty tips moment. Given the upcoming season, what tips would you give our community for the perfect summer skincare and makeup routine?
There are four crucial steps for proper summer skincare: cleansing, exfoliation, hydration and protection.
In summer, our skin changes physiologically: it tends to produce more dead cells and more sebum. This is why my very first advice is to do a very good cleansing and exfoliation. Through cleansing you’ll eliminate excess sebum, while thanks to exfoliation you’ll work on the elimination of dead cells. Usually in summer people tend to stop exfoliating because they are afraid of losing their tan. Nothing could be more wrong. Tanning does not depend on the surface layer of the skin but is a body mechanism that comes from within. By exfoliating you only go to act on the surface layer, making the skin more beautiful and radiant.
As for moisturizing, a specification is necessary. In summer, it is best to use moisturizing products, but little nourishing ones that are low or no oil content, as more sebum than normal is already produced.
Finally, the last but most important year-round step that becomes essential during summer time is the application of an SPF product, such as Darling products, which give the possibility to protect the skin very effectively. First of all as a matter of safety, as it is our first weapon against the onset of major issues, such as skin cancers. Secondly because it helps the skin itself to regenerate properly.
As for make-up, it is a bit more complex. This is because compared to skincare, which can sometimes be more scientific, make up is totally subjective, and it depends on what makes us feel good.
The advice I can give is to know yourself and know your skin. When it is hot, it is good to use light, powdery textures that tend to absorb sebum, use long-lasting formulations. In what way to apply makeup though is extremely personal, it depends a lot on how and what you want to enhance. For example, if you want to cover acne scars and prefer an opaque foundation, you can use it as you would in winter. Obviously you will have to opt for waterproof, long-lasting and matte alternatives.
Two tips that are close to my heart regarding summer make up: one is about shades and the other is about the contrast between life on social and real life.
For the shade of our make up, it is important to make a beauty upgrade in the warmer months, preferring darker palettes aligned with one’s tanned skin tone.
Finally, it is important to point out that what looks good in photos and on social media, I am thinking especially of viral videos on Tik Tok, is often not suitable for everyday life and we need to keep this in mind to make the right choices based on real variables, such as climate and skin type.
Last but not least. What are the beauty products you could never do without?
For skin care, I could never give up my cleanser, moisturizer and sunscreen. On the other hand, make-up side, I cannot part with my bronzer, a love that has been going on since I was a little girl.
Well, well, well, Darlings! We do have many lessons to put into practice. So go check your beauty shelves and remember to take care of your skin everyday!
With love!