Abby Wren Rediscovered her Femininity Through her Creativity
After losing all of her hair, eyelashes and eyebrows to the autoimmune disease Alopecia Totalis, a professional makeup artist began using bold, creative makeup to express her femininity and creativity, encouraging others to wear their differences proudly. Abby Wren shares why femininity is boundless and why it's so much more important to understand women and femininity beyond surface level appearances.
CLIQUE: When did you first start getting into makeup and becoming a makeup artist?
ABBY: I've been in love with makeup for as long as I can remember really. I first started experimenting with a few products back in middle school, and I can remember the very first eyeshadow that I ever used: a small purple eyeshadow quad from L'Oréal that my friend's mom bought for me back in the early 2000's. My mom didn't wear any makeup (and still doesn't) so I remember being really excited when I got that first eyeshadow. After highschool I actually went to college first, and got my B.A. degree in Psychology before really realizing that my true passion was makeup artistry. So I worked several jobs bartending to save up money for makeup school, got a Canadian work & study visa, and I decided to train professionally at John Casablancas Institute in Vancouver, B.C. Canada. The rest is history!
CLIQUE: Having Alopecia and turning it into such a positive for yourself, have you seen it make an impact on others as well?
ABBY: I still get emotional talking about this part of my work, because it really is the most impactful and important part of my journey with Alopecia. I get dozens and dozens of young women (and sometimes men) reaching out to me every day across social media, bravely sharing their stories and how I've encouraged or inspired them to be more confident or bold in their mindset and outlook. Seeing that impact is more valuable than any kind of success or dollar to me, and inspires the foundation of everything I'm working towards down the road.
“it's so much more important to understand women and femininity beyond surface level appearances. Now when I think of femininity, I think of power, confidence, resilience, and tenacity. “
CLIQUE: What has losing your hair taught you about being a woman?
ABBY: I've learned so much about myself in general since losing my hair, but most importantly I've learned that femininity is boundless. Having lost my hair so suddenly, I was forced to rediscover my femininity through my creativity, finding new bold jewelry styles that complimented my new style, and certainly through bold makeup artistry. I've learned that being a woman is a powerful gift, and that we are blessed with strength even beyond our understanding. I think all too often we as a society see hair as such a prominent and defining feminine marker, and for some it is. But it's so much more important to understand women and femininity beyond surface level appearances. Now when I think of femininity, I think of power, confidence, resilience, and tenacity.
“For far too long beauty standards have been one dimensional in my opinion, and I'm SO ready to see more imperfection, creativity and diversity throughout the industry.”
CLIQUE: As someone who is an advocate for inclusivity throughout the beauty industry, what is something that you think everyone needs to hear?
ABBY: DIFFERENT IS DOPE. I want to shout it from the rooftops, until people are sick of hearing it haha! But really that's how I feel. I want to really encourage others to not just accept their differences, but be proud and loud about it! For far too long beauty standards have been one dimensional in my opinion, and I'm SO ready to see more imperfection, creativity and diversity throughout the industry.
CLIQUE: How does makeup help you to express yourself?
ABBY: When I sit down to do my makeup, everything is impacted by how I'm feeling in the moment. Sometimes I don't feel like communicating verbally, so I've always found a lot of peace and clarity in the therapeutic nature of sitting down at my desk and pulling out some bright eyeshadow, paints, dramatic eyelashes and just seeing what happens on my face. After losing my hair, I really realized the importance of showing my bald head online, to show others what I'm going through and how I handle it through my artistry.
CLIQUE: You use your artistry to lead educational makeup workshops for burn victims as well as those who have gone through a form of hair loss themselves, what is that experience like?
ABBY: Those workshops are indescribably powerful and transformative for me. I am always so humbled to share my knowledge of makeup with others who want to learn more about it, but working with people that are healing is humbling on a whole different level. The strength and vulnerability that these women share through our workshops always inspires me to work even harder, to practice more gratitude, and to connect with and help as many others as I possibly can.
CLIQUE: What was it like doing editorial makeup for fashion weeks and awards shows?
ABBY: Working on New York Fashion Week was a huge personal and professional goal of mine after finishing makeup school, so it was pretty surreal getting to work at the show a few years back. The pace is really fast, and there is no time for mistakes so the pressure is on! I learned so much about working with speed and efficiency through those shows. I don't have time to do much editorial makeup these days, I've just gotten so busy in different ways that are pretty demanding, but it was such an incredibly exciting chapter of my career that I'll never forget!
CLIQUE: How long does it take you to do your makeup looks, and what is the process like?
ABBY: Despite how wild some of my looks are, I think a lot of people would be surprised at how much organization and preparation goes into each one. Sometimes a look can take days to complete from start to finish, especially if I need to get new supplies like dramatic fingernails or wardrobe or a backdrop to enhance my idea. Sometimes I have a creative inspiration that I'm working from, but other times I'm completely working from a concept that I've been stewing on. I keep a journal with lots of doodles, ideas and inspo, and that thing is a MESS haha! Actually creating the look can take anywhere from an hour to 6 hours. If I had all the time in the world I'd certainly take a whole day to work on just one look. Most of the time things really come together and start to flow creatively when I'm able to get in the zone after a few hours.
CLIQUE: How has having a social media platform helped you in your advocacy and to empower others?
ABBY: I know a lot of people have frustrations surrounding social media, but in my experience it has connected me to so many incredible people, and really helped me to build a welcoming, positive community where we can all come together to connect and collaborate in order to help lift each other up. This community means everything to me, and every single person who follows my story or supports me on any of my channels enables me to keep working hard to grow and expand this message! Gratitude is an understatement.
I will continue to proudly represent my community and advocate for more diversity throughout our industry until it feels welcoming for everyone.
CLIQUE: What do you see for yourself in the future within the beauty community?
ABBY: My goal is to shatter beauty standards throughout the entire industry, and be a symbol of confidence and unconventional beauty for every other bald woman out there who has ever felt self conscious or insecure about being bald or looking different. I will continue to proudly represent my community and advocate for more diversity throughout our industry until it feels welcoming for everyone. I'm currently working on a few projects behind the scenes that I can't share yet, but keep an eye out for more soon! We're CHANGING beauty y'all...and don't forget, DIFFERENT IS DOPE.
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