By: Ashmar Mandou

Celebrity makeup artist Claudia Betancur is a girl’s girl! “I love that I am able to work with women from all walks of life to help them feel sexy or pretty,” said Claudia Betancur, who was in Chicago recently to promote her latest project as Brand Ambassador for L’Oréal Paris. “I believe that is what I love most about my job. I love watching the transformation in women after they take time for themselves and put on a great shade of lip color or eye shadow.” Betancur fell in love with makeup at a very young age after playing with her mother’s makeup for hours. “I would watch the way my mother put on her makeup. I would sit there and just watch in fascination,” said Betancur. “She would look even more beautiful. So I started to play with makeup, play with my look. As I got older I would do makeup for my friends and before I knew it people were calling me to do their makeup. So that’s when I realized I have a skill for this and can make a career out of it.”

Which is exactly what she did! Betancur’s work can be seen on the faces of Kim Kardashian, Eva Longoria, Thalia, Adamari Lopez, Laura Pausini, and Jennifer Lopez, to name a few and has even appeared in several magazines. “Each of these women is not afraid of changing up their look,” said Betancur. “We all have beautiful features and makeup just enhances them. That’s what I love most about partnering with L’Oréal Paris because they have amazing color palettes that work for every woman.” As a longtime fan of L’Oréal Paris, Betancur believes the brand speaks to all women and is ecstatic to be working with such a heavyweight cosmetic line. “Every girl has a L’Oréal product in her makeup bag. I know I do,” said Betancur. “What I love most is that as a makeup artist my job is to make women feel beautiful and that’s something L’Oréal Paris has been doing for decades. So this partnership is a perfect fit.” What Betancur particularly enjoys most about the L’Oréal Paris line is the new nude eye shadow palette sure to be one of the line’s most popular items. “I adore this nude palette. It’s phenomenal,” said Betancur. “You have your mix of matte and your mix of glittery eye shadow. The color suits all skin types, so you can’t go wrong. I love the whole line. It’s easy to use. The colors compliment a woman’s skin tone and the colors are so on trend this year.”