Cara Brook is taking over the social media world. She's the beauty and brains behind maskcara.com, has a successful YouTube channel , won the 2013 Allure Beauty Blogger Award and now has her very own make-up line (which is amazing by the way). I met Cara and instantly knew I liked her. Cara currently lives in Las Vegas and is a mama to an adorable little boy named Christian. She's going to be the envy of you all because she not only got to watch the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show live LIVE but she was also backstage soaking in all the madness. We met up at her parents' cozy home in sunny St. George and had a fun chat while relaxing on a comfortable sofa.
Madi: I love your make-up line. I wish I could apply it like you do, though. What was your journey to starting this line?
Cara: The whole reason I started the blog was because ever since I was really little I wanted to start a make-up line and I really had no idea how to do it, and no money, and no resources so I just thought I'm just gonna start a blog and see how it goes. I had no idea how that was going to get me to point B or C I just thought it's something and I can do it. My sister was doing a pedicure on a woman and it just happened that this woman was the owner of a company that makes make-up for Sephora and Bath and Body Works and takes you from idea to conception. Rachel (Cara's sister) told her about me and as she was sitting in the chair she opened my blog and she loved it so she called me and we started working on it; it took two years to get it right.
M: And you just recently launched it right?
C: Yes on black Friday last year, just a few months ago, so it was a really long time coming and we launched it and it was really scary because you put so much money and time in and then you just don't know. If it's a blog it's free so you aren't loosing anything. With my make-up line I don't know if people were going to buy anything! So up until Thanksgiving day I had no idea if it was going to sell and then the site crashed because it was so much traffic and we actually ended up crashing the shopping cart site we were using. We told them we might have a lot of traffic on this night at this time and asked if it would be okay and we told them rough numbers and they were like yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, we'll be fine. It wasn't. We actually ended up crashing their entire system, all of their stores. It was crazy but we ended up getting everything up about two hours later and sold out within the first like 48 hours.
M: Completely out?!
C: Completely out of the medium, which is what 90% of people use. It was crazy. It went really well.
M: Really well to say the least. Did you have a lot of followers on social media before you launched it?
C: Yes, I've had a lot of followers for a while. I had a pin that went viral on Pinterest and then I had subsequent pins go viral and that really helped the blog grow a ton. Then the Allure beauty blog awards that I won also helped it grow.
M: That's amazing.
C: Yeah it's been fun. It's cool that we live in a world that everyone has a fair shake. You don't have to know the right person or move to New York, I think everyone has a platform with the internet and if you work hard enough and do good enough everyone can see you and then decide for themselves if they like you or not.
M: Are you selling it solely on your website right now?
C: Yep I'm selling it on my website (maskcara.com) for now. We are trying to expand the color line and get more options and making some changes because it's a brand new product so there are going to be changes, it's a long process. It's taking a few months to get things back in stock. I want it to be a whole line.
M: It will be it's too good not to be.
C: Thank you! Thank you.
M: So now tell me about the Victoria's Secret Fashion show, how did you get that gig?
C: When I went to fashion week it was super, how do I say this nicely?
M: Boring?
C: Boring a little bit. I was so grateful to get to go it's just...I'm not a fashionista I like clothes and stuff but that's not my thing. And I don't really, I don't really look to fashion designers for my beauty inspiration because I don't think it's their strong suit so I was just kind of like this is not for me. But the whole time I was there I just kept thinking I would love to go to the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show because that's a fashion show about beauty. That's where the kings and queens of beauty go to work their magic, and it changes every year. It's cool because natural beauty is kind of everyone's favorite but you can look at the Victoria's Secret show from 10 years ago and you'd never say blah that is so outdated, because it's timeless. But It does change, there are updates they're just a lot more subtle and doable. I had a contact from Victoria's Secret. So a few weeks before the show I thought, I might as well just e-mail her. If it wouldn't have been late at night, and if I wouldn't have been feeling happy and excited I wouldn't have done it. I don't usually go out on a limb like that because I just don't want to be entitled or something. I felt so stupid e-mailing her because it's such a huge show. I thought they're not going to want me there, it's so embarrassing that I even asked, but I was just like whatever. The next day she e-mailed me back and was like, "We'd love to have you!" I was shrieking I was so excited. I was so glad I reached out to her. My husband came with me, it was in New York, it was really cool. The models all looked exactly like you thought they were going to. They always talk about photoshop but they just look like that. I mean, sure they have blemishes some days and things like that but, they are beautiful. If anything they're thinner in person. Which my husband was pretty bummed out about. He was like, "They look like little girls! They look like you could break them. I thought they were going to be like WOMEN."
M: They are really tiny.
C: Yeah they are itty bitty but they were, I mean, stunning. The first one I saw was Alessandra, she was just EXACTLY what I expected her to be. She could've just walked right off the magazine page. She was so beautiful, had a beautiful smile, she seemed so nice.
M: Were you starstruck?
C: Mhmm for sure. And they weren't super nice because we were press. I wasn't anybody, ya know? So they weren't like,
M: Going out of their way to talk to you?
C: No, no not at all like you had to be aggressive and I'm not really like that so I just watched. Which is what I wanted to do anyway because all these fashion shows are always sponsored by a make-up company and they're always sponsored by a hair company. You have to watch closely if you want to see what the models are really using especially at the Victoria's Secret show because it's sponsored by Victoria's Secret so that was really what I wanted to do was find out once and for all what they were using on their faces.
M: You said they were using the Victoria's Secret line.
C: They actually were using a lot of Victoria's Secret, I was really impressed by that.
M: That says a lot about that line.
C: It is a good line. They weren't using Victoria's Secret foundation, almost none of them were. You always imagine there's these major secrets and there's all these products that all the models are using. It's really been surprising to me how little of that there's been. Almost kind of a bummer you're like, "Oh so their just that perfect!?"
M: They're really pretty? Dang it.
C: It's just not attainable. It's this whole fantasy, the whole thing. All the best of the best of everything put together, there's not really a secret product or a secret technique.
M: It's just a bunch of stuff put together?
C: Yeah. So yeah, even watching them do their make-up I didn't feel like I saw anything extra special or that I didn't already know about. But in all fairness I've been watching back stage Victoria's Secret for like 10 years so hopefully I've learned it all by now. People always want to know what products they were using, there's a lot of NARS but they were always using different brands.
M: Is NARS a good camera ready make-up?
C: Not really. That's the thing with Victoria's Secret and with a lot of fashion shows in general; I don't think they cater to the camera. I think they cater more to real life because they know that they can edit later. They were not overly made up at all.
M: I think people like to tell themselves that they're not photoshopped or edited to make themselves feel better. Like, oh they're photoshopped and airbrushed.
C: Yep. And they do photoshop the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show. I have to kind of swallow my words a little bit because I said they all looked the same as they do in photos and on film but when I watched the show I was like… and that's why it takes so long to air! They do have to edit it and they're trying to create a fantasy world and that is what they're after. They're not after reality, that's part of why we love it. There were a few models where I was like WHOA she doesn't even look the same! But for the most part...for better or for worse, they were just flawless.
M: You said Behati looks a lot different in person.
C: Behati, I feel like she gets edited a lot. She's beautiful I mean duh. But yeah, they soften her a little bit.
M: I don't know how to put this nicely, you said she looks like a smoker. Really, really skinny.
C: Yeah and a little older but, I can't talk I do too! However, Adriana looked more beautiful in person.
M: Really? She's a stunner.
C: I know!
M: She's flawless.
C: I know, you would die. I was just... (jaw drops), I had no words I just couldn't believe it. And I didn't see Candice close up, I saw her on the stage and I feel like she's the same way. When she came out on stage it was like angels sing, you can't believe someone can be that beautiful, her body is just amazing, her skin just glows. I feel like she has that same thing that Adriana has they're unstoppable.
M: What is Doutzen like? She has such a hot body.
C: Oh my gosh, I was so sad because I didn't see her. She's one of my favorites.
M: Mine too. I look at her and I'm like? How, how?!
C: I know. And her face like those bright blue eyes and her baby little nose. Ah she's so beautiful. Karlie Kloss was my favorite though, personality wise.
M: Did you get to talk to her directly or were you just around her?
C: I talked to her in a group. I didn't talk directly to her but I heard her responses and the way she was talking to people and she was just super nice and smiley. Her publicist had drag her from place to place because she wanted to talk to everyone.
M: I love that. That's my biggest thing is seeing what they're really like. Cause you see them one way on TV and in the media and you think they're nice but you got to see them in reality.You said Cara Delevingne was mean. Or she seemed mean.
C: Yeah she seemed a little bratty. She seems like that anyway right? She definitely had an air about her that was a little snooty.
M: She seems very entitled. She's extremely successful so I can see why she'd act like that. Although, I don't like it.
C: I was actually really surprised. She was little. I mean, she's only 5'8 so I'm a little bit shorter than her. She's a model, she's a perfect model because she comes alive on the screen and in film. But she's much more beautiful in pictures in my opinion. I think it's a personality thing. Like, Karlie, when I think of her she just dazzles because she has the personality to go with her looks.
M: That's so interesting to me. I was hoping Cara was a brat. I don't know why. There has to be something wrong with them! For me, I secretly (not so secretly now) hope that they have ugly personalities. It's not fair that a person can literally perfect.
C: As long as they're mean you don't have to feel as bad!
M: Yeah! Were you nervous going in to such a huge show?
C: I was SUPER nervous! If I was a VIP or something I'm sure I wouldn't have been as nervous but they kind of treat the press like you better know what you're doing!
M: Do you have to have some sort of big meeting with everyone that is doing hair and make-up and press to go over "rules" and such things? Do they prep you before you go in? Because these aren't just models they're Victoria's Secret models, they are celebrities.
C: You go to a different floor and they give you all the pamphlets that tell you who is wearing what, when they go on, what they should look like. I'll grab mine so you can see it. It's pretty cool.
*The pamphlet is like a dance recital program. Very cool to see such a huge show typed out in to a program format.
M: Wouldn't it be amazing if they used your stuff? They should.
C: YES, eventually.
M: I am so jealous that you got to watch the show. Does it go by quick?
C: It's only like 20 minutes!
M: Did you see the performances?
C: Yeah they were really cool. I was so excited because I love Taylor Swift. It was perfect.
*I won't document our conversation about nose jobs because I've already written a post about that. However, you should know that Cara is a magician at making a nose look smaller and more defined through contouring and highlighting. We're so obsessed with noses.
I love this stunning, sweet, down to earth woman.
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