Regine Daniel cops top spot in Beauty Beat-off

“It’s not just make-up, it is my passion!” So declares aspiring make-up artist Regine Daniel who specialises in bridal, tribal, special effects, film, beauty also and glam makeup.

She may be a newcomer in the makeup industry but at 21, Daniel has been making incredible strides with her talent in colourful, artistically inspiring ways.

Last Sunday, she participated in the first Beauty Beat-off competition hosted by event planner Donna Craig of It’s Your Day at Rovanel’s Resort on Store Bay Local Road in Bon Accord and blew her competitors out of the water, wowing the judges in the Science Fiction category with her depiction of a succubus (or enchantress) vigilante.

A succubus is a highly attractive female supernatural entity of folklore fame which seduces men in dreams or in reality. Daniel’s make-up skills made the beautifully eerie green- skinned character came alive on stage, complete with hand crafted horns, special effect props such as latex ears, snout, and homemade blood coming out of the creature’s mouth, and a bleeding heart intended to depict that ripped from the chest of an abusive man.

Daniel said she designed the piece to reflect the month of October.

“October is really the month to celebrate the strength of women especially those that go through domestic violence and it also is breast cancer month. I wanted to portray a piece that encompasses women’s empowerment despite it being a Science Fiction piece.

“The creature at night would transform from a regular girl into a succubus which would prey on abusive men.”

Daniel, who told Newsday Tobago her family encouraged her to take part in the competition despite her distaste for competitive events, said she was quite happy that she participated in the event as it proved to be a major confidence booster and strengthens her love affair with make-up.

This is particularly interesting since while make-up is now her passion, it was not always so, and as a child she didn’t even have an interest in wearing lip balm.

“Even lip gloss I use to wipe off so I did not think I would have ended up in this field. When I got to high school, I participated in drama at two schools (Pentecostal Light and Life and Signal Hill Secondary School) and we needed to do stage or theatre make-up. This was done if you wanted to make a character look older, so we had to change the look of the face; I found it was really interesting.”

Her love for her craft grew as she dabbled in the beauty aspect of make-up.

“As I grew in the field I attained a lot of new talents. Now I am able to use the theatre background with the make-up passion to do a lot of events and photoshoots,” she said.

A resident of Lowlands who currently works at the Magdalena Grand Beach and Golf Resort as a concierge, Daniel hopes to travel abroad to study special effects make-up so that she can eventually get into film and movies. She doesn’t see herself in any other field than make-up artistry in the long term, she said.

Meanwhile, she keeps honing her craft, and at a price since doing special effects make-up is by no means cheap.

“It really is expensive especially if you want it to look good, it will be expensive. Sometimes in Trinidad and Tobago, and especially in Tobago, you cannot run out the road and pick up a bottle of liquid latex to do a project.

“You have to get creative and learn what you can use as easy tricks and fixes to get certain things to look a particular way. If you have to order anything online, it is going to be very expensive because the products are costly, and you have to pay taxes and shipping, making it even more expensive.

“It is definitely an investment, but I love what I do, so I will continue to improve on my craft,” she said.