Vibrant personality, award-winning symbol for women of all ages and beauty icon, makeup artist Carmindy, deserves a gold medal for her determination in becoming what she set out to be since age 10 — accomplishing everything that she said she would and more — while continuously striving to take her career to the next level.

Always put together, and always looking her best, it might come as a shock to some that Carmindy happens to be a hard-core adventure girl, loving anything and everything involving fishing, hiking, and camping. A friend of hers is a speedboat racer, another activity she regularly enjoys. Embracing her outdoorsy side, she is even heading to South Africa in the next couple of weeks to paraglide off the mountains.

“You’re not going to believe me, but I’m really a rough and tumble girl at heart,” Carmindy said.

From working with top models on the beaches of Brazil to styling celebrities on the streets of Havana and painting faces in Paris studios, Carmindy has had round-the-world experience experimenting with different complimentary shades of makeup on diverse ethnicities, enhancing each woman’s natural beauty. However, Carmindy’s real big break arrived when she became the top makeup artist guru on TLC’s What Not to Wear, embracing the inner and outer beauty that each woman on the show possessed, letting each client know how little it takes to make oneself feel “good.”

She also launched her new product line Inspired by Carmindy for Sally Hansen’s Natural Beauty line, and has written three beauty books, Crazy Busy Beautiful, Get Positively Beautiful, and The 5-Minute Face, where readers can get the inside scoop on the hundreds of beauty secrets and tips that Carmindy learned from What Not to Wear, as well as changing women’s mindsets from a negative, flaw-focus to a positive beauty attitude.

More recently, this go-getter gal has come out with her own app for the iPhone and iPod touch, is currently working on her very own makeup line (which she is confident will be quite the success), and hopes to one day have her own television show sharing her beauty how-tos with her viewers. Needless to say, this chick has got it together.

Growing up in Southern California, Carmindy was constantly teased and made fun of for being overweight and unattractive during her childhood years. Instead of letting those kids bring her down with their hurtful words, the now 5’6,” 120-pound, blue-eyed bombshell, Carmindy decided right then and there that she wanted to make girls and women all over the world feel the complete opposite of what she had felt; beautiful inside and out, in which she says that her mother was absolutely her inspiration for making her dreams come true.

“My mom was always dragging me to art classes when I was younger, and I was always painting,” Carmindy said. “I put two and two together, the makeup and the artistry, and knew what I wanted to do as a teenager.”

“My other passion in life was to travel the world. I find beauty much differently than other people. For me, traveling the world, being able to become a makeup artist all at the same time, was everything I’d always dreamed of. The healing powers about making a woman feel better about themselves — if you can make her feel more confident — that is the greatest, most rewarding gift I could ask for,” she added.

While Carmindy’s classmates were busy attending football games and preparing for school dances and prom, she was spending her high school years studying fashion magazines and working at cosmetics counters. She was so engulfed at work playing around with makeup on her friends — instead of making cosmetic sales — that she was fired. But this dismissal would only prove to be the start of her incredible journey into the world of beauty.

“It was literally out of a movie,” she said. “After getting fired, I walked downstairs at the mall into this place called ‘Clicks,’ and lied to these photographers, saying I had been a professional makeup artist for years and was hired on the spot. I drove to Hollywood when I was 16 and became an apprentice. Then one magic day, one of the makeup artists got sick and I was flown to Miami where the fashion business was booming. Another photographer said he would love to use me in Milan, so I went there as well.”

After her out-of-a-movie-dream-come-true scenario being flown to this city and that city, Carmindy settled in New York in 1996, where she is still located today, right in the middle of Manhattan. It was nothing but hard work and dedication for Carmindy. But it wasn’t about having money, it was about having a blast. While she thought about going to college, and wanted to, the side of work that she was handed took over, presenting her with tremendous opportunities.

Shortly after moving to New York, Carmindy was discovered by TLC’s What Not to Wear through being the spokesperson for Revlon, Almay and Bath & Body Works, and was asked to be on camera for the show, working her makeup magic on clients. Since she was very well media-trained being the spokesperson for several products, as well as gaining experience with doing hot spring trends on television, being presented on camera for What Not to Wear was a perfect fit for her at the time.

“It’s the best thing that has ever happened to me,” Carmindy said. “What Not to Wear has given me this incredible praise. I was able to bring magic to the masses. I would rather help real women of America than put makeup on a Kim Kardashian wannabe. It really means the world to me. I’m kind of the key to open the door to the beauty industry. I never change a face on the show; I only enhance what’s there. You aren’t getting special television tricks. Everything that the viewers see is the real thing.”

Carmindy said that there is never a dull moment working with fashion stylists Stacy and Clinton on What Not to Wear, stating that they are some of the most down-to-earth people on the planet, truly invested in the lives of the individuals that come on the show.

“I literally snot when I hang out with Clinton,” Carmindy said. “He is so sarcastic, just so quick. And Stacy has one of the biggest hearts in the world. She is a true, loving person. The three of us aren’t in it for the publicity or the fame. It’s a family. We’ve been a family for nine years.”

Having done makeup on celebrities backstage for events like the VMAs, CMAs and other award shows, Carmindy has focused on “real women,” she says, especially ever since What Not to Wear.

“I’ve turned myself over after working with all of that stuff,” Carmindy said.

“Working with celebrities isn’t my cup of tea. Nothing is as fulfilling as seeing a single mom of three in tears after she gets a makeover. I would rather help a regular woman from a nothing small town in Indiana over a celebrity commanding orders any day,” she added.

Aside from working on the show, Carmindy holds one-on-one private consultation sessions for her fans in a New York City studio that she rents out. Sending emails to her website, carmindy.com, her devotees and beauty aficionados contact her requesting an appointment. The sessions are usually held on Saturdays or weekdays when Carmindy isn’t shooting a show.

“I’ve gotten so many requests to meet in person,” Carmindy said about her private makeup sessions. “It’s just girl time. I go through your makeup bag and give you tips on what works for you and what doesn’t. It’s in a small room with no distractions, asking me beauty questions as well as personal questions!” she laughs.

With the hustle and bustle of Carmindy’s busy schedule, her days are limited as to when she gets to make the rules. So a typical day in the life of Carmindy is hard to define, since she’s involved with so many projects, but she tries to keep her days in check with some sort of daily routine.

“The first thing I do when I wake up — I go to the gym for an hour and a half with my trainer,” she said. “I’m a die-hard in terms of physical health. After that, I sit down with my manager to plan the week. I blog for dailymakeover.com, and currently am updating my app with how-to videos. Sometimes there’s a photo shoot I go in for. I recently was a part of the Look Good Feel Better campaign for cancer patients. Every day is different.”

There are talks of Carmindy’s own beauty line in the making, which she says will be much bigger than her line in the Sally Hansen Natural Beauty Line. Carmindy is also hopeful for a future involving her own television show.

“I want to be the Rachel Ray of makeup,” she said. “I want to bring everything from skin care to beauty tips, and I want it to be global. I want it to be a way to spread the Carmindy philosophy.”

Talking with someone so well-known, who has accomplished so much and is continuing to do so, I was taken aback by how incredibly easy-going and down-to-earth Carmindy was when speaking with her.

She left our conversation giving readers the best makeup tip she has ever received.

“I bet the best beauty tip is spreading contagious compliments. You need to point that out, whether it’s that girl’s hair, or this girl’s smile. There’s too much in our society that we tear each other down with, which is why raising people up with confidence is so important.”

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