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When it comes to fusing her two biggest interests—beauty and journalism—student Isabella Lujan has set her sights high and is on the right track to land her dream job: a “The Devil Wears Prada” reality as a beauty editor 

What once began as an ordinary hobby of playing around with colors, following the steps of beauty bloggers and adding cosmetic tools to her collection, makeup became the creative outlet to Lujan’s life from a young age. This unintentionally revealed a long term vision for herself.

“When I was 11-years old, I started watching beauty gurus on Youtube,” Lujan said. “Lauren Luke was the one who influenced me to start practicing [makeup] on myself.”

Refining her craft was a must, so Lujan used her tools wisely and her time in high school cheerleading to doll up her and her fellow cheer members before cheer competitions, as well as glamming up for high school dances. The women in her life never fell short in supporting her fondness for makeup, as her mom, aunt and grandmother allowed Lujan to primp their looks with her creative touch. 

Colorful eyeshadow palette and makeup brush set in hand, the idea of being able to enhance or completely change the look of a person’s facial canvas was a riveting idea to Lujan. Finding her way into a career that would allow her to be creative with products, hands-on in her work and network within luxury brands all at once, Lujan landed a job for CHANEL Cosmetics at Macy’s in 2016. Maintaining her position for two years, Lujan decided it was time to freelance her work at various CHANEL hubs, yet follow her education at the same time.

Isabella Lujan/Courier CHANEL’s Les 9 Ombres Quintescence palette from their 2019 Spring/Summer collection on April 7, 2020 in Los Angeles, Calif.

“I knew that even though I just had a job, I wanted to go further…and then I thought to myself, ‘duh, beauty editors are a thing,’” Lujan said. 

At PCC, Lujan wrote for the Courier for three semesters. She became an assistant for the Lifestyle editor for the Spring 2019 semester and moved up as the Lifestyle editor in Fall 2019. During this time, Lujan landed her full-time position at Nordstrom in the spring of 2019. Her two most cherished hobbies had blended, creating the perfect foundation to enhance her ultimate career goal. 

“The biggest takeaway is when clients come in feeling really intimidated because they don’t know too much about makeup or any techniques,” said Lujan, “but by the end of their consultation, I allow them to leave with something that they’ve learned.I genuinely want [my clients] to know what they’re buying, know how to use it and feel good while doing so,” she added. 

Now, Lujan is excited to continue her passion for writing and makeup at California State University, Long Beach for the Fall 2020 semester. 

“My ultimate goal is to become a beauty editor, with any publication big or small,” Lujan said. “I think [writing for] Allure is the end goal…or to work PR for a beauty company, ultimately CHANEL.”

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