On most college campuses, you’re likely to find student groups that are geared towards political parties or different religions. You’ll notice clubs that focus on a certain type of music, physical activity or ones that go hand-in-hand with a major. What most universities don’t offer is a group focused on the inner and outer beauty of a person. The U is fortunate enough to have a new club called The Beauty Gurus at the U. This group empowers both men and women through the artistry of makeup, while preaching about self-love and acceptance. I was fortunate enough to speak with Aarushi, the group’s President, as well as members, Kaelyn and Vivian. Here’s what they had to say about their organization:
Q: When was this group created?
Aarushi: It was created around September/October of this year, we just decided to get together and make a big group about makeup.
Q: Why did you decide to start this group?
Aarushi: We’re all very passionate about makeup. We love watching YouTube tutorials, experimenting with new products, doing each other’s makeup, and we were just like “You know what? Maybe we should just start expanding and getting other people involved and then we can discover new ways to do makeup, new techniques, go through looks and have events.” We thought it would be really fun.
Q: What’s your mission statement or motto?
Aarushi: We want to show that makeup artistry is not just about covering up or trying to mask the features that you already have, but it’s more about enhancing what’s already there and just using makeup in a way that expresses yourself.
Q: How does someone get involved with your group?
Aarushi: You can send us an email at beautygurusattheu@gmail.com or visit our SUA page and then request to be a member and we’ll send you an application.
Q: What is your best memory while being a part of this group?
Vivian: The first day. There were so many different people. We were all talking about swatching [rubbing a product onto your skin to test the product’s color and consistency] and the whole room lit up.
Kaelyn: I just like coming to the meetings! I just feel so happy when I come here because I’m not in any other groups.
Aarushi: We did a photoshoot together before the season started to post on our Instagram, and we just had such a blast. We had a great photographer, we all did each other’s makeup and got ready beforehand. It was really fun. We’re planning on doing a “Get Ready With Us” event soon and I’m sure that’s going to be really fun too.
Q: What are your group’s goals?
Aarushi: Our goal is to make makeup and the idea of artistry accessible and seem easy for everybody. We want it to be all genders, all sexes, all ethnicities and races, just everybody. Everybody is welcome here at Beauty Gurus at the U. It doesn’t matter what your skin tone is, it doesn’t matter what your skin problems are, what your problems with makeup are, what you’re concerned with. We want this to be a welcoming and fun place for everybody, and we want to keep it really lighthearted.
Q: What upcoming activities or events will your group be hosting or a part of?
Aarushi: We’ll be having a couple guest speakers coming in. We already had one of our officers give a presentation about skin care for the winter season, which was really great and useful for all of us. We’re going to have a couple people coming in and demonstrating techniques on people. We could potentially be doing hauls where everybody brings in their makeup and we get to swatch them before people can start going out and buying these new products. We also do a lot of competitions. We just had a graphic liner competition where we had to come up with the most creative and fun liner in a certain period of time, and our winners got featured on our Instagram.
Q: If you had to choose one makeup item to use for the rest of your life, what would it be?
Vivian: Foundation, hands down.
Kaelyn: I want to say eyeshadow, but it would be weird if you didn’t have mascara on, so I feel like I have to say mascara.
Aarushi: I would say brows [products] because I could use the [it] for the mascara. You can’t leave out brows! Brows are important.
Q: Favorite YouTube Beauty Guru?
Vivian: JeffreeStar-I love him. He’s goals.
Kaelyn: Kathleenlights! She’s my absolute favorite. She’s so sweet and cute!
Aarushi: Jaclyn Hill. Beginning, present, future, end of life-it’ll always be Jaclyn Hill. She’s amazing. She’s actually the one who got me first started with makeup. Also, Makeup by Jaack on Instagram. He is so creative. He’s perfect.
So there you have it. An amazing new student organization, sure to make their mark on campus. Stay beautiful, Gophs!