Makeup started as a hobby for 2023 WHS and Optic Magazine alum Olivia Falletta, but quickly developed into a passion. With all the free time the pandemic gave her during her freshman year of high school, she began to do makeup. She started with creative makeup looks, like Halloween-themed eye makeup or other seasonal styles. Then, the summer before her senior year at WHS, she decided she wanted to take it more seriously.
Falletta signed up for makeup school at the Artist Makeup Academy in Rahway, NJ where she quickly discovered that she wanted to become a makeup artist. She said, “I honestly walked into it and I wasn’t even planning on becoming a professional makeup artist. It was just something for me to do. But then I realized I actually love this.”
AMA was one of the few programs that accepted students under the age of 18, which is why Falletta ended up going there. She first started in the summer before her senior year and continued throughout the school year on weekends and nights. The days were long, Falletta said. During the summer, she said, “I was there from 8:00 a.m. until 3:00 p.m., like it was a school.”
This school built the foundation she needed to succeed in the makeup world. She learned both the creative side and the business side of the industry, including demonstrations of certain looks and how to promote herself on social media. In December of 2022, Falletta graduated from AMA after completing 200 hours of classes.
In an attempt to further her career, she created TikTok and Instagram accounts at the end of her junior year, before joining AMA. Falletta’s TikTok account @lookssbylivv went viral, and she now has over 150 thousand followers which has allowed her to grow and promote her business. Once she created her platform on social media, she routinely posted three times a day; now that she is in college, she only posts once a day.
Beloved brands such as Rare Beauty, Charlotte Tilbury, Loving Tan and Nars Cosmetics have all reached out to Falletta, sending her packages and requests to work with her. She recently attended a Rare Beauty event in New York City where she met Selena Gomez and see the brand’s new collection of blushes. Falletta said that attending this event was a surreal moment. She thought to herself, “What am I doing here? Like in this room? With all these important people?”
Falletta has also worked New York Fashion Week twice, and while she loved it, she noted the demanding nature of that environment. She said, “At fashion week you have around 10 minutes to do a person’s makeup because there’s just so many people. I worked for 12 hours and probably did 100 people’s makeup. It was crazy.”
Now, Falletta takes makeup jobs for weddings, special events and even WHS prom. On June 1, prom day, she said that she will be working from 9:00 a.m. to 3:45 p.m., charging $125 per client.
WHS junior Gracie Koslowsky, a client of Falletta, said, “She did my makeup for the first time at her house and the second time I went to her studio. It was with her makeup instructors that taught her how to do makeup. They were giving her tips and complimenting her as she was doing my makeup. She was super sweet throughout the whole thing and we took a bunch of pictures and videos after which was fun.”
Because of her jam-packed makeup schedule, Falleta said that there are lot of difficulties with being a makeup artist and a full-time student at The College of New Jersey.
“Sometimes I have to just say no to things because I just want to spend time with my friends,” she said.
Although Falleta just graduated WHS, she is already on her way in the industry. At TCNJ, she is a marketing major where she plans to go into social media marketing. As a student, a makeup artist and a TikTok creator, Falletta, at 19 years old, already has so much experience under her belt and there lays a bright future ahead for her.