A tragedy anywhere in our country feels like a tragedy everywhere here. The widespread and cataclysmic wildfires in Los Angeles are just the most recent in a long line of natural disasters that have plagued our country and forever changed our way of life. My heart goes out to those California residents who are facing the challenge of rebuilding a life that they had no hand in destroying. Being forced to flee your home is a heartbreaking and terrifying event to endure. Some residents have lived in their homes for over 5 decades. Over 50 years of memories just gone. Then being tasked with salvaging the remains of the life that was once so familiar, and beginning the painstaking process of picking up the pieces of what was in the hopes of creating what will be. It’s a daunting task that I wouldn’t wish on my worst enemy, and yet it has become a commonplace occurrence in so many of our communities.
Longing for La-La-Land
The fires in L.A. feel particularly distressing, even to those of us who don’t live in the city or have never been to visit. Los Angeles has long been a city that inspires creatives of all mediums to dream big and shoot for the moon. The city itself is a beacon of manifested desires and the visible fruits of tireless labor. For the aspiring filmmaker, or fashion stylists, or makeup artist, a piece of the realized dream lives in L.A. Creative success and the city of Los Angeles have all but become synonymous with one another in our lifetime. So where do these fires and the destruction they’ve caused leave a city that is built on the creative endeavors of mostly unknown talent? What’s to happen to those affected?
Tasked with the choice between rebuilding their lives or careers, how can any person prioritize one or the other when the two are so inextricably linked? How do you rebuild a life that you’ve struggled for years to maintain in the first place? When every gig, every show, every opportunity feeds one into the other, creating some semblance of consistency in a world that’s known for its terribly precarious nature, how do creatives plan for unimaginable circumstances? This is especially the case in a (semi) post-pandemic world where creative industries had to pivot and make various concessions in order to remain successful or even relevant. And let's not forget the actor and writer strikes that resulted in many crew members being out of work, many of whom never got back to "normal". What’s to come of a city built on dreams when the reality of the day becomes too dark to ignore? And what do the rest of us do to help?
A Bad Day Can Always Find You
Though they were not nearly as personally devastating, I’ve had my own run-ins with forced rebuilding, and I can assure you, it’s a truly humbling experience. From enduring the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina as a high school student to a catastrophic fire that destroyed my childhood home in 2021, I’m no stranger to fresh starts. The one that I credit with shifting my perspective as an artist came in 2016.
Weeks before I was set to move from New Orleans to Denver, someone, way more desperate than I, broke into my car and stole the only thing in it that I had of any value: my entire professional makeup kit. My bread and butter. My lifeline. My way of life. Gone in the blink of an eye. I was shocked, hurt, and frozen with disbelief. What had taken me almost five years to build, someone had snatched away from me in a matter of minutes. Reeling and heartbroken, I knew that if I was to ever get back to work I needed help, desperately and immediately.
In the face of dire adversity I knew my community would be there to support me when I was unable to support myself. I knew the way that pro MUA’s shopped; recklessly and relentlessly, hoarding products they’ve never used “just in case” that one really specific request comes around. Just in case the assignment is 32 different shades of red lipstick. If I could get one unopened product from every working artist that I knew, that would be enough to begin piecing my life back together.
Asking for Help is Strength, Not Weakness
I utilized social media and my community network to inform everyone of what transpired and to ask for donations. I also created a GoFundMe for anyone who wanted to donate monetarily, but I made it clear that I was not being at all picky. Any and all help was deeply appreciated.
What happened next shifted the way I viewed myself, my community, and my career. The outpouring of love and support that I received was overwhelming. Artists whom I hadn’t seen or been able to reconnect with for years were reaching out with words of encouragement, tons of unused products, and financial resources. Within a matter of weeks, I had all but rebuilt my kit and could begin working again in limited capacities. I was moved and humbled by this incredible display of community care.
As beauty professionals, we can often feel isolated in our work. Whether it be on set or with personal clients, we are generally the only artist present. So it can feel like we’re alone on this journey in general. However, that is rarely the case. This unfortunate experience taught me that the connections we make, however brief they may be, are extremely valuable. When you allow yourself to be vulnerable, you allow your fellow humans to meet you there and lift you up when you need it most. I am eternally grateful to 2016 Cyd for not suffering in silence. It’s so easy to tell ourselves that our problems are our own, that no one owes us anything, and even worse, that no one even cares about what we’re going through. That could not be farther from the truth. Our people care about us, deeply and sincerely. And they are happy to carry us when the load gets too tough for one to manage alone.
Rebuilding the Dream
This brings me back to present day Los Angeles. Our people are hurting. People that have been inspiring us and giving us hope for years are now the ones in need. The changemakers, trendsetters, and dream makers now need kindness and compassion to trend their way. It’s up to the rest of us to lift this community of creatives and remind them that they are not alone in this fight to rebuild their lives. We are pack creatures by nature; none of us can survive in a vacuum. We also serve as mirrors for one another, so when one person is struggling to see the good in the world, it becomes the responsibility of the rest of us to show them the empathy and tenderness that’s required to weather these particularly destructive storms. Media outlets love to pit humans against each other, but we know the truth. We know that when life gets to life-ing, it’s our neighbors, friends, colleagues, and oftentimes strangers that gives us the strength and resources to go on. We know that without each other none of us can thrive. And we know that good people do good things and most people are doing their best to be good.
If you’re ready to be of service to your fellow humans, here are some resources you can contribute to that are helping people rebuild their lives and careers. And if you’re not in a position to help financially, simply reposting any of these pages will help to spread the word and bring relief to the communities that need it. The fires are still raging, so the fight to rebuild has only really just begun.
For hair and makeup artists that lost their kits:
Grishan Roof, known as @Depot Chopra on Instagram, has organized a product donation operation to build kits for artists that lost everything and cannot work.
Link to form for those in need of donations- Donation Request Form
Tania D. Russell, known as @MakeupToGoBlog on Instagram, has a comprehensive list of all makeup and hair supply donation drives that are currently on-going Product Donation Drives
For families that need help rebuilding:
The community of Altadena, CA is a historically Black and Brown neighborhood that has been all but wiped out. If you’d like to help families in need directly, this is a spreadsheet that contains the GoFundMe information for over 700 families and a number of local businesses. Follow the individual links to donate.
It’s times like this where we must push against the individualistic rhetoric and remind ourselves that we are the keepers of one another. As strong as we are together, we are that much weaker when we try to overcome adversity in isolation. These are also the times that our neighbors need a lot more than thoughts and prayers. They require directed action, attention, and care from those of us with the capacity to give it. Let’s do what we can to ensure that the City of Angels is able to make the cinematic comeback that we know is possible, so that we all may continue to dream without bounds and see those dreams blossom into our reality.
Photo Credits: REUTERS/Ringo Chiu, Getty Images/iStockphoto, Medianews Group / MediaNews Group via Getty Images,
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