By Kinisha O'Neill, Staff Reporter
Esther Andrea, makeup artist, advises clients to try God, adequate sleep, and a balanced diet for radiant beauty. - Contributed
WHEN YOU'RE 41 years old, and don't look a day older than 28, persons will take any kind of beauty advice you have to offer. It's no wonder then that Esther Andrea (yes, that is her surname) is in such demand throughout the Caribbean and in her homeland of Curacao. Fittingly, she's a veteran makeup artist and beauty consultant, practising her craft for some 26 years now.
Earlier this month, anne martin, a makeup retail store in the Village Plaza, Constant Spring Road, St. Andrew, hosted Andrea for two days of free makeovers and skincare consultations to the public.
By day two, it was clear that word of the free makeovers had got out. Women swarmed the store hoping to change their appearances under Andrea's expertise.
If they were expecting a magic potion in a bottle, they were in for a reality check. Andrea's secret weapon to beauty was contrary to the ordinary. The key ingredient, she says, for a youthful appearance and ravishing beauty is... God.
"If you really want to be beautiful you must keep your skin cleansed properly, get adequate sleep, eat foods that are good for you, drink lots of water and most importantly, worship and praise the Lord everyday, because as you go along, the Lord will renew you from the inside-out," Andrea told Flair.
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Her recommendation mocks her own beauty regime, as she says she has been following her own counsel religiously since she was in her teens. And as the saying goes, the proof is in the package she not only looks remarkably young, but she is also a beauty by any standard.
Her view on Christian women wearing makeup differs from that of many Christians here in Jamaica. "I don't think it's the outer appearance that makes one holy. Your heart has to be clean. You can always dress yourself well and wear makeup, but if your heart is clean and you have a good relationship with the Lord, then it doesn't matter what you do on the outside," said Andrea
"A lot of Christians want to be old-fashioned and ugly for people to know that they are Christians, but it is important to show that the Lord expects us to carry ourselves like kings and queens, and show that you are of the Lord by your inner being, the way you talk to people and the things you do", she continued.
She noted that there are many women in the ministry who do not wear makeup, but at the same time do not follow the gospel. Her opinion is that Christians fall under three categories. These include those who go to church just to say they go, those who genuinely want to learn about and emulate the life of Jesus and those who like to tell people the things they should not do yet they themselves are doing them.
To Andrea, wearing makeup is not the factor that depicts your authenticity as a Christian.
