Sally Van Swearingen is an internationally known “Total Beauty Artist” with a passion for bringing out a woman’s best features to make her look and feel gorgeous. Called “One of the Best Make-up Artists in the Country” by Allure Magazine, she has spent 26 years creating beauty as a make-up artist, aesthetician, and hairstylist.
Sally’s journey to beauty began at the age of 19 when she discovered her true passion in life, make-up. Simply put, she was a natural and after one college class, she was ready to take the leap into turning her newfound passion into a lifelong career.
“I believe one of the reasons I have been put on this earth is to help ladies love themselves more, beauty challenges and all. My life’s work has been to bring out the total beauty of every woman I have worked with, and it goes far deeper than physical. I love my job and have never grown tired of it.”
From her twenties on, she honed her skills and made her name on a joyful multi-dimensional “road trip” with brides and wedding parties of varying ethnicities, skin tones, age ranges, and cultures. She created a new niche in the 1990s as the Southern California bridal beauty guru. Her Bridal Make-up Studio™ transformed over 3,000 brides. On this ‘pursuit of happiness’ Sally was the first bridal makeup artist to be recognized by the beauty industry as an innovator.
Her make-up work on commercials, music videos, and alternative creative projects gave her an ‘edge up’ in perfecting her skills of exacting flawless images for the camera. This level of skill put Sally Van Swearingen in high demand as a studio make-up artist and traveling Educator from Las Vegas to Montreal. Sally’s ‘Natural look for the camera’ technique became her trademark.
Sally next set her sights on showing others how to get gorgeous through her Los Angeles-based TV show Make-up Trends, and her educational make-up technique courses for make-up artists, revealing simple beauty tricks that transform a woman in minutes. Celebrities, CEOs, Brides, and real women of all shapes and sizes have been inspired by Sally Van Swearingen’s beauty wisdom.
Sally Van Swearingen’s concepts in creativity through The Bridal Make-up Studio in Encino, CA in the 90’s and more recently through The A LIST Hair and Make-up Studio, an intimate salon in Santa Clarita, CA, were cutting edge and carried forward to the next generation.
When Allure magazine recognized her as “One of the best make-up artists in the country” for bringing bridal make-up to a respected art form, INC. Magazine followed with an Entrepreneur of the Year™ nomination. But her heart and her passion have always remained close to home. Her local Santa Clarita community in Los Angeles, CA has continually embraced her as a ten-time winner of the ‘Ultimate Makeup Artist’ award in SCV!
In 2019, after 30 years in makeup for the camera, Sally was thrilled to become a member of IATSE Local 706 Makeup and Hair Stylists Guild for Network TV. Today, Sally continues to carry on her legacy as a Beauty Expert, offering studio-level hair and make-up for both TV stars and Santa Clarita locals.
When Sally is not on set with NBC Sports, KTLA (Channel 5), or Turner Broadcasting, she is designing new looks for her hair and make-up clients, and showing them how to recreate the ‘4 products in 5 minutes’ make-up looks at home using her own cosmetics line, SVS Cosmetics.
Becoming a mother at the seasoned age of 42, Sally paused a bit to embrace family; her time with her daughter Brigitte, loving life and its blessings. The new mom had a life-changing “aha” moment in line at a bank while she held her baby girl, which inspired her to ‘reclaim her ‘Beauty Power.’
A few years later, with renewed confidence and style, Sally sat down to begin a true labor of love in the form of a book about her experiences of feeling “invisible” post-baby and over 40, and how she got her groove back. Her book “It’s Not Over Yet!” is an anthem of hope for women who feel like it’s too late for them. With a fresh start post-50, Today Sally has an amazing daughter, is a mom to two cats, and plans to be a beautiful bride in her second half.
Sally was joyfully surprised to see her daughter follow in her footsteps to also pursue the beauty field. Sally is confident that Brigitte will create her own path, breaking barriers and role-modeling the next generation.