This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Orgullosa and Latina Bloggers Connect. The opinions and text are all mine.
Today's blog post will not be a review about the latest mascara launch or an another outfit of the day featuring pieces from my capsule wardrobe, today I'm going to talk about my Latino heritage. I am incredibly proud of my Latin heritage and I make sure to show it off whenever I can. To me, I'm not just a beauty blogger -- I am a Mexican-American and a bilingual content creator. I am what I would like to refer as the modern Latina. The modern Latina is a woman who is not afraid to march to the beat of her own drum and venture to the unknown, and I'm certainly not afraid of either of those things. With Hispanic Heritage month here, I want to share how I honor my heritage and celebrate our beautiful Latin culture through this beauty blog that you've all come accustomed to. There's a lot more to beauty bloggers than meets the eye, that's all I will say.
Just in case you don't know my background, let me quickly run through my story. While I was born in San Diego, I spent my 10 years of childhood living in Tijuana, México. Growing up in a border city truly gave me the best of both worlds. I was able to live in the country where my family comes from, as well as embrace the country where I was born in. It wasn't until I was 11 years old that my family moved across the border, but despite the move I was still as attached to my culture as when I was living in México. I've always been incredibly proud of having two cultures to call my own and that I've been bilingual since childhood. Being fluent in both Spanish and English has always been incredibly important to me, and now it's become one of the things that sets me apart from many bloggers in my field.
Ever since I was a child living in Tijuana, my goal in life was to be able to help as many people as possible. At the time I had no idea how I was going to be able to achieve that, but that specific goal has always been engraved in my mind. It wasn't until I discovered YouTube that I realized that I had the world on my fingertips, all I needed to do was build up the courage to sit in front of the camera and share my story.
As a Latina, I didn't grow up seeing many girls that looked like me. In a family full of very feminine extroverts, I was the only introvert who felt more comfortable dressing up in t-shirts and jeans rather than high heels and dresses. I've always felt like an outcast because of the way I act, dress, and my interests. When I was younger I did have the desire to fit in at times, but one of the things I try to convey through my blog and YouTube videos is that there isn't a cookie cutter Latina. What makes this heritage beautiful in my eyes is that every Latina has their own story to tell, you really can't judge a Latina by her exterior.
Some people might believe that makeup and beauty are vain, but to me that's one of the things that connects Latina women. Apart from our Spanish language and love for our families, a lot of us love feeling beautiful. For me makeup is something I use to enhance my natural features, it is not a shield for me to hide behind. I love embracing my naturally fair skin, and there's nothing more that I love than enhancing my big brown eyes. It's easy to get intimidated with all of these contour techniques and dramatic smokey eyes, but I enjoy simplifying the process so makeup doesn't overpower the person wearing it.
My favorite way to enhance a Latina's beauty is by evening out the skin with a lightweight foundation and concealer only where it's needed. Our cultures radiates so much warmth so a touch of bronzer along the perimeters of the face and a subtle highlight on the cheekbones is going to make any woman look like they're glowing from within. I believe that Latinas have one of the most beautiful eyes in the world, so I like keeping it very simple so they can really pop. A soft wash of an ivory eyeshadow along the lids and a matte brown color on the crease is really all you need. And don't forget to define those lashes! Finally you can either keep it simple with a muted rose lip product similar to your natural lip color, or really show how vibrant your culture is by using a bright shade such as a warm toned red lipstick.
My minimal and practical approach to beauty has really resonated with many Latinas because for maybe once in their life they're learning to embrace and play up their natural features. I always want to encourage women to learn how to love themselves, and hopefully that's something that comes across in my work.
I may not be the bombshell Latina that you see in Hollywood and I don't have to be, because I define myself. I know I'm a loving, caring, and creative person who happens to be an introvert- and that makes me Latina too. I am extremely orgullosa to be sharing my culture with the world and helping Latinas who feel out of place find someone that they can connect with. As much as I enjoy creating makeup tutorials and educating women with product reviews, I want people to see how proud I am of being a bilingual and bicultural Latina and I believe that I'm doing just that with my content.
I invite you to check out more stories about inspiring modern Latinas on Orgullosa's YouTube channel.
If you're also a Latina, how do your show you #InspireOrgullo? If you're not a Latina, tell me how you show your heritage's pride in the comments below. I would love to hear more about where you come from!
Disclaimer: This is a sponsored blog post that I did with Orgullosa and Latina Bloggers Connect. The topic was a very personal one for me, so I decided to partner up with them to share more about my culture with you.
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