Meet The Sephora Beauty Director Making The Industry A More Vulnerable Place
Plus, the beauty products that make her feel her best.
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In so many ways, beauty is a tool for masking the things we feel most vulnerable about. There are concealers to cover your pimples, hot tools to tame your frizz, and about a zillion different ways to get rid of unwanted body hair. By the time you’re done getting ready, no one would ever have any idea that you had a single (perceived) imperfection.
But if you, like me, have spent hours of your life picking yourself apart in front of the mirror, you know firsthand that that final product isn’t real. Neither, it’s worth noting, is what we see on social media—where even the most “authentic” beauty influencers rarely post their exposed skin without some sort of a beautify filter. The truth is that, beyond our own bathrooms, we don’t usually get to peek at what it really takes (or feels like) to look flawless—which is something Sephora Beauty Director Melinda Solares is trying to change.
Her mission? To bring vulnerability into the beauty industry.
Bringing vulnerability to beauty
When Solares first started working for the Sephora in 2015, she was on the brand's social media team, and the role came with a rude awakening.
“I saw the most beautiful, talented people in the world come in front of the camera and get eaten alive in the comments,” she says. “It was so disappointing to me, and the only way I saw to get through it was with more vulnerability.”
She made it her goal to pull authenticity out of her subjects to make their “true selves shine,” and when she did, something amazing happened: The videos had “so much less hate and so much more love,” she says.
Now, in her role as a beauty director, she's putting that energy into everything she does. “I want to bring more vulnerability to the surface of the beauty community so that we can feel more connected to one another,” she says. Part of this, of course, comes from showing off filter-free skin—which Solares does regularly, and is something we’ve seen increasingly more of from Sephora’s main account—but mostly, it comes from talking about what’s underneath.
“By sharing our emotions—our fears, our insecurities, all of those things—we can feel more connected to one another,” she says. “I believe that when we see each other as humans, our empathy and understanding massively increases.”
Opening up online
Much of Solares’ work is being carried out on social media, where, in addition to her product picks and GRWMs, she openly shares about her struggles with her mental health.
“I try to be a little bit more real about where I’m at personally with anything I’m putting out,” she says. “If I’m posting a beauty regimen for a Sephora campaign, for example, I might speak to the fact that I haven’t been feeling so great lately. Or, if some depression has been creeping in, I’ll talk about how whatever routine I’m doing can be a form of self care that helps me slow down and bring me back to center.”
While most people's feeds are a highlight reel featuring only their best moments, Solares makes it a point to share the good and the bad in equal measure.
"I get so much love when I share something amazing that's happened, and that warms my heart. But thinking about a younger girl who looks at that and doesn't see any sort of struggle or any of the real, raw aspects of who I am? That makes me sad," she says. "Because then people think that there's only one layer to it, and that there may be something wrong with them because they're struggling and all they're seeing from me is all of this exciting stuff that's happening. My new rule is that the more vulnerable something feels, the more likely it is to help other people."
Beauty as a form of self care
Like me, the "real" stuff that Solares often deals with behind the scenes comes in the form of anxiety and depression—and (also like me) her beauty routine plays a helpful role in making her feel better.
"Something I try to make really clear when I talk about mental health as it relates to beauty is that beauty practices are 100% a valid form of self care," says Solares. "Saying that is so difficult—especially as a Sephora Beauty Director because there's an added layer of pressure on that when you work in the beauty industry—but I've struggled to maintain even my basic hygiene when I'm depressed. And when you're in a tough place, a shower can be life changing."
"I love a self-care moment in the shower and to use the steam to my skincare's advantage," says Solares. "Aplyn Beauty's Wild Huckleberry 8-Acid Polishing Peel Mask is one of my favorite ways to mimic a spa-like experience. Before washing my hair, I'll cleanse my skin, let the shower steam my face while I take some deep breaths, pat my skin dry, and apply this. Once I'm done washing my hair, shaving, etc, I will use my wet hands to massage the mask off for a double exfoliation effect that leaves my skin baby smooth."
Solares also finds joy in swiping on a bold red lipstick, another one of her favorite feel-good rituals. "I've always been obsessed with lipstick, and when I'm in a place where I want to express myself, I'll put on a red lip," she says. "Ever since I was 7 years old and dancing competitively, a red lip has made me feel so powerful and confident. I really do feel like when you’re wearing a bold lip, it draws people’s attention to your lips and the words that are coming out of your mouth."
"SEPHORA COLLECTION's Cream Lip Stain 10HR Liquid Lipstick in Always Red has been a tried and true for years," says Solares. "I love that I don't need a lipliner and it stays in place for hours."
But though beauty products have the power to boost your mood and confidence, Solares knows all too well how tempting it can be to use them to mask your vulnerabilities—especially on days when you feel down.
"I've noticed that when I'm reaching for makeup to cover up versus express myself, that's a time when it's probably best for me to take a step back from that sort of beauty routine and focus on more self-affirming practices that make me feel good enough to own my own skin," says Solares. "It’s taken me a while to get there, but that’s where I’m at in my journey."
Solares loves makeup and skincare, but knows that *true* beauty lies beneath the perfectly-painted faces we show the world. And that's something the rest of the industry—and all of us who buy into it—can learn from.
Zo? Weiner is an NYC-based journalist who explores the intersection of beauty and mental health. Her work has appeared in Cosmopolitan, Allure, GQ, Women's Health, Byrdie, and Bustle, among others.