Effie Go Iñigo on what it takes to have a 21-year strong makeup career

All photos courtesy of Effie Go Iñigo

What does it take to be on top after 21 years in the beauty industry? Celebrity makeup artist - although she stubbornly says that she doesn’t even think of herself that way - Effie Go Iñigo has some answers. She does famous (and often controversial faces) like Toni Gonzaga, Derek Ramsay, and Sofia Andres to name a few. I sat down with her over coffee and she shared some stories about how she built her 21-year career, what she did to get over huge transitions in the industry, how she coped with the pandemic, plus her absolute favorite things.

How did you start on this path? What made you decide to be a makeup artist?

It started in 2001. My mom opened up a salon back in 1998. She thought of asking me and my older sister, Denise, if we could get into the vanity business also since it’s for us naman talaga. She says, “We can’t open a business and just supervise. We need know and to be part of the business. In case the staff resigns, the business can still thrive because we can do it ourselves. In our salon we got started as a walis girl, then got promoted to shampoo girl, and then a hot oiler. I really started from scratch.

I learned how to color hair and cut hair. I fell in love with hair coloring. I had a lot of hesitation going into makeup at first. I took some courses and everything but I didn’t really take it seriously. I was more interested in hair color at that time! It came to a point when my sister was always out doing shoots for magazines instead of managing the salon. So my mom said, I also need you to start practicing makeup in case all the other makeup artists are out. So I was like, ok, fine! I finished all the courses and everyday I’ll practice on five different faces from our staff.

One time my sister referred me to a magazine shoot. It was Candy Magazine. I found out it was fun pala doing shoots! I kept accepting magazine shoots, weddings. My sister and I were always out doing makeup! It came to a point when we weren’t so involved in the salon anymore. My love for hair coloring was still there, but I loved makeup more.

I got into makeup for TV commercials and print advertising. And then tuloy tuloy na siya! That’s how it came to be. I love being out and doing shoots and meeting new people.

I’ve been doing makeup since 2001. Its 21 years. It was never hard for me to get out of bed for work. You can say it’s really my passion! I’m grateful talaga to my mom for pushing us. I can’t even say it’s work. It’s been fun, no regrets!

Initially, what was your dream before even doing the hair coloring and makeup artistry?

I wanted to be a flight attendant. I even tried applying to different airlines, but that time none of the airlines were open to hiring. So that’s when my mom was like, try again here!

You’ve been doing this for 21 years. What makeup style do you think set you apart? How did your look evolve over time?

My sister and I, we came from the same training. Less is more - that has always been one of the principles we’ve lived by ever since we started doing makeup. Denise has been known for clean makeup. Honestly, at first it was kind of hard, thinking what will be my trademark in makeup. There are tendencies to be compared to my sister. My style is also clean, but a little edgy. It depends on my mood that day. If I’m feeling a certain way, I incorporate it in my work as an artist.

My work is mostly pure enhancement makeup. Meaning the face or the look of the person doesn’t change so she doesn’t get transformed into someone else, just a little glam. That’s one of my strengths also. Maybe because I was in the advertising industry for a long time. I’ve been doing makeup for TVCs from 2002 to 2015. If it’s a lifestyle or beauty commercial, it’s clean “no makeup” look. When you watch TV, it looks like they don’t have makeup on, pero meron.

When I started doing makeup for celebrities, it’s glam look naman for them.

I’m curious, how is TVC makeup different from celebrity makeup?

Your makeup is only as good as your lighting! The difference there is one, there is lighting in TV commercials. It’s more natural, more daytime. Makeup for events has to be a little on the “more” side. For TV commercials you can’t go overboard because it doesn’t register well on camera, especially HD camera, kita lahat. If you do makeup for a live show or TV, the lighting is different. There you can do plakado makeup, more on the strong side. Teleserye makeup is also different, because the lighting is different and there’s also high definition [cameras].

You can’t hide anything from there. That’s why you have to make sure everything is well blended. That’s why when we watch teleseryes, kahit na the makeup is supposed to be pambahay look, you can tell there’s makeup kasi halata siya.

As a makeup artist, I’m grateful for all the experience and training I got. Now I can say kaya ko siya gawin nakapikit. But if you interviewed me when I was five years old as a makeup artist, I was making kapa pa at the time! There were days I made kapa what’s the shade.

You mentioned that you were doing mostly TVCs before, but now you’re focusing on celebrity makeup. Why was there a change?

It started when the digital change happened. I was full time in TVCs before, it was very very busy for me. More than ten years I was doing ads. There was a time I couldn’t accept weddings na unless the bride booked me way ahead of time. When the digital age came, they would call it viral videos pa. There was a change that time budget-wise for suppliers in the advertising industry. Clients were saying, “This is just a viral video” so they changed also the budget for every project. A lot of people in our industry were affected, not just makeup artists, even production managers, directors. They would say low budget lang because viral lang ito so it’s not gonna come out on TV.

But in truth, you put in the same amount of work. The quality of your work doesn’t change because it was a viral video.

That’s how I transitioned. From there I wouldn’t get so much bookings anymore because they would rather go for makeup artists with a much lower rate. I wasn’t as busy as before. I felt lost there because I’ve been doing this for ten years. When that happened, my sister was already doing more on the celeb side. I shared with her that this was happening to me. There was one work where she needed another makeup artist for her team. This project is for a group of celebrities for a campaign, so I started doing that and I got to meet other artistas.

For me, I don’t even consider myself as a celebrity makeup artist. I’m just a makeup artist. I don’t do celebrities only. But now more of them are booking me. That was probably in 2013 when it changed for me, but it was 2015 or 2016 when I wasn’t doing a lot of advertising work. I had to find another means to earn. Tapos yun, kumalat lang.

During that time I didn’t realize that’s what I needed. I also felt that at some point, I just didn’t acknowledge or admit it, I needed change and growth. I can’t just do “no makeup” makeup look forever. It was already in the back of my head. Blessing na rin that the digital age forced me to step out of my comfort zone.

Speaking of big changes and transitions - the pandemic happened. I saw you had a food business. How did you cope during the pandemic? How did you survive it?

Oh my gosh. Grabe yon. Ok na yan by April [2020]. I didn’t think too much about it. And then April came, and I thought ok, May. I can still afford to bum around then. Pagdating ng May nag-lock down pa rin, I thought, uhhh, this is not going to end any time soon. That was then when I did my food business.

My husband is in aviation, so that time from March to May no travel talaga. It started for him June na when PAL accepted cargo flights. But then it was so slow. So sabi ko ok, my bills are still going, it’s not stopping. So I had to do something. I tried my food business, sent it to my celebrity clients, and they loved it. I kept sending it and then they would post in their IG stories. That helped a lot!

June 2020 came, I was able to do some [makeup] projects also but not the same. My whole month wouldn’t get so full. I was able to do food business and makeup at the same time. That’s how I was able to sustain [my household].

In terms of emotion, how were you dealing with everything?

At the back of my head I knew the makeup industry would be back. It depends on how you view your situation. That time naman I couldn’t think, “Oh no paano yung makeup career ko”. But I thought naman it would all pass, it was just a matter of time. In the meantime I was just enjoying this [the food business].

I would say last year, after the last ECQ, that’s when I felt [makeup work] was picking up. Started ng May of last year, all the more now in 2022. Maybe after January started it was busy na ulit.

This is a tough question. Toni Gonzaga is one of your clients. She’s one of the most controversial celebrities right now, and you mentioned that you were getting canceled by association. How did you feel about that?

I saw what she went through. People were bashing her and mocking her. I know her on a personal level, so whatever people are saying about her, it’s only based on what’s on the news. We were affected by association. We felt there was a division talaga. But even in Toni’s team, iba iba kami. Some were pink. That didn’t matter to us, because what mattered to us was the work. We didn’t mind, we weren’t malicious about that.

I trained myself to be neutral. I have to be neutral because I work with a lot of different people. I hoped that more people in our industry would be like that. I can’t afford to let my life and work get affected because of politics. Before politics came, we were good friends and family, so why would I let politics change that?

I work with her, when I hear bad things that are not true, that was heavy for me. The way I view it, it’s none of my business what your views are, it’s between you and God. We each have our own belief. What disappointed me is that it allowed people to burn bridges. I’m still hoping whatever bridges were burned can be fixed.

On a lighter note: what are the five makeup products you absolutely recommend? As a makeup artist, what are products you can’t live without?

I like the multi-use function of Sunnies. The Air Blush you can apply on eyes, lips, and cheeks so all-in-one na siya. That’s a big yes for me. I’m a makeup artist but I don’t like to put makeup on myself. The most is lips or cheeks. Madalian na labas, I just need one or two products in my bag.

Up to now I use the MAC Studio Fix Powder. It works well for me! One swipe it’s there na agad. There’s a bit of coverage but it’s not plakado. I like using powder and foundation compact in one. Because you see there’s coverage, but not like liquid foundation.

I also like the Glossier Boy Brow. With me kasi, my eyebrows are really thin and fine. I have Black and Brown in my kit!

I love highlighter. There’s the Stila highlighter, I also like the Dior highlighter. I also love applying the La Mer Facial Oil. Even just a dab of it and you spread it on your face, it doesn’t look oily. So you apply it first and then you put on your powder, yung dewy look comes out. It looks like it’s skin that’s dewy, not makeup. I use that on my brides because you see the added glow to the skin. Talagang natural.

My fifth would be contour. I love the NARS Laguna, there’s also Benefit Hoola. Hoola is a lighter shade than Laguna, and it can be applied even on pale people like me.

What is your top advice for makeup artists who want to have the same level of longevity as you? How do you get from one to 21 years in the industry?

The best advice I can give is very simple. It’s just to love what you do, because it will definitely love you back. It doesn’t get any better than that, kasi bumabalik talaga siya sayo as long as you love it. When you love it, it’s sacred to you, you take good care of it. As long as you have fun, as long as you don’t feel obligated to get out of bed. The fun and joy will show in your work.

The pay is just a bonus, because it’s the experience. I’m glad I didn’t get into the airline business because I can’t think of doing anything else. I’m very happy with my work, I’m very happy where I am. I can’t ask for anything more.

I think it’s the most important thing, the conviction that this is the life for you. Kahit na anong career or industry, the conviction that this is the life you should be living everyday is important.

I will always be grateful to my mom and my older sister Denise, because they helped pave the way for me. Our mom was the one who really pushed us. She saw back in 1998, she knew beauty was going to be big business. That’s why she opened the salon for us. Hindi lang niya nakita na we’ll be doing makeup. Pero grabe, if not for my mom, saan kaya ako now?

So that’s my best advice. Love what you do and it will love you back.