Welcome to my blog!
Hello, and welcome to my first blog on my new and revamped website!
A little bit about me…
My name is Andrea Chase but my friends and family call me Dre or Drea. I’m originally from Prince George's County MD but I was born in Ft. Knox KY (Yup! I’m an Army Brat) My dad is from Washington D.C. and my mom is from Central America (Panama) I’m the youngest with an older sister, and I'm a proud auntie of a very vibrant niece.
I’ve been a licensed Aesthetician for a little over three years and I’m the owner of Chase Beauty. If you haven't guessed it already, my business is named after my last name. I graduated from Paul Mitchell-San Antonio, and I went on further to obtain my laser license and other advance certifications from National Laser Institute in Dallas.
Me and my cat Brady Michael aka The Cub, aka Mr. Cheeks, aka The Kid, aka Bookie, aka Munch Munch reside in San Antonio, Texas.
Yes, he has many nicknames, so I won’t bore you with all of them. But I assure you he responds to every single one of them!
Also, I’m positive this will be the only blog that’ll be the length of a novel!
I’m a bit of a storyteller and I find joy in providing as much insight and detail as possible.
Sooooooo....I did a thing, and I did it scared....
If you follow me on Instagram, then you already know the big news about me opening my own beauty suite! If you don’t follow me on IG then I suggest you head over to IG, type in @_CHASEBEAUTY and see the many skincare and body waxing services I offer, along with the life adventures of me and my cat Brady Michael that we tend to embark on.
Alright, so let’s discuss this bold move I made recently and when I say recent, I mean the decision was officially made 02.14.2022.
Let’s be honest, the last 3 years have been tumultuous for everyone, but for me it seemed and felt like the last 4 years or heck should I say from the time I hit my 30’s (the last 8 years) and most recently the last 4-6 years have been straight garbage with a few tiny wins here and there, but they were very far and in between.
Allow let me take you on a short journey down memory lane of how I got to this point.
How it All got started ....
I had several career paths that I ventured down while trying to find my way, because truth be told how many of us knew for sure what we wanted to do straight out of college let alone high school. In college I was an RN major and decided that was not the career path I really wanted to embark on, so I finished with an undergrad in science and ended up in animal medicine for close to 10 years. Shortly after leaving animal medicine, I found myself working in corporate for almost 5 years and I hated every minute of it. Intuitively I knew I was only supposed to stay at my corporate job no more than 2 years but because I became very complacent I stayed for 5 years, and learned later how we should always listen to our intuition. More details on this in another blog.
One of the few things that helped me to really keep my mental sanity were my peers and a really good group of friends that I made while living there (shout out to my fellow Black Girl Magic crew and my Lifetime Gym Fitness gang!) If any of you are reading this, you know who you are! At that moment, one thing was always consistent in the background and that was MAKEUP and ALL THINGS BEAUTY!!! My side hustles were always in makeup. I discovered that official passion when I was 25. Unbeknownst to me, I didn’t realize it was already in me as a little girl, teenager and then as a young woman in her twenties. I was always drawn to bright and vibrant colors whether it was in fashion, hair, and or makeup.
My VERY first makeup job was in the fall of 2015 at the makeup counter with Estee Lauder at Macy's in Memphis, Tennessee. Prior to this, I only had done makeup on family and close friends. So, I had no experience applying makeup in a public setting whatsoever.
As I stood behind the makeup counter in front of me was a set of huge floor to ceiling panel windows show casing the beautiful clear blue skies, I felt the sun hitting my face and my spirit. At that moment I suddenly felt this warm sensation come over me and it was the feeling that I finally found my calling, passion, and sense of belonging. That I finally found what made my heart and soul smile.
Shortly after, a woman approaches me and said she was interested in receiving a makeover and asked if I could do her makeup. Well, I almost jumped out of my skin and my anxiety went through the roof because I had never done anybody’s makeup that I didn’t know and to be honest I had never done anyone’s makeup that didn’t look like me, and I had no idea how I was going to move forward with her look. Though one of the many things I was proud of in that moment was I always researched and studied skin tones and undertones, along with studying color theory, and that was the one thing I had on my side. BUT I had yet to really apply it in real life. But even with that knowledge I was still second guessing myself and felt I wasn’t fully equipped to do the job.
So I told the client that it was my first day on the job and I needed to speak with my manager first to ensure it would be ok for me to perform services, if not she would have to wait for my manager (who BTW was already in the middle of a makeup appointment) but truth be told I knew it wasn’t going to be a problem but I was scared and freaking myself out. The client said OK and walked away. She comes back to me a few minutes later and says, “I would really like for you to do my makeup, I’ve walked to other makeup counters, and I like your style and would prefer your makeup technique. I know you can do makeup, so can you please do my makeup?” My palms started to sweat immediately, and I reluctantly said “Yes, I can do your makeup, please have a seat and let’s discuss the look you’re wanting to achieve.”
I gathered all her items came back and started working, when I was done, she placed the mirror down, and turns to me and said “You know how to do makeup, the moment I walked into the store I knew I didn’t want anyone else doing my makeup but you. You need to trust yourself and have more confidence in yourself and KNOW that you KNOW what you’re doing because you do. Now, I would like to purchase everything you placed on me, please and thank you”
After I rang her up, she gave me a huge hug and wished me success on my journey. When I look back at this picture (see below), I was shocked at myself with how great her makeup came out and how well everything complimented her red hair, eyes, etc. I’m a firm believer of people crossing our paths for a purpose, and it was no coincidence that our paths crossed that day.
The makeup journey begun and continued. I was given the opportunity to work and freelance for L’Oréal Paris International Makeup Artists, YSL Cosmetics, Lancôme, M.A.C, Bobbi Brown Cosmetics Sephora and ULTA Beauty, including film work, and photoshoots.
So, what are my intentions for each blog that I create? My intention is to educate, inform and entertain you (I have stories for days!) But I also want to provide you the tools as a consumer to better understand ingredients while shopping for certain skincare products and makeup to address specific concerns regarding your skin,
What was mentioned above is just the tip of the ice berg involving my journey so be prepared to read humorous stories that I encountered along my life’s path, but also stories where I had some of the most challenging and hardest lessons that taught and showed me that I am stronger than I thought with some fierce courage, and how I had to fight to really show up for myself especially when I was ready to give up.
Sit back grab a cup of tea, coffee, glass of wine (it’s 12 o’clock somewhere LOL) or water and let’s chat.
If there are topics related to skincare, makeup, Esthetic school, or anything else please shoot them in the comments below.
New blogs will drop every Friday!
Until next time!
Always Remember...Chase Your Own Beauty
Much Love!
Drea
