Makeup artist Zay B's top 5 beauty tips for acing your Carnival look
Her 2020 Caribana plans have changed, but her rules stay the same
In just a few short years, Canadian makeup artist and content creator Zaynna Beckford has become highly sought after for her Carnival looks and tutorials. "On Caribana day, I would start doing makeup as early as 1 a.m.! People would come straight from a party," she told me.
Beckford, better known online as @itszaybaybay, was preparing for an explosive 2020 complete with partnerships with mas bands like Tribal Knights Carnival. By January 2020, she already had a significant waitlist of people hoping she'd do their makeup for Toronto's celebrations. But with Toronto Caribbean Carnival going online this year due to COVID-19, her plans have changed.
Zaynna hosted a live makeup tutorial as part of Toronto Carnival's virtual lineup this week to help people get ready for "The Virtual Road" event on August 1. I chatted with her fresh off her live event about her work, her revamped plans for this year and her tips for achieving the perfect Carnival makeup look.
How did you get started doing carnival makeup?
I'm a trained artist and dancer. I used to do my own stage makeup for my dance performances... although I never liked makeup growing up, lol. But I realized doing makeup was another creative outlet for me. I took a makeup course at Seneca — after my mom pushed me. I started working with other established makeup artists. That's when I realized lots of people were actually getting their makeup professionally done to play Carnival.
When did things really take off for you?
In 2019 I started regularly posting my makeup looks on Instagram. In February of that year I did an IG series specifically for Trinidad Carnival. I would do looks for J'Ouvert, Monday Carnival and so on. That series went viral and from there bookings from all over the world started rolling in.
Tell me more about what plans you had for the 2020 Carnival season?
In addition to participating in Toronto Carnival, I had plans to go to Jamaica Carnival in April and London's Notting Hill Carnival in August — both as a participant and to do makeup.
I had to cancel all my bookings. I was going to be working closely with a section from Tribal Knights Carnival here in Toronto, where I would work alongside the designer conceptualizing makeup looks for each costume.
Are you doing anything special to celebrate Carnival here in Toronto even though things are vastly different?
I did a live makeup tutorial as part of Toronto Caribbean Carnival's official events. I will continue to do carnival makeup tutorials on my IG. I also just launched something I've been planning since May with a crew of content creators from around the world. It's a big Carnival collab. We're doing an IG series — basically 6 Days of Carnival. Every day there will be a different theme. For example, day one's theme is safari. It's a lot of work!
Here are Zaynna's top 5 tips for acing your Carnival makeup look:
1. Make sure you have a good setting spray and primer!
I like Milk's Hydro Grip Primer. For setting sprays I like Cover FX's High Performance Setting Spray or any Morphe setting spray
2. Use waterproof everything.
Mascara, foundation, lipstick, liner. Make sure all your products are waterproof, smudge proof or transfer proof. For example the new Makeup Forever Aqua Resist smokey shadow and pencil liner.
3. You don't have to use alllll the colours in the costume.
Keep it simple. Use one colour and the various dimensions of it. If it's pink, play around with light or dark pink, even purples.
4. If you're using adhesive face jewels, plan your design out beforehand.
I always do that for my clients. I get a face chart online and then design where exactly I'm going to put the jewels, so there's no guesswork when you're ready to do it for real.
5. Bring a fan with you, wherever you plan to be.
A small hand fan or a mini electric one. I always give clients a fabric one. That way if you get sweaty, you fan your face dry first and then do any touch ups. Just don't touch your face if it's wet!
You can check out Zaynna's Carnival makeup tutorials and her 6 Days of Carnival Collab on her Instagram, @itszaybaybay.
Nneka Elliott is a lifestyle blogger and actor. She shares her adventures with hair, skincare and makeup in her pursuit of a gutsy life. Follow her @nnekaelliott.
