Whatever Happened To What Not To Wear's Iconic Makeup Artist?
In July of 2013, after ten years of teaching an entire generation to not only embrace their personal sense of style, but to do it with kindness and integrity, What Not To Wear ended its successful run on TLC (via HuffPost and Refinery 29). It was a blow to fans who had learned from the show how to fill their closets with staple pieces that could transition seasons and style trends. It was also the first show of its kind to teach women how to use makeup to enhance their own beauty instead of trying to copy another person's look. That was all thanks to professional makeup artist Carmindy Bowyer.
Since the show ended, Bowyer, more commonly recognized by fans of the show as simply Carmindy, continued working in the beauty industry doing featured segments on Good Morning America and Fox News, as well as a variety of industry magazines like Elle and In Style (via Screen Rant). Even with four successful books and her devoted fan base, it took Carmindy over five years to find her groove again. Now she's back with an exclusive line of cosmetics for QVC, and over 70,000 followers on Instagram.
What Not to Wear brought Carmindy back to her roots as a makeup artist
After years of working as a makeup artist on professional shoots, and loving every minute of it, Carmindy was offered the opportunity to be featured on the other side of the camera on What Not to Wear (via YouTube). And it was exactly the career change she needed because it brought her back to the fundamental reason she wanted to become a makeup artist to begin with. She was committed to shaaring the message her mom drilled into her head when she was bullied about her weight as a young girl. As she explained in a Guideposts interview from way back in 2010, "the idea that beauty comes not from how you look but how you feel about yourself."
In a candid YouTube video entitled "My Starter Story," Carmindy explained, "What was magical about What Not to Wear is I started getting to work with real women of all ages of all walks of life. Women that survived breast cancer women that had no self confidence. And I was able to take all my years of being a makeup artist and all my knowledge and actually do something more positive."
Carmindy struggled to find work after What Not to Wear ended
The world of beauty looked a lot different when the reality show ended after over 340 episodes, and even with her status as a makeup guru, Carmindy was left struggling to find work. She recalled the reality of life after such overwhelming success on the show, explaining in "My Starter Story" that "When What Not to Wear ended I panicked. Because now the internet sensations are here. The YouTubers are now the new influencers. And they're the ones getting all the makeup deals, and they're the ones getting the endorsement deals. So now the expert who's done hundreds of thousands of faces is no longer the one they are going for. They're going for the YouTuber of the influencer that has a million followers that have only done makeup on themselves. In a room."
It didn't hurt that those influencers would also work at a much lower cost than the rate of a professional who has been in the business for decades.
Carmindy is thriving after launching her own beauty line and might be back on TV soon
While those years after What Not to Wear weren't easy, Carmindy was able to use her experience on the show and her love of doing makeup to find her footing again. She explained, "I was really treading water for a long time. And the magic finally came back when we got this incredible deal with QVC" (via YouTube).
Inspired by the women she worked with on What Not to Wear, the makeup artist created Carmindy Beauty in September of 2019 as the first exclusive beauty brand on QVC. A simple makeup system that promises a natural look in just five minutes without a million different products, Carmindy described her line as, "an anxiety-free makeup collection that is numbered in order of application so you get it right every time" (via E!).
A positive outlook has certainly yielded positive results for Carmindy, and it might also result in another stint on the show that made her a household name. Last April, TLC announced that they would be reviving What Not to Wear in 2020. No further details have been released, but fans are certainly hoping to see the original cast unite (via Hollywood Reporter).
In the meantime, Carmindy is living her best life and loving every minute of it. "I'm so excited. All that energy I had from being a kid; the passion, the love, it is, it's almost tripled in size. I found my tribe. I'm surrounded by beautiful people that inspire me...I've never been happier" (via YouTube).