Source: Courtesy of Camara AUnique Helps / Camara AUnique Helps
Camara AUnique Helps spent years in the beauty industry, establishing herself as an in-demand makeup artist to Hollywood’s most elite talent. Her journey took her down a winding road, visiting various career paths before working as a coveted makeup artist to the stars. The Brooklyn native started in retail while modeling and appearing in music videos. She also designed jewelry that was sold in local boutiques. Celebrities became interested in her pieces and began wearing them on TV and in magazines. The exposure would eventually assist in Helps discovering her passion for connecting with women to highlight their beauty.
Camara AUnique Helps explore the power in the pivot
Helps dominated as a makeup artist, but she questioned her purpose as she developed a relationship with God. “I started to see that what I was doing was more than just makeup. It wasn’t about how many celebs I worked with; it was about how I can help every woman I came in contact with experience a moment with God that made them feel seen, heard, and loved,” she tells me exclusively.
Source: Courtesy of Camara AUnique Helps
As Helps continued to connect to her faith, she decided to embrace the pivot that would make God the focal point of her business. “I am most proud of my work in beauty and business with God. Doing business this way has taught me to move with a spirit of excellence, where I serve people from a different mindset and heart posture. When I first started, it was only about what celebrities I could get and the accolades – I made it an idol and forgot the purpose. When God took me through a season of losing everything, I realized the true importance of my why, and I’m grateful for the lesson,” she says.
Through her pivot, Helps created the first faith-based beauty line, Camara AUnique Makeup, with products honoring iconic women in the Bible. “The brand tells stories that help women see that it’s not about religion but a relationship with God and seeing our beauty through His eyes.”
Source: Courtesy of Camara AUnique Helps
Source: Courtesy of Camara AUnique Helps
“I am the author of a 52-week devotional called Love Letters to My Daughters. This devotional helps women build an intentional relationship with the Father. I also run a mentorship academy called “More than Just Makeup” for Glam Squads who want to learn how to do glam in an excellent way, starting with character and understanding service.”
Source: Courtesy of Camara AUnique Helps
She’s mastering her assignment regardless of people’s opinions.
Helps recently celebrated five years of Camara AUnique Beauty, and she’s still amazed by her progress. “I am just wowed that I can look back and say, ‘See what the Lord has done!'” she exclaims.
As she navigates the critics who say, “Stop making my business about God and make it about the product,” she is reminded of what it means to be a vessel. “The Bible says, ‘For I know the plans I have for you.’ When I move on things, it may look crazy to some, but I know many won’t understand my assignment because it’s meant for me to believe and move on.”
Source: Courtesy of Camara AUnique Helps / Camara AUnique Helps
Going against the grain is challenging. It takes courage to stand up around people committed to misunderstanding you. Helps knew she was more than just a makeup artist, and when she realized that was just the surface of who she was, she became introspective and explored her full potential through God’s eyes.
“I am powerful because I understand my identity and love people. Understanding my identity became a challenge because I based it on my title as a makeup artist. When I went through my wilderness season, I learned that I didn’t even know myself truly, and I went on a quest to understand who I am in Christ, who Camara Helps is, and what I love about my life and path,” she says.
“I think we can go through our journey looking at our life as something wrong or off because we are programmed to focus on the negative rather than rejoice in all things, so being able to finally do that and walk into a room confident that I know who I am and whose I am makes me powerful,” she continues.
Walking in Anavah
Helps is in a season of taking up space, unapologetically. Her intention isn’t to make other’s feel uncomfortable, but her main assignment is to show up authentically.
Source: Courtesy of Camara AUnique Helps / Camara AUnique Helps
