Meet Our New Stylist, Despina Scandalis!
Meet Despina Scandalis, a Greek-American beauty expert and licensed Esthetician based in Los Angeles, California. Despina has sixteen years of experience under her belt in the beauty industry, specializing in beauty, skincare, bridal, red carpet, and editorial. She’s thrived working one-on-one with clients and elevating their confidence. She loves to make her clients feel their absolute best.
Get To Know Despina
Despina’s journey began in Seattle, Washington, where she was born. Raised by her Greek parents who immigrated in the 70s, makeup and beauty were always part of her life. Despina has many family members in the beauty industry, including her aunt and uncle who own a beauty salon in Greece. Despina has also been known to work there during the summer seasons. Despina credits her mother with sparking her interest in makeup and beauty growing up. In her interview with StyldLife’s Stacey Hogan, Despina recounted her mother dressing up as if going on a date, doing her hair, makeup, styling and always a red lip. Despina notes her mother dressed for herself, not for other people.
In college, Despina took a photography class with her best friend. That was where both of them got inspired by editorials and the idea of creating a mood through their crafts. Despina and her friend both left school: her friend went to photography school and Despina went to makeup school in Vancouver, British Columbia at the age of 20.
Eventually, Despina moved out to Los Angeles where her career thrived. She worked in cosmetics, starting with Nordstrom at the Topanga Mall in the Valley. While speaking with StyldLife, she recalled Britney Spears sightings and how the Kardashians would frequent the store.
Over her extensive career, Despina has worked with countless brands in different positions, from account executive to building artistry teams. She’s dabbled in different mediums within her field to become comfortable with different skin types and individuals in order to become the well-rounded artist she is today. Midway through her career, Despina elevated her skillset and became a licensed esthetician. It opened her thought process. Since then, she’s built her clientele and works with clients in her skincare studio in Los Angeles.
Why did Despina Join StyldLife?
Despina learned about StyldLife in a time where we’re all moving towards virtual and online experiences. She finds the idea of making fashion and beauty experts accessible to people from the comforts of their home to be fashion forward thinking. When talking about it, Despina said “This is the perfect time. In person events are much more thought out nowadays so StyldLife is the perfect opportunity to learn techniques in different fields of beauty.”
Advice for Anyone Trying to Get Into the Beauty/Fashion Industry
Despina’s main advice is practice, practice, practice. While there’s so much information on social media, the best place to start is practicing on friends and family, along with color theory. Once you understand color theory, you can figure out the best color choices for skin types. Despina recounted seeing color theory in action during fashion week, where colors were strategically picked to compliment what was being showcased and worn. To quote Despina, “stay humble and open to the journey”.
Favorite Beauty Project
Despina’s favorite project came up thanks to fellow StyldLife stylist Ashley Brook Perryman. The two met through professional development classes and the makeup community. Despina flew out to British Columbia to work on a monochromatic garden Victorian beauty editorial with avante garde bridal gowns with flowers and pastel colors. Despina was given creative freedom to apply unconventional bridal makeup, like green hues on eyes and pale coral lips. The editorial was published in Flutter Magazine . It was her proudest moment since she was able to tell her parents to pick up a copy at Barnes & Noble.
Favorite Skincare Project
As for skincare, Despina often has beauty friends who need esthetician services for their clients on location. Often, she’ll go to their hotels to give them oxygen facials. (Oxygen facials help improve blood circulation, make skin look bright and plump, calm acne, as well as kill bacteria.) One of the clients Despina has done this for has been Camila Cabello. Despina did a facial for Camila and her mother. One of her favorite parts of being an esthetician is working with A- list talent who value Despina’s skillset.
Favorite Trends
Trends come and go, but one thing Despina has always kept in her bag of tricks is the concealer trend. Apply concealer to the inner corner of your eye and the outer corner. This gives you an uplift look and neutralizes any shadows you have.
Best Beauty Tip
When it comes to beauty, Despina’s best tip is studying your face, skin tone, and what flatters you best. For instance, sometimes people try doing a winged eyeliner but the wing shape they’re attempting isn’t the best for their eyes shape, especially for hooded and deep set eyes. Similarly, when creating a mood board, use people who look like you. Find people with similar skin coloring, eye shape, and eye color. It’s important to pin beauty looks of people who look like you.
To get more personalized tips & learn from Despina, book with her through StyldLife.com!
