São Paulo – Wallace Abeldt is 27 years old, was born in Domingos Martins, Brazil, and became popular among Arab makeup artists. With 146,000 followers on Instagram, he caught the attention of the Middle East and started giving courses overseas. His first destinations were Turkey and Lebanon.
A son of coffee farmers, Abeldt studied Law for a year and a half, under family influence, before finding his way as a makeup artist. “I’ve always wanted to work with art in some way. In 2015, while I was still in college, I started working as a handyman in a beauty salon in a nearby town, and that’s when I had my first encounter with makeup,” Abeldt says.
Self-taught, he learned his new profession by doing the makeup of family members but refined his skills when he was called to be a makeup assistant in a beauty salon called Studio Vip in Vitória, Brazil. Eventually, he started calling his girlfriends and students at the Federal University of Espírito Santo (UFES) to train his makeup skills.
“After practicing a lot, I started promoting the work in an Instagram page, and things just happened naturally. In 2018 I was called for the first time to give a course in Foz do Iguaçu,” he says about the city in Paraná, Brazil. Before getting to his first Arab destination in 2019, he gave courses in Assunção, Paraguay, and Curitiba and São Paulo, Brazil.
Makeup style
To create his own makeup style, Abeldt used different inspirations that are different from what Arab makeup artists usually do but are very popular due to their no-nonsense sophistication. “The makeup I do is more glamorous and shinier; you can see that they are wearing makeup but nothing too exaggerated. It makes them beautiful without distorting them. Anyone can use my makeup style, and it will look good on them.”
The makeup artist adds that his style is always evolving, and that in every country he visits, he learns with his students and exchanges information on techniques and products. When comparing his and the Arab makeup style, he points out that the Eastern peoples usually wear more eyeliner and bring out the eye.
“I believe that the Arab women like my style because it adds to what they already do. It is not about changing what they like, which is already beautiful.” Compared to the Brazilian models, for example, Arab models wear more things, such as contact lens, to further highlight the makeup.
Courses in Eastern countries
In 2019, even without speaking English, he gave his first course for Eastern professionals. Over 100 Iranian makeup artists were taken to Turkey to learn from Abeldt. His first Arab destination was Lebanon, in 2019. “The invitation came via Instagram.” In the first half of February 2020, Abeldt gave classes in Morocco, and during that year’s Carnaval, he presented his techniques to professional makeup artists from Jordan.
His last course was given from February 14 to 16, 2022, in Egypt, to 150 professionals. “It was an amazing experience as the culture is very different. The Arabs I had contact with are very warm, give us presents, ask me to do stories with them. The participants really like Brazilian art and enjoy our makeup style.” So far, all day-long course invitations the makeup artist has received came via Instagram.
In addition to the courses, Wallace’s success has reached other areas, too. He did the makeup of Lebanese singer and actress Rola Saad. “She recorded a music video in Turkey, and I produced her for more than 24 hours. I did different makeups for different outfits. It was an amazing day.
*Special report by Rebecca Vettore for ANBA
Translated by Guilherme Miranda
