Alisha Chauhan

Under the protection of Vogue covers plastered to the wall of her childhood bedroom, Roxanne De Nobrega grew up falling in love with makeup. 

Maybe it was her bright green shaggy rug or the purple eyeshadow on Beverly Johnson’s cover that influenced her, Roxanne simply knew she loved bright colours. This love of colour drew her to department stores where she’d admire the collections of bold palettes. 

Despite her magnetic connection to makeup, she couldn’t help but notice the shelves of foundations and concealers were always missing a colour: her own. This absence in the makeup industry would follow her throughout the rest of her career.

Outside of the makeup aisle Roxanne took every excuse she could to express herself through makeup. But a job in the makeup industry was only ever a dream for Roxanne. Immigrating from Guyana, it was expected of her to pursue a career in the sciences, not the arts. 

While working as a receptionist, it didn’t take long for De Nobrega to grow sick of receiving the question “what do you do?” Never being able to reply with a whole-hearted answer. 

As retaliation she enrolled in an arts program at Humber College, received a Mac makeup kit and found herself agreeing to a four-day job as a makeup artist for a Bank of Nova Scotia advertisement. 

With a fresh $2800 in her pocket she realized makeup didn’t just have to be a passion, but also a way to support her two young children. 

As she continued booking side jobs, the flaws of the industry only became clearer. Black makeup artists were not prioritized, typically only hired to work on Black models.

“I was always doing Black faces but I just had to move forward and keep proving myself,” says De Nobrega. “Being a Black artist, you tend to be put in a pigeonhole where you could only do Black skin… but if you’re an artist, guess what? Your canvas is blank.” 

She attributes her job working at the makeup counters in Nordstroms to help hone her talent on all skin colours. “What I would always do is to get anyone and everyone in my chair, especially people that don’t have my skin tone so that I could practice on them.” 

De Nobrega was used to being the only Black artist on set, highly aware of the faults in the system. 

“I know there were obstacles, but it had nothing to do with me because I just had to push my way through,” she says. “I have to do this. I don’t have a choice. I have kids, I want to live a good, decent life and I want to do something that I love.” 

However, the past three years have shown a slow but positive change in her workplace. 

“I appreciate now when I go on set there’s groups of all Black hair and makeup… It’s still a struggle because a lot of people aren’t used to seeing Brown or Blacks in a certain position. I know when I’m the department head, I can feel it and see it. There’s a lot of passive aggression that still happens around me.” 

Kandyce Young worked alongside Roxanne as her first assistant and friend for over a decade. Describing how working with Roxanne “was like taking a masterclass everyday.” 

“That is Roxanne in every aspect of her life, she is a true giver, a true people’s artist… She wanted everyone to win all the time. She forced me to be great at all times, and gave me the tools to be great,” says Young. 

Young explained how at the core of everything, Roxanne simply loves makeup. Noting how each year Roxanne rallies as many makeup artists and brands she knows to volunteer free makeovers and makeup kits for underprivileged and homeless women.

“This act speaks volume of her character,” says Young. 

Becoming one of Canada’s most sought after makeup artists took years of practice for Roxanne. After balancing a full time sales job, early morning side gigs for short films and parenting two young girls all by herself, she finally found a placement with The Artist Group agency 

When she booked her first series called Lord Have Mercy Roxanne knew she would make it. “I used to drive by the studio all the time on Eastern Avenue. Driving there the first time was very emotional, really wonderful. That show really opened up opportunities for me.” 

From there Roxanne grew a career from the ground up. Published in L’Official, booked for Netflix shows, high fashion runway shoots and has worked alongside some of Hollywood’s biggest stars. 

However, despite constantly working on high profile projects, at the end of the day if you call her for a free glam session she would happily invite you over.