For an industry that is oversaturated and barely pays much attention to black women, Star Bahati has broken the barrier. As a freelance makeup extraordinaire for more than 23 years, she has worked on some of the top Hollywood productions, and she is one of the few black women to have reached such heights in the business. She trained at the Los Angeles Trade Technical College of Cosmetology before participating in multiple training workshops for different cosmetic brands.
Star Bahati has worked for brands like MAC Cosmetics, Estée Lauder, and Prescriptive. She worked as a manager at Sephora, and she was influential in the opening of the Santa Monica store. In 2001, after working for others, she opened her own business as a freelance makeup artist. From that point onward, Star Bahati went on to work with different international acts from the United States and brides from all over the greater Los Angeles areas. She also landed some major gigs for TV productions such as the MTV show Ridiculousness and VH1 Network’s Basketball Wives and Love & Hip Hop: Hollywood. She has been behind the scenes of countless film projects and music videos, and not for once did she feel like she had finally gotten to her peak.
For her, building a strong clientele was only the beginning because what she always wanted to do was a chance to train other people on makeup and beauty techniques. This explains why she is always seeking knowledge to become better at her craft while updating her skills with the latest makeup trends.
She has seen it all in the makeup world, and she has worked with some of the biggest celebrities in the United States. She is currently working on creating her cosmetic line and building a trade school for at-risk girls who want to become experts in the beauty industry. She enjoys working on improving her brand as much as she loves to impart knowledge. That is why she is positioning herself as a source of inspiration and knowledge to many others who aspire to become pros in her field. Star Bahati is a known name in Hollywood, the corporate world, and the wedding industry. She is open to working with anybody as long as it will give her brand further exposure, recognition, and opportunity to expand her portfolio.
Being a black woman, Star Bahati almost stood no chance, but she proved herself by fighting for her spot, and since she got the chance, she never looked back. She comes from a family of successful entrepreneurs, which explains her tenacity and work ethic. Her sister is a professional dancer; one of her brothers is a professional cyclist, and another brother a successful DJ. So Star had no choice but to excel in her field. This mentality has stuck with her for more than two decades, and now she wants to help other young people come up too.
She intends to keep running her business in the next five years and working with more celebrities. Then, she plans to establish a mentorship program for young women who want to work in the makeup field. Star Bahati is a knowledge seeker, and she wants everyone to never stop seeking knowledge. Knowledge is never a waste, and no one knows what opportunity may show up at any time.
