Four mirrors each lined with bright lights illuminate every contour of her face. As she stares into the mirror, her reflection peers back at her.

With foundation dabbed between her left index finger and thumb, she begins, slowly dabbing her face with the liquid-like material, similar to how a painter may take brush to canvas.

Vy Nguyen remembers the first time she tried on lipstick.

“I remember it was hot pink, it was my mother’s,” she says.

“I would play with her makeup when she was away. When I would put it on I felt so pretty…I just felt different.”

This experience was the beginning of Nguyen’s desire to paint her face.

Unable to wear makeup in public, Nguyen would only wear makeup at home.

“[My mother] would ask me, ‘Why I have to conceal my face?’ and I tried to explain to her it is my hobby not my intention to cover who I am.” she says.

Although makeup is not taboo in Vietnam, it is not encouraged.

“In middle school and in high school girls are not allowed to wear makeup,” she says, “[People in Vietnam] encourage and value natural beauty and think makeup is a form of being seductive.”

This, changed when she was able to study abroad in the United States.

Feeling free from the clutches of home and readily equipped with YouTube videos of beauty guru’s such as Michelle Phan, Nguyen was ready to embrace the open world.

“The first day I wore makeup, it was so sloppy,” she says.

“But I thought that sloppy makeup was better than none at all…I felt excited.”

When Nguyen was younger she pondered whether makeup was an extension of herself or a mask and came to the conclusion it wasn’t a mask.

“[Makeup] is not essential, it is like an art and a hobby,” she says.

“It enables me to be whatever I want to be or if I wanted, whoever.”

This art form much like others is a process. Nguyen begins to apply small amounts of concealer to the areas just below her eyes, erasing shadows.

Next comes the blush, a corral color which lies subtly on her skin and yet it is strong enough to reflect light, emitting sparkles to one’s eyes.

“Makeup is done in layers,” Nguyen says. “But blending is key; blending is 90 percent of my process.”

And with each sweep of highlighter, dash of eye shadow and stroke of eyeliner placed delicately, the picture perfect image is complete.

The bright lights illuminating Nguyen’s face are no longer needed as the dusty drapes are pulled back and the natural sun rays take hold.

“I have to practice daily and I have to learn consistently,” she says.

“I subscribe to multiple gurus on YouTube and in my free time if I don’t have to go anywhere I still play with makeup, experimenting with ways I want to look.”

Nguyen walks to the closet and begins to peruse the items purchased over the years. Her clothes come in a large variety ranging from pastels to bold and seductive reds.

She reaches but her short stature forces her to stand on the ends of her toes to grab a petite pearl colored dress with a royal blue collar. This fashion faux pas would have been scorned 100 years ago this late into the fall but Nguyen says, “I think all colors are created equal.”

Nguyen who is a business major at Park University and is currently studying ethical actions within businesses  understands the business side of marketing but also understands the social effects of a projected beauty on women.

“The media have raised an impossible standard for girls like me to live up to,”  she says.

This projected beauty has lead Nguyen to question the ethics of marketing.

“They influence young girls,” she says, “but they are a business and they have to do what they have to do.”

She returns to her makeup workshop and pulls up the black stockings she selected; her lightly tanned skin vanishes underneath the stockings and she reaches for her makeup setter and spritzes the formula on her face.

“Some people say [makeup] is for girls with low self-esteem,” she says, “who need to paint their face to feel pretty.”

Nguyen says she disagrees with the notion but admits, “People always say you have to be comfortable with your own skin and sometimes it is hard. Sometimes when I am down I put on lipstick and it makes me feel better.”

Nguyen, who is also a first year mentor at Park has mentored girls back home on makeup.

“I try to teach my sister because she doesn’t know how,” she says. “I try to encourage her and other girls to try various methods and to try which colors they like the most.”

Ultimately, Nguyen wants to encourage other women to see “makeup as an extension of their self,” says Nguyen, “as an artistic form to show the world instead of as something to hide who you are.”

Finishing the last touch of her daily look with a dark shade of Revlon’s Adore ColorBurst Balm, a brand that is advertised by Emma Stone, Nguyen is ready for school.