American Sign Language Beauty Tutorials?!

How This Beauty Vlogger Uses American Sign Language to Reach the Deaf Community

Have you ever watched beauty tutorials that use American Sign Language? Well, Catherine D. Martinez, a beauty vlogger who is based in New York, gained a significant following when she started posting her tutorials in American Sign Language. Here at American Beauty Star, we are all about diversity, so naturally we had to catch up with Catherine to learn a bit more about her.

Q. When did you start using makeup as a form of expression?

I started using makeup as an expressive gateway about three years ago. Around the same time, I leveraged my social media to showcase it. 

Q. You use American Sign Language (ASL) in your YouTube tutorials. What sparked your interest in doing that?

What really sparked my interest is my career in audiology. While I studied at NYU, I was in the communicative sciences and disorders program. The program is based in speech language pathology and audiology; it offers American Sign Language, and many other languages. I developed a passion for audiology and built my career path on that. 

Q. Did you plan on becoming an advocate for the deaf community or did this just kind of happen for you?

Learning more about audiological rehab and American Sign Language sparked my interest in deaf culture. I educated myself more by digging into the identity aspect of deaf culture and practicing sign language. When I did that, I noticed that my surroundings and daily activities impeded communication of deaf culture for the community.

Q. Who are your biggest sources of inspiration? Do you get inspired by other influencers?

I’m inspired by people that I come into contact with in my field and on social media platforms. While I get a lot of inspiration from influencers, I’m most inspired by people who are deaf or hard of hearing. The most rewarding part of the experience for me is when people reach out to me and say how my tutorials helped them in any way. It truly makes me feel good. 

Q. What is one beauty trend you will never get tired of?

Monochromatic makeup looks and strobing or highlighting! I like them because they accentuate certain areas of the face by adding more luminosity. Makeup is about accentuating your natural beauty and adding your own twist to it. It’s all about your facial structure, appearance, and personal style.

Q. What are you top three makeup essentials?

My top makeup essential is a non-comedogenic hypoallergenic moisturizer that’s good for the skin. Proper hydration is critical as a base for makeup application! Another tool I need is a beauty blender or makeup brushes in general. I usually go for densely packed brushes for full coverage looks since I do them more often. If not, I use a stipple brush to keep things natural. I can’t forget illuminator kits! I love them because they’re so versatile. You can create eye looks, highlight your face, and color your lips with the right illuminator kit. 

Q. What advice do you have for aspiring beauty influencers?

Be yourselves and don’t feel like you have to follow makeup trends or edit your photos in a certain way to fit in. With the industry so large and oversaturated, people are searching for someone who stands out and brings a unique style. 

Q. One final question, if you could have any superpower, what would you choose?

Haha, I don’t know what specific power I’d want to have! I guess the power that I technically have — to a small degree — is being able to transmit positivity to others. Being able to understand everyone and just be a source of love at a snap of my fingers would be a great ability to expand on. 

We think spreading good vibes is definitely a superpower needed in this day and age. Huge thanks to Catherine for answering all of our questions.

Check out Catherine’s YouTube channel and don’t forget to follow her on Instagram!