Gabbi Pascua

Gabbi Pascua is a two-time Creative Arts EMMY-award winning make-up artist who has also received five Creative Arts EMMY Nominations in the Outstanding Makeup category for her exceptional work on CBS: The Talk. Since scooping up the gold, Gabbi has turned her talents into creating and producing A Study on Beauty, the highly anticipated television documentary series she developed with documentarian and business partner Alan Dennis.

We caught up with Gabbi to discuss where her beauty journey began and A Study On Beauty: Through Smoke, the first documentary set in the small town of Grasse in the south of France.

Welcome Gabbi! What got you into make-up and beauty and made you realize that it was your chosen path?

Beauty naturally found me and was something that was part of my everyday life. Especially on weekends once I hit my teenage years. I was a dancer growing up, from the age of 7, I had my own makeup bag that I would carry around with me. I also grew up at my grandmother's house where it was full of women, getting ready every day.

My mom also made a career change in her early 30s, where she went back to beauty school. So, from the age of 8 or 9 years old, I grew up in and around salons. I watched my mom get everyone in the family ready, give haircuts, and color everyone’s hair. I think being in the corner of beauty salons, observing it, did something to me subconsciously, it drew me in, and I believe it chose me back then… I just would fight it.

When I was 17, I got hired to do my first wedding. And I got asked because the women around me really liked the way I would do my makeup for dance performances. I don’t know how I was entrusted with the responsibility from that bride, but she did trust me and that was the beginning of the realization that I could do makeup “on the side” and make money from it. Never knew it would be the career I had.


Congratulations on your two Creative Arts EMMY awards. Can you tell us a bit about that experience?
Thank you! My experience was honestly surreal. My first nomination I didn't tell anyone outside of close friends and family, because I was not ready for the response. I had a very real dose of impostor syndrome, I just wanted to hide. But as the nominations consistently came through year after year and then the win happened, it just felt like an honor to be recognized. An answered prayer if you will. Coming up alongside social media, there was this pressure to be seen in a way my true artist was uncomfortable with. I truly just wanted to be seen as an artist for my work, not for my age or for the clout around it - because I started working in LA at 19 (I always had to hide my age or act older). The EMMY Awards were like a total nod to my craft, my artistry and exceeded my expectations for my career - outside of my age or timeline. This is so unique to my story - as awards were never the end goal, not even a note or suggestion of it on my vision board let alone vision for my life’s path. I just wanted to do honest work that felt sincere to me, and these awards represent that. The work and dedication I put into the industry and the love I have for the craft of makeup and people I surround myself with.

Aside from the awards, has there been one particular moment in your career that you’re most proud of?
As a makeup artist, working with only natural, clean, beauty ingredients for live television was what I was most proud of. I was able to work with products that challenged me and forced me to really lean into my true artistry every day. It was requested by my actress I was working with, and holding the integrity to her request was something I really wanted to uphold.

The formulating, the mixing, color matching and manipulation of products to read on cameras had to be executed every day and I loved the process.

To have won Emmys for my work, without even mentioning it was all green/clean beauty, the beauty process has always felt like a secret. But it's the one thing that always spoke to me, as me being able to truly celebrate being a true artist.

Your latest adventure is the upcoming docuseries A Study On Beauty with filmmaker Alan Dennis. Can you tell us about the project?
We launched our independent production company ASOB Media so that we could bring compelling stories around beauty and wellness to life. The production of our first film, A Study On Beauty: Through Smoke, was created with the intention of connecting to the truth within us so we can authentically and freely connect with others.

As a passionate beauty professional and storyteller, our story, Through Smoke is the most authentic representation of the heart of our vision, from concept to interviews and all those who helped bring this to life. The story is based on the true history of perfume (per fumus) which we filmed predominantly in Grasse, in the Côte-d'Azur.

Our story studies the beauty, art and history of perfume making through a significant provincial town in the idyllic south of France. Through the voices of international perfumers, we take the audience through Grasse, its historic core, the contemporary community that resides within it and enter a secret world that is both intriguing as it is inspiring!

Sounds incredible. Can you share more about the series in general?
Aside from A Study On Beauty: Through Smoke, Alan and I also set sail for the islands of Japan, where residents have cultivated a culture that was, for a time, long isolated from the rest of the world. The land of samurai and geisha that we know today once blossomed symbolic traditions of beauty, spirituality and wellness as a means of discipline and healing. Our episode on A Study Of Beauty: Onsen deeps dives into these cultures. More to come on that.

We look forward to learning more. If you weren’t a documentary creator and producer what else would you be doing?
It is an absolute honor and privilege to do the work I am doing now. I know it's not common to go from makeup artist to documentary producer and writer, but I'm just so excited about how this is going to impact everyone involved. More than anything I'm more excited about the international cultural preservation work that I really want to start doing and/or incorporating into the existing plans I have - both professionally and personally. In saying that, if I wasn’t working on the documentary series, I would be building out a holistic skincare practice in both Los Angeles and San Francisco and probably studying herbology while running a beauty blog on the side.

Do you have a positive mantra or saying that you use to motivate yourself?
“Thy will, not mine be done.” is my daily mantra. Not sure if I just have one, but a saying that has directly impacted my life and my career the last five years has been “Where God doesn't give you money, you're gifted people.” and that really has been the navigator around big decisions, including the way my career evolved into producing these documentaries.

I was at a crossroads - and hit rock bottom financially amidst the pandemic, but coming out of it I had my existing makeup career in television, started a service based practice and then was in development for this documentary project. I was juggling three career paths all happening at the same time - and I desperately needed support to make anything happen and keep things afloat. So, I really leaned into that saying and committed to doubling down on the business that had the people I needed to come around it to build a team the fastest… well, and not too long after, our indie documentary production company was born. It was the tangible clarity I needed to move forward and evolve my career.

How can people follow your journey?
I can be found on IMDb, and also Instagram Gabbi Pascua, Instagram ASOB Media, Instagram A Student of Beauty and our Website.