Who are you?
Good Question!
My name is Leesha 
I’m a makeup artist living in Arizona. I’ve been into makeup since probably freshman year of highschool, when my friend took me on a trip to California and we went to the MAC Pro store on Robertson (like the gates of heaven opened up before me!) Since then, it’s only gotten worse I started doing makeup tutorials on youtube in early ’07 just for fun, and to my suprise, people actually liked watching me! Now I do a few tutorials a week, trying out all sorts of looks: from classic neutrals to vamped up smokey; from horoscope and disney themed to all out neon!
Where did the name xsparkage come from?
Honestly.. I’m not really sure. I had it as an aim screenname since 8th grade, so the reason behind it is now a mystery to me. If I had to guess, I probably saw some cool website or person with ‘spark’ in their name, and at the time you were not cool if there wasn’t at least one ‘x’ in your screen name. There, mystery solved!
What Camera do you use?
The camera I use for my videos any time after December 26th, 2008 is the Canon Vixia HG20 videocamera.
For my videos before that, I used my Cannon Powershot S2IS. It’s around 3 years old and I know you can get newer, beter versions now! But really, any cannon powershot is gonna set you up right!
As far as for photos, most of the photos of me on this blog are taken with my Canon Vixia GH20 in photo mode, but the newer swatch pictures are taken with my Nikon d5000.
What do you use to edit your videos?
Windows Movie Maker is great for anyone with a PC, It’s really easy to figure out and just about everyone with a PC has it on their computer already! If you need help figuring out how to use it, look for tutorials on youtube Since I got my MAC, I’ve been using iMovie ’08 and HD, depending on what I need to do.
Where did you learn to do makeup?
I sort of learned on my own. When I first started getting into makeup, I would look up inspirational pictures online, save beauty pages from magazines, look up makeup communities online.. anything where I could find pictures of makeup looks and people who liked to do what I liked to do. I can honestly say the one thing that probably helped me the most is finding makeup communities and posting my pictures. This way, people could give me constructive criticism and let me know what I could do to become even better
What are your favorite brands of makeup?
I use a lot of MAC, but that’s mainly because it’s the most of a brand I own, haha. I also absolutely love my Dinair Airbrush system & makeup, I use it every day! Other brands I love inclue Too Faced, Urban Decay, Makeup Forever (#92 represent!), Obsessive Compulsive Cosmetics.
What about favorite products?
Here’s a little list of my favorite things to use (the list changes often, so I’ll try to keep this updated!)
Cleanser: Murad Clean Scene
Moisturizer: Murad Clean Scene Begging for Balance
Face Primer: If I use one, Urban Decay DeSlick
Foundation: Dinair Airbrush Makeup in Vanilla or Stila one step makeup
Powder: MAC Mineralized Skin Finish Natural in Medium Light
Concealer: MAC Studio Finish Concealer in NC20
Eye Shadow Primer: Too Faced Shadow Insurance
Stage Makeup Shadow Base: Mehron Paridise AQ Pallet in Pastel
Eye Shadows: Ben Nye Lumiere Pallet, MAC Pigments
Mascara: Too Faced Lash Injection, Maybeline Falsies Mascara
Blush: MAC
Lipstick: MAC
Lipgloss: MAC, OCC, Too Faced, Stila
Do I have to use the same things you use in your tutorials?
ABSOLUTELY NOT!!! Please, please, please don’t think that because I use a certain product, you wont be able to recreate it without having the same product. I am using what I have and what I like, and you can take that as suggestion, but please don’t think it is the only thing you can use!!!
Can you please name drugstore dupes for your tutorials?
This question I am asked all the time, and because I am not as familiar with drugstore brands as I am with what I own (I have so much makeup I really don’t buy products similar to what I have if I don’t have to!) So I really am not sure what is similar as far as drugstore items go. I would just go to the drugstore with an open mind and an idea of the colors you are looking for
How do you get popular on Youtube?
Another frequently, frequently asked question I really don’t have a clue! I never spammed peoples inboxes telling them to subscribe (which I absolutely DO NOT recommend doing, to be quite honest if people spam me to look at their videos I usually make it a point not to. people HATE spam!!), never did those silly “sub4sub” things or subscriber contests, none of that. The most I did was post a video on my myspace and occasionally post a video on the Mac Livejournal Community. Other than that, it just kind of happened, I guess. The best advice I can give you is just be yourself, and don’t spam people, begging them to watch your videos.. it really doesn’t work too well.
How much money do you make on YouTube?
I honestly can’t tell you guys how much I am asked this lol. I feel this is kind of a private question, as you wouldn’t go ask people you don’t know how much they make out at stores and such! I feel like people ask this question so they can get an idea as to how much THEY can make on youtube, and my answer wouldn’t be able to tell you that. It’s based on a lot of different things, and every youtuber is making a different amount.
What other websites can I find you on?
Other than youtube, I’m on quite a few makeup related sites! Ofcourse to keep you guessing (and make it all the more confusing), the username I’m under is rarely xsparkage, haha.
Here is a list of Websites I go on frequently, and the username you can find me by:
Makeup Alley: discodollies (I know there’s an xsparkage on MUA, that’s not me)
Specktra: xsparkage
Livejournal (mostly on the MAC_Cosmetics Community): Discoxlemonade
I own or represent a Makeup Company, and we would like you to try our products.
I am very open to trying all kinds of products, so please e-mail me about your company and we can work something out. Please note that my reviews are unbiased, and I will state my honest opinion for my viewers.
MORE FAQS AS THEY ARE.. well… Frequently asked..! lol
