Yong-Chin Marika Breslin: The Glow Up star done with fitting in
- Published
Yong-Chin has taken inspiration from her Scottish and Malaysian roots when creating her make-up looks
Yong-Chin Marika Breslin was recently crowned the winner of BBC Three's popular reality show Glow Up: Britain's Next Make-Up Star.
The 25-year-old, from Glasgow, won with a series of bold, striking designs that impressed the judges - but Yong-Chin says her childhood was all about trying to fit in rather than stand out.
Yong-Chin was born in Glasgow in 1996, the daughter of a Malaysian mother and Scottish father, and was brought up in Partick.
She was interested in make-up from a young age, practising on her sisters and later taking on face-painting jobs.
But Yong-Chin struggled to find a make-up look that suited her own ethnic features and ended up copying looks that were in trend instead.
"Growing up... I didn't see Asian models," she told BBC Scotland.
"I didn't see make-up being done on hooded eyes and I was always copying these trends that didn't suit my face at all.
"I think it's important for everybody to find a make-up style that suits them and not what they're seeing in campaigns."
Yong-Chin's make-up look from episode one represented her hidden strength - focus
Yong-Chin knew she looked different to most of her friends - but for a long time it wasn't something she wanted to draw attention to. She didn't want to appear "too different" to those around her, she said.
"Growing up in Glasgow, I had never met anybody else who was half-Malaysian, half-Scottish.
"So, yeah, when I was younger, I sort of rejected my Asian side a lot. I think it is often what happens.
"It's a strange thing because now it's almost like that's the side that resonates with me more. It's what I'm more drawn to - the artwork, the culture, the food, everything."
Yong-Chin felt her attitude shifting after she moved to London aged 19 to do a degree in fashion at Kingston University.
"Coming to London, that definitely opens your mind up to different things. I think if I hadn't come to London, my style would be completely different," she said.
"You're definitely exposed to a lot more, with music and everything. You live in houses with people from all over the world, so you're just learning about all these new things."
Yong-Chin started to take make-up seriously during the Covid lockdowns, applying to appear on Glow Up a few times before being invited on to the 2022 season.
Yong-Chin's hungry dragon is inspired by a popular character in south-east Asian mythology
The BBC Three reality show is a competition where aspiring make-up artists go head-to-head to compete for a "career-making opportunity".
The show is judged by Val Garland of L'Oreal Paris and Dominic Skinner from MAC Cosmetics.
Throughout the eight-episode series, Yong-Chin drew on both her Scottish and south-east Asian heritage for inspiration.
In episode two, she created a look inspired by the hungry dragon at Chinese New Year, telling the judges how she and her siblings performed Chinese dances as children.
Later in the series, the contestants were tasked with creating a statue that showed how they wanted to be remembered. Yong-chin's vivid offering was inspired by Scottish Celtic warriors who were "fearless" and "undefeated".
The look, called "Immortalised", is a combination of Celtic symbols to create Yong-Chin's very own coat of arms.
Yong-Chin's warrior look from episode five
The show's finalists were asked to present a make-up masterclass to a panel of industry experts before a final "face off" to determine the winner.
For her masterclass, Yong-Chin showcased her signature eyeliner design - describing how the distinctive, asymmetric style was a result of her struggle to find a look that worked with her eye shape.
The look helped her to capture the judges' attention, but despite her success, Yong-Chin said she wasn't satisfied with her performance and was shocked with her win after a rocky start to the season.
"I didn't like my final look, I wasn't happy with it at all. When I won I felt like I didn't deserve it, though. It was weird," she said.
Yong-Chin's signature eyeliner, showcased here by a model, helped her win the final
Now, Yong-Chin wants to experiment with fashion prosthetics and extreme beauty. She hopes to move to New York and embrace the opportunities that come with the city.
"Eventually, I want to be [the] key make-up artist for fashion week, have my own beauty brand, do beauty editing, write about make-up. And I want to push representation in the beauty industry," she told the BBC.
"I am an intense planner so I've written out quite a lot of things I've been doing over the past few months. Maybe in a year, I'll be working in New York."