Rebekah D’Andrade has no intentions of blending into the crowd

Rebekah D’Andrade is constantly reinventing herself. With her, when one door closes, another one opens soon after. Rebekah says she has made up her mind to “go for it” – whatever “it” might be.
That “it” is now keeping her so busy that she has no free time to spend snuggling up to watch a movie; giving herself a manicure and pedicure or going for a walk on the beach with her dogs (she makes no apology for being an animal lover – “my animals are like my children and are the true source of unconditional love, I don’t know what I would do without them”). 
Rebekah’s days, evening and sometimes nights are now taken up with taking care of other people, providing them with solutions to their myriad skin problems.
Rebekah attended St Winifred’s School and spent a year at the Ursaline Convent, and had dreams of becoming a professional dancer, having been dancing from a tender age. She enrolled in The Quinte Ballet School and Performing arts at George Brown College in Canada to study dance, but was sidelined by many injuries. 
With that door closed, Rebekah came back home and started to manage a friend’s spa. One day she was asked to wear some eyelash extensions for advertisement purposes. She was so taken by how one little accessory transformed her look that she researched and found a school in Toronto, Canada. She packed her bags and after months of hands on application she is now a certified eyelash extension artist. 
Taking her craft one step further, Rebekah is currently studying aesthetics at The International Career College, which is the Barbadian campus for The Canadian Aesthetics Academy, while modelling part-time. She just competed in the Miss Island Queen 2011 pageant last Sunday.
“My interest in beauty was always there . . . . I just saw beauty in different ways and still do, but I have found that as I have matured I have a much more focused idea of what is beauty. I never thought I had a knack for it until I was exposed to working in a spa and being in that environment it then peaked my interest to do and learn more,” Rebekah stated. “I didn’t really make a decision to make it my career it just sort of happened as I fell in love with the craft,” she continued.
She  cannot honestly remember how she got into modelling but one photoshoot happened after the next, and suddenly she was busy doing ads and campaign work for magazine but she knows that to be a model means you have a short shelf life.  
“Modelling is hard work – not just posing in front a camera. It also takes time to prepare your body and any details for a shoot or show. It takes time and patience, as you tend to deal with different people and not everyone gets along all the time, also it is great for meeting new people in the business and getting to work with different personalities.
Rebekah calls herself “a sucker for learning new things” and knows that becoming an aesthetician takes many months studying the theory of the body, which is then followed by learning the practical and clinical side. An aesthetician is dedicated to the maintenance or improvement of beauty. Mostly involved in skin care, they also take care of the whole body, which is indirectly part of the overall health of skin. 
“It is very hands-on, which I prefer to learn that way, so it takes a lot of dedication, passion and commitment to the trade to make sure you do the best job possible,” she stressed. Rebekah finds herself working long hours whether it is modelling or school and stresses the importance of making time for yourself to take care of your body. This helpsto relieve stress, which, she says can take a toll on your skins youth.
Rebekah’s passion deals with clients who have skincare issues. So she has to present a face that shows clients that she thinks about herself as much as she thinks about them. “Looking and feeling beautiful is very important to a woman’s confidence and self esteem. I believe that to look beautiful you must feel beautiful.” 
Rebekah remembers having “problem skin growing up” and she still deals with the occasional flare-up today. And she has some advice for those who suffer the same problem: “The most important thing I have learnt is to find a good skincare regime that works for you and stick to it.”
What are some common beauty mistakes that women make?  “The most common mistake that I have seen is women who have been taught to cleanse their face a few times a day. This increases oil production, thus can make your skin oily and give you other skin issues and then, of course, the cycle just repeats itself as you attempt to cleanse your skin to remove the oil build-up.” 
Rebekah says from day-to-day she hardly ever wears make-up so as to allow her skin to “breathe.” She will not be caught dead without her favourite concealer, Lancome, and eyeliner and lip gloss are her daily must haves in any bag.
Plans are on paper for her own skincare line, and Rebekah wants to have a successful business enterprise which would involve her in photo shoots, film, fashion shows and so on. Rebekah comes from a small family with two other siblings. She can trace her roots back to the French. “My mother is Bajan and my father is Trinidadian. But both names are very old. My mother’s maiden name is Mallalieu which is French. Her family moved to Barbados from St Kitts around the 1800s. My father’s name is Portuguese; not sure where they came from but they stayed in Trinidad. 
If someone were to write a book about Rebekah, what would the title be? “The Evolution of Me. I do enjoy my work very much,” she says. “I love what I do – whether it is dance or aesthetics. I tend to achieve whatever I put my mind to. I love putting myself to the test.  The real reward is the client’s reaction when they look in the mirror. I am driven and passionate about my work.” 
Even though she is not living life the way she wants to, she knows that the most important thing is to start out somewhere and work towards something in life.
“You can only get out of life what you put into it, so hopefully someday I will be where I want to be.”