Bailey E. Orenia-Sessoms
"The Makeup Diva"
 
 
As an on-air beauty expert and CEO of Bō™ Cosmetics, Bailey is living every girl’s dream, all grown up and still playing with makeup. For this Washington, D.C. native, the fairytale began with an incredible start.  

In early 1997, after leaving a career as a professional model working with notable clients including Nordstrom and Macy’s, Bailey decided to switch gears and pursue makeup artistry. Bailey’s natural skills and abilities allowed for a seamless transition into this related industry.  

Her first project was with Adidas Sports Wear, which was almost inconceivable for a makeup artist making her debut.   From that point on, Bailey’s path was clear. Less than three months later she signed on as an artist with Bobbi Brown Cosmetics for their studio and national events.  

That same year Bailey took another major step and decided to extend her talent into television, and before you could say, “action,” viewers across the country were seeing her work compliments of Black Entertainment Television (BET). After doing makeup for a Nestle Corporation photo shoot where she had the pleasure of doing makeup for BET’s CEO Debra Lee, Bailey became Lee’s personal makeup artist and fulfilled the company’s other corporate makeup service needs.  

Bailey brings to her craft a noticeable creative flair. Perhaps it stems from her graduating at 20, with honors, from Howard University with a background in the arts. Or it’s her ‘gotta’ have it’ personality, but less than two years later, Bailey’s talents were noticed once again. She landed a deal that seemed to be a perfect match from none other than BET’s new subsidiary BET.com. Bailey was asked to join the team as its style producer and help launch the multi-billion dollar company’s website. There, Bailey provided viewers with numerous beauty and fashion articles and covered world-renowned events like New York’s Fashion Week.  

To add to her repertoire, in 2002 Bailey took an unusual step into the word of music with her very own radio show on XM Satellite Radio.  Where for over a year, listeners across the country made their way to Channel XM 67, to join Bailey for some listening pleasure.  

In 2003 Bailey opened Bō™ Studios, which offers full makeup services including makeup lessons.  Since then Bailey has provided makeup services for major entertainment companies including GOD TV and the Discovery Channel. She moved on to become the beauty columnist for AOL’s BlackVoices.com. Bailey has been featured as a beauty expert on news shows and in news publications such as the New York Daily News.  

In 2005 Bailey launched her private makeup line Bō™ Cosmetics. In 2006 she debuted her first beauty book  "Honeymoon Beauty Honeymoon Bride" and in 2008 she released her second book "The Beauty Diary".  

Bailey’s accomplishments certainly indicate that this latest venture will not be her last. She most recently provided makeup services for Caroline Kennedy for her television commercial indorsing Barack Obama for President.
 
Says Bailey: “Give me a brush, I’ll make you beautiful. Give me an overly made-up woman, I’ll yell cut. Give me a woman wanting a new look, I’ll gladly yell, make-up!”  

And that’s a wrap!