This story is brought to you by our partners at Lexus.The day Etienne Ortega bought his mother a house, he wasnt thinking about glam. He was thinking about a promise. I told her when I moved to L.A. that Id do it, Ortega says. And by 26, I did.Its the kind of moment that reflects everything Ortega brings to his work: determination, intuition, and an unshakable sense of self. A moment that, like the refined confidence of a Lexus gliding down Laurel Canyon, speaks volumes without ever needing to raise its voice.Today, Ortega is a celebrity hair and makeup artist with clients like Mariah Carey, Christina Aguilera, and Lana Del Rey, founder of his brand Ortega Beauty, and a cancer survivor. But rewind two decades, and he was just a kid in Ventura County, Calif., cutting rubber bands out of his moms bathroom drawer to do his sisters ponytails before school.I had no idea beauty was going to be my career, Ortega says. But I used to sit at the salon for hours watching this woman named Hilda work highlights, cuts, eyebrows. I was fascinated. She saw something in me.That early spark evolved into an unmistakable signature bold lips, glowing skin, and a style clients now instantly recognize as his. But Ortega didnt fall into the glam chair by accident. He earned it through years of work, a mix of hustle, faith, and a fearless drive that began when he left home at 17 with no clear roadmap, only ambition.I had no fear, he says. Just this pull. Id help my friends get ready for prom, charging $10 a face. It wasnt even about the money. I just loved the transformation not just how someone looked, but how they felt.Ortega, who was born in Guadalajara in Mexico, moved to the United States with his family at age 7. He describes his upbringing as full of love but shaped by machismo a cultural environment that initially made him question if beauty could ever be his future. I didnt want people to say it was gay, he says. That fear held me back. But then I realized everything I loved, everyone I looked up to, were icons in beauty, in fashion, in music. And they stood for being unapologetically themselves.Years later, Ortega now calls many of those idols clients, mentors, and friends. Working with Aguilera wasnt just a career high it was destiny. I used to say Id work with her one day. People thought I was crazy, he says. But I knew. I manifested that before I even knew what manifesting was.It hasnt been all highlights and lipstick, though. In 2021, Ortega was diagnosed with stage 2 testicular cancer. The news came unexpectedly after what he assumed was a pulled muscle. You never expect to hear that from a doctor, he says. But it shifted my entire perspective.Even as he endured two surgeries and chemotherapy, Ortega rarely slowed down. Work was healing for me. It helped me feel strong. Id sit in chemo and see babies, older people getting treatment I thought, if theyre not complaining, neither am I.Through that battle, he continued building something bigger his namesake beauty brand, Ortega Beauty. It took six years, he says. There were bad partnerships, setbacks. But I couldnt quit. Anything I start, I have to finish.Launching his own beauty brand wasnt just a business decision for Ortega it was a reclamation of power, of vision. Id spent years executing other peoples creative direction, Ortega says. This time, it was all mine. I chose everything the formulas, the textures, even the soundtrack to the launch video. Christina helped write the voiceover. Mariah approved the edit. It was surreal.And like any good artist, Ortega doesnt just create he gives back. He runs a series of beauty education classes called Maestro Workshops, helping emerging artists develop their own voice. I never had the chance to assist when I was coming up, he says. Now I try to give others what I didnt get mentorship, encouragement, a safe space.Safety, in fact, is something Ortega revisits often not just in physical comfort, but emotional energy. You cant underestimate how important it is to feel safe, he says. I try to create that with every client. Whether theyre famous or not, I want them to feel ready, confident, supported. Like theyre about to walk into the world as the best version of themselves.Thats not just good glam thats what Ortega considers the standard of amazing: Whether its performance, style, or presence, both Ortega and Lexus know that what truly moves us is more than appearance its how we feel along the way.