Interviews / Stories
Can you tell us a little about you?
Hello everybody! My name is Serena, and I'm a makeup artist based in Milan. I work purely for fashion, ADV or spot campaigns. I'm in love with everything colorful, with weird shapes and freeky stuff. My favourite animal is the Unicorn!! But don’t be fooled, I'm 29 yeasr old!
How long have you been a makeup artist and how did you get your start?
I started my make up artist career 4 years ago... sometimes it feels a very long time, but some others time it feels like I started now! That’s becayse the fashion world is really quicky to evolve and change in a fast way so, when you start to be really good in a tecnique, trends changse, so you have to restart again!
I did make up school a long time a go, and right after that I left Italy to draw scenographies in Egypt. For many years I never believed that make up could have been my true way of life, but luckily one day a friend of mien tried to make a dress collection, and asked for my help with make up and hair for the first lookbook... and this is how I was catapulted in a new road!
Where do you get your inspiration from?
My inspiration comes from everything I observe: the real secret, in my opinion, is definitly to observe the landscapes around us during our life. I think that to be able to observe the world with a critic eye it's the basic for any creative job. The idea can come from everything: a sun reflextion in a puddle, a strange shape of chimney pot, and definitely, people. People I meet in the streets, are the best source of inspiration: how are they dressed, their style, their hair, how they move, and of course the make up! I love the idea to make fashion for people inspired by peolpe.
What are some of your makeup products that you use?
Now I'm in my cream color “period”. They can make your skin shine fresh, and hydrated. especially if you want a completely natural effect. Strobe Cream and the illuminant from MAC are my “must have” for this tecnique, with also cream fard.
Some other prodoct I can’t live whitout are eyebrows mascara (coloured or transparent) and Punky mascara from LOREAL, it make eyelashes really steaky and vinilyc.
Who have you worked for and who would you like to work for in the future?
I love working for jewelry campaign because I love the idea to projet a make up that can be a reflection of shapes or materials. I’d love, in the future, to work in campaigns or ADV about make up brands, because ususally they are really creative and studied in every small detail! And well, I think that every make up artist dream is a beauty campaign! ;)
Any makeup tips you'd like to share with us?
I’d suggest you to really mind about the SkinCare. A lot of time it's an underestimated part of my work, but it's the real winner card for making the skin shine, natural and it’s a durable base for the make up: it's like painting, you have to prepare the canvans at best, if you want to have vibrant colours. ;)
If you were not a makeup artist, what would be your dream job?
I would have definitely followed my painting instincts. In fact, after the make up school, i graduated in SCENOGRAPHIES ART. I still think about scenography as a perfect plan B. If for any reason in the future I’d leave the fashion world, I would really enjoy to go back drawing and designing scenographies for musical in vacation center on tropical beaches. It doesn’t sound bad, right?
What are three things every girl needs in her makeup bag?
I would suggest the 3 things I use for my daily make up. Blush for the cheeks, a brush and a pencil for the eyebrows and mascara, neverending mascara! Another thing really important for me (but not for everyone) it’s the eyeliner.
Those are the only things I usually use on myself. I have a nice skin and I prefer to let it breathe. And with my work i feel unconfortable with too much make up un myself!! What are common mistakes you see women make on their makeup? The eyebrows design. And I think every reader understand what I mean by now, right? ;)