TYPING…With Vlada
If you don’t know her by name, you’ve probably saved her looks on Pinterest. I actually had printed out a photo of one of Vlada’s looks to hang on my wall before even really knowing who she was. From colored wigs, detailed gradient lip looks, grommets, studs and piercings galore, Vlada Krukovskaya is a makeup artist and stylist based in Russia that is everything but ordinary.
The artist has done work for a variety of brands and public figures including: Kai Angel, Named Collective, Dead Blonde, Azizi Gibson, King Kong Magazine, and more. By using her face (and tongue, and eyes) as an unconventional canvas, her works redefine what makeup can be for someone, and how subculture seeps into something as simple as eyeliner or the way you do your eyebrows. Her style has seemingly always been subversive and uniquely her own, while simultaneously touching on trends of the time. Whether it’s by working with a brand like Spiritual War for NYFW promotions, or using piercings as her lower lash line, creating both an edgy and doll look, blending light and dark.
Although speaking limited English, she graciously interviewed with us to tell us about her artistry and relationship to social media. Below is a transcription of our brief but insightful interview.
Alexia Christe (AC): So, how long have you been doing makeup?
Vlada Krukovskaya (VK): I’ve been doing makeup for 9 years now. I’ve been drawing since childhood, and it wasn’t until I was 21 that it started to transform into makeup.
AC: Do you consider makeup an art form?
VK: Definitely, I think makeup is a big focus in movies and music videos these days, it attracts so much attention and is talked about more and more. The Met Gala alone is worth something with icons like Heidi Klum’s looks. It’s truly an entire art form into which people invest their imagination, effort, time, mood, and desire to convey their worldview through images
AC: Agreed. Your makeup in specific feels like art and visual narratives with the maybe unconventional palette of your own face.
AC: How would you describe your style of makeup application?
VK: Honestly, I don’t know. I think that every makeup look I do, regardless of the look, should have a touch of “freaky,” but that doesn’t apply to commercial looks. I usually do everything very quickly and love it when my eyebrows match the color of my wig, and I like to combine rap, glam, and rock together.
AC: Such a cool amalgamation of aesthetics. Do you have a favorite look you’ve done?
VK: I like almost all of my makeup looks, but for some looks I feel like my standards are too high and they aren’t worthy of attention, but for some reason it’s those looks that become successful.
AC: What was the most challenging look to do?
VK: The most difficult look in my opinion was for the brand Named Collective. It was all in spikes, I did it at night for about 3 hours, and because I was endlessly gluing spikes they inevitably they kept falling off. I literally began to feel physically sick, I wanted to give up halfway through. But, the result was worth it and it became my most liked work, but it was very difficult for me to do it, everything was covered in glue.
AC: What’s your go-to makeup technique?
VK: I really love matching my eyebrows to my wig and using bright eyeshadow under my eyebrows. And of course, almost none of my looks are complete without fake piercings. Even if my makeup is simple, the piercings still create additional elements and it’s cool to look at.
AC: Do you ever feel makeup is under appreciated in the art of fashion world? Why?
VK: I think everything has changed now and makeup is really a priority :) I adore the looks from the latest Rick Owens show, and the makeup and nails from Euphoria and how they’ve become trends. I love the hype Pat McGrath has created with her glassy faces at the Margiela show. Makeup is definitely making history right now
AC: What inspires you these days? How do you build these characters out of your looks?
VK: I’ve always been very inspired by music. Listening to my favorite tracks gives me a huge surge of energy. I imagine myself in the performer’s shoes, what my image could be like for this song, what kind of video I would shoot, what kind of show I would give, and with these impulses I can create something cool.
I also really love to travel. My mood depends on the country. After China, for example, I wanted to do everything incredibly bright.
AC: Finally, a question I’ve been dying to ask; does social media influence the way you do your makeup?
VK: I think so. In any case I keep an eye on what’s trending, on different styles, and I always want to bring something new into my work.
For example, right now I want to change the format of my reels so I’m studying presentations, different topics and formats, how I could do this, I look at popular bloggers and their formats to pick up tricks.
Sometimes social media isn’t the best thing. It’s when your work gets few views and you’re in a dopamine pit from the numbers, thinking that maybe you didn’t try hard enough and people didn’t appreciate it. This directly impacts your mood and the feeling of “unworthy work”—it sucks.
But the other side of the coin is that if you keep trying hard, the whole world can see you and your work.
Follow Vlada on Instagram for more. All photos courtesy of Vlada Krukovskaya.
