Can you tell us a bit about yourself?
My name is Shriya, I’m 17, and I live in England now but was born in Texas and my ethnicity is Indian! I go to college but spend most of my free time doing my makeup and coordinating outfits, have loved art since I can remember, as well as drastically failing at learning how to skateboard (but I refuse to give up haha)
What is your earliest memory of make-up?
I vividly remember I was in Year 4 or 5 and came home after school and sat alone in my room, when I was meant to be revising for like a science test or something, and I fell into a YouTube hole for hours, watching multiple makeup tutorials. I’m pretty sure some of them were by this one girl who was really popular at the time who was like a human barbie, her name was Anastasia or something? Anyway I’m almost certain I failed that science test but from that point on I recall watching YouTube tutorials like a religion and begged my mum and sister to let me play with their makeup all the time, until my mum caved and bought me some eyeshadow and lip-gloss as an end of year 6 present.
How do you come up with looks?
I’m either inspired by some of the amazing artists I follow or just by the things around me; over the years, I’ve done loads of little ‘series’, like a lollipop one where I matched my eyeshadow to my lollipop (glossy lids are a personal favourite of mine), fruit series where I literally drew fruit on my cheeks, and also painted the sky across my cheeks a few times. Whenever I see a cool piece of art I just feel like seeing if it would work on my face I guess!
What graphic liner do you use?
I actually use Snazaroo face paint haha – I don’t have any actual graphic liners but they’re something I have been meaning to invest in for a while, but I just mix the colours I already have (black, blue, red, yellow) to make the colours I need, or just use a lot of eyeshadow on top of white eyeliner. I think the NYX ones are great, I have used a couple of those, but I really need to get some water activated ones! I remember actually when I started my account, I didn’t have any colourful makeup, and all my colourful looks for the first year I had my account were done using a really rubbish claire’s palette! It did the trick though
What are your top 5 tracks of all time?
- We don’t care - Kanye West,
- She - tyler the creator and frank ocean,
- SWAMP by brockhampton,
- One foot boy by MIKA,
- Molly’s lips by Nirvana
What is a product that you can’t live without?
Lip balm! I feel like everyone says this but I literally can’t leave the house without some, dry lips are my biggest pet peeve.
What are your top 5 go to products?
- Concealer, because it gives you a nice blank canvas to start the rest of my makeup on – my favourite is from XX revolution, called superfiXX; I don’t really like foundation but I just sort of put this concealer everywhere and it goes a long way while still being buildable + their shade range is over 50 shades, and I love the inclusivity .
- The benefit roller lash mascara actually deserves all the hype it gets, it makes my lashes sooo curly and black without clumping!
- The clarins lip oil is so hydrating, smells AMAZING, and lasts a long time so I definitely recommend that.
- The glamglow glowsetter setting spray makes any makeup look so dewy and fresh, no matter how cakey it secretly could be!
- Finally, cream blush is my favourite ever, I use way too much of it but I love it – my favourite is the inc.redible one, the texture Is insane!
What made you want to create a make-up account?
I was in year 10, and it was my new years resolution to start something new to put my energy into. I have always loved both makeup and physical art my whole life, and picking up an instrument at that age seemed like a lot of work and I already played a sport. I was pretty good at ‘normal’ makeup and I already spent all of my free time doing physical paintings, so it seemed like the logical step to just combine my two hobbies together if that makes sense, and I just started experimenting on my face. I decided that since I use up so much makeup just to wash it off anyway, I might as well start taking photos of it !
Some of your looks are quite complicated - how do you achieve them? Is it through a lot of practice?
I don’t practice exactly, but when a look is going to be complex I stop and plan it out properly, deciding what palettes I’m going to need and how it will all work rather than just free handing it, and I take it slow while doing it because I hate messing things up to the point where I need to start again. But more often than not, I’m just in a good mood and I sit down to do my makeup without thinking about how it will turn out; I sometimes just have a colour in mind, get out all the makeup that matches that colour, put on a playlist and sit and play around on my face till I like the way it looks.
What's your favourite look that you've done?
This is hard! Every time I create something I always love it, and if I don’t I don’t post it! But probably my recreation of a makeup look seen on alexa demie, with colourful gems everywhere and super glossy lips, or when I stuck flowers from my garden around my eyes and had a pink and green glossy lid.
Who is your favourite makeup artist/ person?
Honestly, literally any of the artists I follow are an inspiration to me, but the person whose account compelled me to make my own was watching @alxcext grow on Instagram – her makeup content is not really the same as mine but her tutorials and posts are beautiful nonetheless. Pat McGrath is also a massive inspiration to me, she changed the whole makeup industry! @uglyworldwide and @sweetmutuals also inspire me, they completely do their own thing and it always turns out amazing.
What A-levels are you doing?
Maths, further maths, economics and geography!
Is make-up something you want to pursue as a career?
Makeup and art will always be a part of my life, but I actually plan to get a degree in economics from university and see where that takes me, hopefully into the investment banking sector. Social media is where I display my love for art (on my face), but academics have always been a massive part of my life that I don’t want to give up! But I hope to continue documenting my makeup on Instagram for the foreseeable future, and I don’t see myself ever wanting to stop :)
Can you give us a step-by-step of your go-to everyday make-up?
I don’t actually wear makeup daily, but if I’m wearing any this is how it goes: start with some SPF and any glowy primer (I like the MAC strobe cream); concealer under my eyes and on any spots but I keep it as minimal as possible to look natural – for daily wear I use the collection lasting perfection concealer and blend with a brush; the inc.redible cosmetics cream blush is amazing, I use the coral one on my cheeks and bridge of my nose on a stippling brush; bronzer to set my cheekbones, temples, side of my nose and transparent powder everywhere else; brush up my brows and maybe fill them in if I feel fancy; curl my lashes and clear mascara; little bit of face mist and lip balm to finish off! To make this more fancy all I add is some lipliner and use black mascara and some eyeliner.
What do you think is the most underrated make-up/ skincare product?
Brown eyeliner is criminally underrated, it looks so natural and is less trouble if you mess up the wing! Also people ask me so many times what ‘eye gloss’ I use, I genuinely just buy any tube of clear lipgloss and it is usually like £1 anyway, and it works great (but isn’t the most wearable – if you want to go out with glossy lids, use Vaseline or pawpaw balm). My favourite skincare is hylaluronic acid from the ordinary, makes my skin feel so bouncy literally 10 minutes after using it!
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