Interview with Roseanna Velin: On Black Sabbath, Makeup and Creativity

Roseanna Velin, makeup artist from London, dreams of escaping from the city, she loves her work made of imagination and with whom she experiments textures and colors with little potions (or at least we like to think they are). Her makeup looks a little magical, and she loves to paint her models’ face and body always to create something new.

Her works balance between a surreal body painting made of glitter and the most colorful and bright makeup looks you can imagine. With clients such as Space NK, John Lewis Beauty, Spectrum Brushes and magazines publications including Harpers Bazaar, like Elle Beauty, Marie Claire or Vogue Italia, she has opened to us her world (and her makeup kit), showing us her favorite products, those she can’t live (and work) without, her skincare routine and she told us about her dreams.

_______________

What is your first memory of makeup and how was your relationship with beauty when you were younger?
_______________

My first memory of makeup is watching movies and music videos as a kid and just looking at the different actresses, or the characters and how they changed: you get to see their personality through the way they were being styled with hair and makeup and costumes. As a child, you pick up on visual things, because even if you can’t understand the meaning of something you can look at the way that’s being expressed. For example, I used to love Cruella the Vil because she has big eyebrows and red lips, and straight away you can tell who she is from her appearance. And her facial expressions are dramatic.

I think I quite like the animated side of it as well.

“I used to love Cruella the Vil.”

_______________

How do you express your creativity when you’re not doing makeup?
_______________

I used to be creative with my appearance and style, but lately I don’t care so much about that. I think I am able to express my creativity enough through my job so I don’t need another outlet at the moment.

_______________

What’s your song of the moment?
_______________

I don’t have a favourite song, but my favourite band of all time is Black Sabbath. Another band that I take a lot of inspiration from for makeup is Dead Can Dance.

_______________

You’ve been in the industry for almost a decade. Makeup, body painting, commercials…what’s the part of the work that makes you the happiest?
_______________

I feel most happy when there is a good team of professionals who understand the brief and are able to work together to create an amazing result. There’s a kind of flowing energy around the room and it’s very satisfying.  I also like when I just sort of discover something in a moment…when I’m doing a makeup or body-painting and I just make a little magical colour or texture…

_______________

Your body-painting is amazing. We loved also the look with the golden eyeshadow, can you tell us something about that?
_______________

It was made with gold leaf. I started by applying a cream colour in gold. Then I stuck the foil on top of that while it was still a bit tacky. It’s very delicate: as soon as you touch it, it moves, so you have to be very precise. It’s not very wearable unless you glue it down, but it looks great on camera.

 – G O L D  L E A F –

_______________

We also like the last editorial look you’ve done, with the golden pink look.
_______________

We didn’t plan the looks for this shoot, I was just inspired by what I felt on that day and by the model. The model Natalie was telling us about a great holiday she had in Spain, and the photographer, Garcia Morales, is Spanish, so we were all sharing our stories and love for Spanish things! When you do the makeup, it’s very personal, intense and very close and you get a lot of energy from whatever is around you. I felt inspired to use hot summery colors like sunset orange, golds and pink.
I used these Original Balms by Dr. PawPaw for a shiny look on the skin. This one is tinted with red, and then the others are clear, so you can use it as a balm to finish the skin or just to add glow.

“Then I used these Original Balms by Dr. PawPaw for a shiny look on the skin.

This one is tinted with red, and then the others are clear, so you can use it as a balm to finish the skin or just to add glow.“


_______________

What about the body painting for the Persephone collection?
_______________

That was quite an intense photo shoot, because we had six or eight models that day.
I painted the base first using Kryolan Aqua Colour in White, and then we stuck dried flowers on the body. I created beauty makeup to suit the body art using pastel pink pigments and shimmers. There was glue everywhere, petals everywhere, and makeup everywhere! Everyone was really excited about the shoot and concept – it was one of those intense, creative days leaving you feeling a bit hungover afterwards!

E
M
B
R
A
C
E

I
D
E
A
S

BE CREATIVE

_______________

What’s your favorite IG Beauty account?
_______________

I don’t have one.
For me, I don’t like to look too much at what everyone else is doing because I want to stay focused as much as I can on my own ideas. Nothing is ever completely unique, but I don’t want to be subconsciously influenced by other people’s works, so I prefer to seek my inspiration from somewhere else and then transfer it into a makeup. So maybe, instead of following makeup artists I would follow a photographer that I like or an artistic account. I quite like surrealism. Or even just colors and textures or things in nature.

_______________

What skincare do you use for yourself?
_______________

This roller balls by Tisserano are like aromatherapy, because sometimes you just need this to calm down, or this is for energy for when you’re really tired. It’s just an orange smell, and it really wakes me up. It’s kind of a coping mechanism for life: de-stress, energy, and head clear.
And this is a Stress Relief spray that you spray it in your mouth, from Weleda.

This is my favorite lipstick, the one I’m wearing now, it’s the Eberlin Liquid Lipstick in Red and then a touch of L’Oréal Matte Lip Paint on top. 

_______________

You are trying a lot of independent brands, so what are some brands that, for you, are making the difference and stood out for you?
_______________

My current favourite brushes are by Spectrum Collections – they are a cruelty free brand and have a great range of brush sizes and shapes. They’re super soft too!

“My current favorite brushes are by Spectrum Collections.”

_______________

Have you ever considered to create your own makeup line?
_______________

I’ve thought about it in the past yes – I know exactly what I would do and how to make it work…but it’s not in my interests to do it and I think there are already so many incredible brands out there, we don’t really need another one!

_______________

What’s the work you’re most proud of and which one was the most fun?
_______________

My favorite work is this glittery body paint look, I love the different tones and textures you can get when glitters reacts with light and the way it enhances the shape of the body. I love finding the balance between the natural beauty of a model and creative makeup.

_______________

And what’s your favorite Cinema-Look?
_______________

I like the alien characters in “Valerian.” They seem to have translucent skin with sparkles underneath. I found that quite inspiring for a modern film.

_______________

What’s beauty for you?
_______________

Beauty for me changes all the time. So, I have my classic look that I also wear day to day, and I still think that you adapt that to your mood or even how much time you have, it is very personal. So, sometimes I just wake up and go I don’t wear any makeup, and I’m ok with it. And sometimes I don’t want to spend time on my makeup; it depends on what I’m doing, how am I feeling. 


It’s very flexible, and it just has to fit in around your life.

“Beauty for me changes all the time.”

_______________

Do you have a dream project?
_______________
 

I think I did a lot of the things I dreamed of when I started out.
I’ve done most of them now. But then again, I don’t think that my dreams are too big or unrealistic.
 In terms of actual looks I want to do, I’m just open to the genuinely interesting things and which way it goes. I don’t like to set myself in a rigid way, because that may be additional pressure on being something or do something: but maybe it’s not the time yet, and you don’t even have the opportunities.
Because one thing that I really learned in this industry is that it really depends on who’s around you, who sees you: even if you’re the best creative person in the world, if no one knows who you are, or you don’t have the opportunity to be seen, all those dreams may never even happen.

So, I am just opened to the journey.

Photo Credits by Johnny Carrano

Thanks to Franklin Hotel London