Every person on the planet has a beauty that’s waiting to shine through. With the help of a professional makeup artist, that natural beauty can be enhanced. A good makeup artist knows that their job isn’t to change a clients’ appearance but to highlight what makes them unique.
That’s precisely what professional makeup artist Lena Motinova does with her clients.
Lena is a world-renowned makeup artist.
Based in Moscow, Russia, Lena is a makeup artist who doesn’t think of her transformations as makeovers — rather, she believes she’s bringing out a woman’s inner self through makeup.
She thinks of makeup as a form of self-expression.
“I love to give women a sense of celebration and to see their real emotions,” she told Estée Lauder.
Speaking of the fashion and beauty brand, Lena has been a brand ambassador for Estée Lauder for over 15 years.
She began working with Estée Lauder as a beauty advisor.
Now, she’s an advisor to the beauty advisors, often teaching master classes and tutorials to Estée Lauder’s up and coming makeup artists. She’s a globally recognized artist!
She has a few signature makeup tricks that make her work recognizable.
Lena says that her favorite feature to work on is the brows. She always makes sure her clients have full, well-defined brows that don’t overwhelm their faces.
Her interpretation of the natural makeup trend is all in her color choices.
Lena’s smokey eyes don’t rely on the dark, Kim Kardashian black smoke, but instead use earth-toned colors to create depth and dimension. She keeps the blush to a minimum, too.
She goes light on the contour, too.
There’s no question that Lena contours, but she tries to use gentle, airbrush techniques to create a flawless look. There are no harsh shadows here — just a soft, ethereal glow.
Each makeup look is tailored to her clients’ features.
She doesn’t try to force one trendy look on everyone, but instead interprets those trends and tailors them to her clients’ faces. I mean, check out how perfect her smokey eye is here!
Some of her best work is on women over 40.
This is where Lena truly shines. She doesn’t aim to hide a woman’s age, she embraces it! She uses a lot of light and glossy textures to bring life to the face.
She’s always on top of Russian makeup trends.
The makeup world is moving away from the heavily made-up Instagram looks, which means makeup artists are focusing more on minimal looks with less product.
However, Lena has chosen to keep going with her Hollywood glam signature!
Her lip looks are also incredible.
She excels at building out lips to look full and plump, but definitely stops short of making it too noticeable. There’s no Kylie level overdrawing of the lips here!
Her dramatic looks are a sight to behold, too.
This dark, dramatic smokey eye is one for the books. I love that she did such a sharp edge on the eyeshadow, giving the whole thing an elongated look without the use of cat-eye eyeliner.
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Light is the name of the game.
Lena is a master of highlight. There’s no disco ball highlighter here, just well-blended highlight in all the right places. Excuse me while I mourn makeup’s disco ball era. I really thrived during that time.
She has a crazy ability to bring youthfulness out.
I mean, I feel tired inside and outside, but that doesn’t mean I have to look it, right? Lena is a master of concealer and color-correcting, adding brightness back into the face.
Her skills are seriously incredible.
I love this warm-toned red lip she did! It’s less bold than a bright red lip, but still has just as much impact. It’s all about working with your client’s coloring, not against it.
Her glam looks are SO good.
Sure, Lena does a bold lip well, but I also love the way she uses neutral colors. The more muted lip totally pulls your attention to that gorgeous smokey eye!
Hello, contour!
This contour work is a total chef’s kiss. Look how carved out her cheekbones look! Lena is so great at matching the proper contour color to the person.
Her looks are runway ready.
This is such a MOMENT. The brows, the lips, the emphasis on the beauty mark! I love that she didn’t hide it, since it’s such a unique and beautiful mark.
One more smokey eye for the road.
I love the way Lena does a smokey eye. The eyes never look smaller, and even adding the bottom liner doesn’t close them off. That’s true talent.
She truly is the queen of glamor makeup.
There’s no doubt about it, her clients clearly keep going back to her for her unparalleled skills and love of a true full face of makeup. We have no choice but to stan!
h/t Bored Panda
