Inna Mushinskaya: about the random choice of profession and participation in championships

Inna is a two-time winner of the World Makeup Championship 2010–2011, since 2012 she has been a judge at the OMC international championships, and was among the top ten makeup artists at the European Championship! We talked to an experienced artist with extensive work experience and the founder of her own makeup school in Moldova and asked her about her choice of profession, the peculiarities of participating in championships, her own business and cosmetic products.

– Inna, where did your passion for the world of beauty begin? As far as I know, you are a lawyer and economist by training.

– In 2002, we had only one or two beauty salons in our region, and these were places for some select people. It so happened that I studied near one of these salons and every day I watched with curiosity the work of the masters through the window, passing by. At that moment, I had no idea that life would lead me to this area.

One day I found an advertisement in the newspaper that this particular salon required an apprentice manicurist. And I decided to try it! The girl I studied with was leaving the country, and the salon was just looking for a master to replace her.

– You were engaged in nail design for about eight years, after which you decided to become a makeup artist. What was driving you at that moment?

– I also got into the field of makeup by accident. We didn’t have any makeup courses as such at that time, but when one of the famous makeup artists came, master classes were organized. A friend took me to model for one of them, but it so happened that in the end Renata Abdulaeva herself did my makeup. After what I saw, the very next day I decided that I would study to become a makeup artist.

– You are a two-time winner of the World Makeup Championship. What do you think benefits makeup artists from participating in such competitions?

– At the time of 2010, championships were the only opportunity to make a name for yourself. Today social networks compete with them. If earlier you had to make all your efforts, spend your nerves, time and money, organize a trip to prepare for the championship, today it’s enough to promote your Instagram page, and you don’t have to have golden hands.

Lately I have been observing a picture that championships have moved aside. But if I had to choose between two makeup artists, one of whom is a successful championship participant, and the other is a popular artist on Instagram, naturally, I would choose the first. Championships are a great experience. All winners have perfect command of the techniques.

I think now there is a boom in social networks, but over time everything will fall into place and non-professionals will drop out. Because clients also develop and at some point begin to outstrip the promoted professionals.

– What is important for masters to consider when preparing for championships, what should they pay attention to?

– 90% of success is the right choice of a coach. You can have a cool idea and opportunity, be gifted from birth, but there are so many nuances and so many subtleties, from entering the building to working on the podium. Only an experienced, knowledgeable coach will tell you all this. For example, each region has its own preferences, and the resulting work turns out completely different. This is especially true for different countries. There are also many secrets on how to do complex work very quickly or how to make less-than-perfect work beautiful.

If you are planning to participate in the championship, do not skimp. Be prepared for material investments - they will be justified. After participating in several championships, you will no longer be afraid of anything, believe me! (Smiles.)

– Which of the looks for the championships would you say is the most difficult?

- I'm not afraid of difficulties. Difficulties are my thing. I just take it and do it. The main thing at the championship is to do everything quickly and technically, to show the maximum of your capabilities at every stage. And you don’t need to jump over your head, then it looks ridiculous. It’s better to do the minimum, but cool, than the maximum, but miss something and not finish it. It is important that the judges get a clean, perfect job at the end. And if you didn’t have time to finish drawing the bird or putting a tick, no one will know about it, these are details.

– You have your own make-up school. How difficult is it to open your own business and what difficulties did you encounter at first?

– At the time when I opened my school, there were no particular difficulties, because the clients themselves brought me to this step. I had already reached that level of skill when girls started asking me to teach them how to do makeup. At first it was difficult, because I taught the courses in the evening after my main job, I was very tired and exhausted. But otherwise there were no problems. I even completed the documents quite quickly.

But I believe that a good teacher does not necessarily need his own school. If you are a great artist and know how to pass on your knowledge to others, you can at least draw on the couch at home. If people come to you, it means everything is fine and it doesn’t matter whether you have your own school or courses.

– How to develop teaching skills?

– I didn’t have a problem with this, because just let me talk. (Laughs.) But I have more than once attended master classes with makeup artists whose work I admire, but they are unable to convey information.

Now there are a lot of different courses that will help you master teaching skills. Of course, it’s great if the master has a full-fledged pedagogical education, but what we have is what we have. (Smiles.)

– How is your school growing and developing now? Are there any innovations?

– Yes, we are constantly introducing and adding something new, implementing some fresh ideas in order to be interesting and not let competitors step on our heels. In our field, even if you stop for one day, you have already missed something and let someone go ahead. Sometimes you get tired of it all, but you always have to be in shape.

Last year we added a course on eyebrow architecture to the general makeup artist course. This worked great, since for a certain amount during one course a person has the opportunity to master two areas.

– What achievements of your students are you most proud of?

– Some students already have their own beauty salons, some take prizes at championships, some work for me. But I am proud of any achievements of the students, because it is so cool when you can be happy for the success of your chicks, especially if they think that you were involved in it. (Laughs.)

– You are such a multifaceted person: a makeup artist, a salon founder, a teacher, and a judge. How do you manage to combine everything?

- I don’t have time at all. (Laughs.) If I managed to do something in one area today, it means I missed something and didn’t have time in another. There is no other way.

– What type of activity do you currently devote more time to and why?

– Now I spend a lot of time working in the salon, or rather, solving organizational issues. I would like to delegate some of the tasks to someone, but I’ve already been convinced a hundred times: no one can do it the way I do.

I want to spend more time on art work to decorate my Instagram and take a little break from commerce.

– What facial types are you most interested in working with? When a person has flaws that need to be hidden, or when a girl has a perfect face?

– Of course, it’s more interesting when there is something to work on and when the result of your work is immediately visible. I love working with non-standard people, even alien ones. They inspire new ideas.

– What guides you when choosing cosmetics for creating makeup? What brands do you like to work with?

– Like every makeup artist at the initial stage, I bought everything in the world. (Laughs.) And now I choose products more based on recommendations, I trust my colleagues and buy what one of them especially liked.

Nowadays there is a huge variety of cosmetics, but at the same time all products are interchangeable. Even if something is not in your range, you can always perform a certain technique using some other means. But clients often pay attention to products: they are interested when you have products that they don’t have. Therefore, I work with completely different cosmetics - budget, luxury, and professional.

– Are you more guided by trends or a girl’s appearance when creating makeup?

– I am more guided by what suits a girl, rather than by trends. Of course, you need to keep your finger on the pulse and not create completely outdated images, but I don’t like to worry too much about fashion.

– How do you deal with negativity if the client doesn’t like something?

– In order not to fight him, you don’t need to let him in. You should never follow the lead of such clients, you should not argue with them and enter into conflict, because makeup artists are service workers. Here the professional’s task is to do what the client wants, but in the way you need, so that the resulting makeup is beautiful and harmonious.

– When you create art works, how do you come up with such unusual images?

- I do not know. Ideas just come to mind, and I implement them. Experience also plays a role. You can create one image, and then figure out how to complement it or how to do it differently, and now completely different works are born.

– Where do you get inspiration from?

– From everywhere: from the weather, music, paintings, decor. Recently, I stopped scrolling through Instagram: individuality disappears in the works of masters, all images can be clearly divided into several subtypes. To avoid becoming a hostage to set standards, I look at social networks less and less.

When choosing a theme, I can start from the model’s appearance: what color scheme will suit her, how to use these shades, what can be done with them. Sometimes I get inspired by some form...

– Which famous makeup artists do you follow and who inspires you?

– Denis Kartashev, Natalia Naida, Olga Tomina – this is for breakfast, lunch and dinner. I live with them, but they don’t know about it. (Laughs.) There is always something to learn and learn from them, they charge you! I also follow the work of my teacher Renata Abdulaeva.

I also observe many American masters: with them everything is not the same as with us. Most often these are some kind of freak images, but they really inspire something crazy.

– How do you like to relax and spend your free time?

– In the morning I go to the gym as if I were going to work and work out regularly with a trainer. In the summer I like to go to the sea. And when I need to reboot, I change the environment and go to training - courses, master classes and other events.

Photo: Martynenko Tatyana

The interview was first published in MAKEUP&YOU Professional magazine