The art of make-up
Even though she graduated from the University of Medicine and Pharmacy and has a background of four years in this domain, Kaya decided to dedicate herself to art: she took singing classes, followed by street-dance classes, and completed her journey in modelling for beauty campaigns which ignited her spark of interest for makeup.
Who are you and why?
My name is Catalina Bonef, also known as Kaya Bonef and I am a makeup artist. Why am I an MUA…an artist? Well, I don’t really know! It’s what I felt was right, maybe this is my main objective: to make women feel beautiful, regardless of their age or colour.
What was it like to transition from model to makeup artist?
Honestly, it was quite easy. I was a beauty model at the Cornelia Popescu Makeup School numerous times and I was simply fascinated by everything, the way she highlighted my features, the harmony between colours, doing certain makeup looks…I simply felt that I wanted to do that too. I asked Cornelia if I could be her student, not necessarily to become a makeup artist, but to do it for myself. I am a woman after all, and I want to know how to do my makeup properly and naturally.
Why is makeup an art to you?
Well picture it this way: is painting an art? Yes. It’s actually the same with makeup. How so? Well for painting we have the painter, right? When it comes to makeup, we have the makeup artist, the person. Along with it comes the necessary elements: for the painter, it’s the canvas, the brushes and the colours. Then, there’s makeup, we have the brushes, our canvas becomes the model, and our colour palettes. We share the same elements and we create the same thing: art. It’s so amazing how you can do a specific type of makeup on different features. For example, smoky eyes, although there is a standard technique for it, it’s going to look different on each model, since it defines the broadness of the makeup.
Some individuals, such as the misogynistic males, are against makeup claiming that it hides the face of a woman. What do you have to say to this?
Makes a face Yeah, I’ve encountered situations like these, I must admit. I DO NOT hide the features, I highlight them. If my model has beautiful lips, I enhance them. If she has beautiful eyes, the same. I try, depending on her features or the theme of the shooting, to go for a natural & fresh look or a darker one.
As for me, I do not take into account what people around me are saying, I wear makeup to enhance my features, not to hide them.
As a photographer, I strongly agree that a good makeup look adds value to a pictorial, and a terrible one might destroy it. How does makeup for a photoshoot differ from one for other various occasions? Indeed, there are some aspects we should keep in mind. A makeup look for a photoshoot is much more elaborate than an everyday look but not more elaborated than a look for a night out or other occasions (such as weddings or baptisms). There are a couple of important aspects, especially the skin. I am sure you’ve encountered a beautiful model with not hydrated enough skin, or a model with dark circles from a night out.
When it comes to photoshoots, It is important for me to teach the model about the importance of hydrating her skin from the inside as well as from the outside (applying creams and other beauty products). Another relevant aspect – lips. I highly recommend exfoliating and hydrating them very well beforehand because no matter how much I try to hide it with lipstick or lip gloss, I know how frustrating and annoying is for you to edit them. Trust me I do! laughs Why not make your life easier? Another important thing worth mentioning is eye redness and in this case, using some eye drops can help it, making them brighter. Something else I stress about is the foundation! I know it can be irritating, sometimes it’s too yellow, and sometimes it’s too red. The foundation must not contain SPF, it should be matte (it’s quite personal), and it can be glowy, it all depends on what you are looking for. Why no SPF? What is wrong with these types of foundations? Well, when the flash comes on it reflects light just like they would do with UV lights. It is better not to use this kind of makeup product to avoid white spots on the face (in the pictures). Moreover, brows should be one shade darker than their natural colour because the studio lights absorb the density of their real colour. Furthermore, it’s all right to use shimmer as long as it is a fine one, otherwise, it will be a real pain in the rear as it makes the face shinier than the body.
As a makeup artist, what’s the coolest thing that happened to you at a photoshoot?
There are quite a few. I don’t know if I could pick just one. I could speak about the experience as a whole. Most of the time I do personal projects, both of mine or the photographer’s, and there have been times when the results were so good that we got published in magazines. I just loved how the team said “Let’s do something for us, for the love of art” and the outcome was unbelievable!
What about the worst thing?
There have been a few. One time, the model removed her upper lip hair right before the photoshoot. I concealed the area well enough to not see it with the naked eye, buuuut grabbed her hands and burst out laughing the camera saw what we did not: the redness underneath.
Another time it happened with a model too. After I did her lips, she went to the bathroom and came back without lipstick on. I told her “Let me do a touch-up for you” and I did. Moments later, she goes to the bathroom and comes back without lipstick again. I asked her if there was something wrong and she said she is not used to having such a defined lip contour. We talked it out and, in the end, we settled for something that we all liked.
Why are photographers nasty? Why are photographers cool?
laughs and points with her finger From experience I could say that some photographers suck because you cannot count on them and they do not know how to communicate. Most of them (at least those that I’ve worked with) are creative. Some even motivated their models to continue with their work and not give up, to get out there and shoot more, to get confident and think “I am beautiful, I gained the confidence that was once lost on the way.” I did not see myself as being feminine enough and few photographers brought it out to light, it’s a really cool feeling.
Allow me to tell you that they were right all along, not you! You are feminine, at least in the picture that I’ve seen you in! Have you ever pulled out a model from her chair and got in front of the camera because she was THAT bad?
It has never happened to me, but I’ve been told by the photographer that he wishes I were the one in front of the camera. laughs
You ask, I answer
Why did you pick me to interview for this project?
The name of the magazine is IMAGINE. In Romanian, it speaks for itself, it’s all about imagery, which includes, photography and videography, painting, sculpting…it can be anything. If someone would ask me “What do you want with this magazine?” I would not answer that it is about photography only, but for visual arts in general, this includes the makeup artist as well.
Why you? Because I admire you quite a lot.
A message to our readers?
Always listen to your intuition and never listen to those saying “You’ll never make it as a makeup artist, or as a photographer, sculptor, painter, etc.” Listen to your intuition! If you believe it is what you want to do, break the mould and follow your dreams! Don’t think it’s impossible! Trust me, everything is possible!
