Makeup is an art for people who love it. English Literature students themselves must be familiar with makeup; they mix and match their outfits with makeup to support their appearance. Makeup that is very popular among English Literature students is daily makeup which looks natural and simple. However, it turns out that there is also a student who does makeup outside of daily makeup, namely makeup art. Helena Nathania Yohani, or often called Hani by her friends, is an English Literature student who likes to make makeup art and makes it a hobby. Even though Hani herself admits that makeup art cannot be used when doing daily activities, she still does it to channel her hobby and love for makeup.
During the interview, Hani explained that when she learned about makeup art, she thought that makeup art was very cool and it was rare for people to do makeup art, especially in Indonesia. According to her, makeup art itself is not very popular among English Literature students. “There may be some people who do makeup art, but it’s not popular yet. Maybe it’s because it’s hard to do makeup art and it can’t be used every day,” said Hani. She also added that students who use makeup art are students who will perform performing arts, such as students who take part in theatre and dance activities. “In Sanata Dharma, those who usually wear makeup art are student organizers, which are Theater and Tutu Club,” she added.
Hani herself started liking makeup since she was little. She knows and loves makeup through her aunt. “When I was little, my aunt really liked to make me up. After a while I got used to it and even liked it,” she said. Hani also said that when she first started makeup, she didn’t do makeup art right away. She first tried regular makeup like daily makeup and started trying western-style makeup with bolder colours. At first, she was also not confident when she first tried makeup, but when she was in middle school she started to dare to show her makeup results. Hani said that her aunt was an inspirational person and also motivated her to always do and experiment with makeup, especially makeup art. “I am very grateful to my aunt because she has always supported my hobby.”
Hani did makeup art for the first time in 2012 and she still didm’t have a concept for her makeup art. However, after trying several times, she finally decided to look for inspiration and the concept of makeup art on google and Pinterest. The results are not very satisfying because you can say she is still beginners, but over time they will improve. Not only from google or Pinterest, Hani also gets inspiration from artists who do makeup art on Instagram. Even Hani said that filters from photo applications such as Snapchat could be an inspiration for her to create makeup art.
To do makeup art, Hani usually uses a small painting brush, makeup brush, beauty blender, face panting, eyeliner, and eyeshadow. “There are not many tools that are used, and they are easy to get at cosmetic stores, stationery shops for painting brushes, and of course online shops,” added Hani. She often buys her tools at online shops, but for paintbrushes, she prefers to buy them at a stationery shop.
Hani also shared a few tips for English Literature friends who want to try makeup art. When you just want to start doing makeup art, the first thing to do is buy face paint, a small painting brush for details, and a makeup brush. “You don’t need to buy an expensive one, just buy one that fits your budget. For those who can’t buy it, you can also use colourful eyeshadow, eyeliner, and eyebrow pencil to make drawing patterns and do the makeup art,” she said. Hani gave several online shop recommendations to buy makeup art equipment, such as ArtpediaShop (water-based face paint), maangeindonesia.id, hicamellia.id which can be found at shopee, and @valltanata a beauty vlogger who sells oil-based face paint and also makeup equipment. Others that can be found on Instagram. Hani also suggests looking for makeup art inspiration on google and Pinterest because there are so many choices of simple makeup art that beginners can try. You can also find information and inspiration for makeup art on Instagram by following a beauty vlogger from Indonesia.
“For friends who have or want to try makeup art, just try it first, keep working, just be confident. If you want to post on social media like Instagram, just post it, you don’t have to care about likes and comments,” said Hani encouraging friends who might be trying to start working on makeup art. Hani also added that we shouldn’t care too much about what people say; do what we really want to do, the most important thing is that we can still channel our hobbies and also the works of makeup art that we have made. According to Hani, the most important thing is that we feel happy and proud of ourselves for the works we have produced.
Journalist: Theresia Paskah Prastiti
Editor: Michael Tan