Meet Dzhuliia Melnik

We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Dzhuliia Melnik. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Dzhuliia below.

Hi Dzhuliia , so happy to have you with us today and there is so much we want to ask you about. So many of us go through similar pain points throughout our journeys and so hearing about how others developed certain skills or qualities that we are struggling with can be helpful. Along those lines, we’d love to hear from you about how you developed your ability to take risk?

From the very beginning of my career as a makeup artist, my strategy has been rooted in taking risks. It’s not just about financial loss, although that’s part of it, but more about the risk of failure.

My first major risk was starting as a makeup artist without formal education in the field. I worked first and decided to pursue formal training later. Once I got my education, I began to take even bigger risks, treating each new challenge like a game to test how far I would be willing to step out of my comfort zone. I agreed to work on the most complex projects and with celebrities right from the start. I started on a projects like “The Voice” and “ Dancing with the stars “. Was it scary? Absolutely! But the pride I felt when I succeeded gave me immense satisfaction, and I craved more of that adrenaline rush.

At 18, I started working as a makeup artist, and just a week after finishing makeup school, I was already working on a major project and doing makeup for celebrities. A week later, I was offered to showcase my unique techniques in a professional makeup magazine. By 23, I had become the head of the makeup department for a feature film, and in 2016, I won a scholarship to a school I had wanted to attend for years. All of these achievements were made possible through taking risks.

In 2013, when I became passionate about FX makeup and found no schools or materials available in Ukraine, I spent two years self-teaching via YouTube and investing significant money in experiments and materials from Los Angeles. The financial risk was considerable, as the demand for such specialized skills was uncertain. Despite this, I continued because I was deeply passionate about it and wanted to prove that Ukrainian makeup artists could create complex makeups .

I still take risks today by accepting projects that seem nearly impossible within tight deadlines. For example, creating three characters using prosthetic applications and I had just nine days to create the prosthetics . It was for an ASAP Rocky music video ..It was a challenge – not many people would undertake due to the risk of not meeting the deadline and of course it is a responsibility question.
Or working with high-profile clients like Mike Tyson or Katheryn Winnick, which some might find daunting, is an opportunity for me to advance even further in my career.
I love taking a risk! It’s step forward!

Appreciate the insights and wisdom. Before we dig deeper and ask you about the skills that matter and more, maybe you can tell our readers about yourself?

I’m a makeup artist with 15 years of experience, and I love transforming people. I enjoy highlighting beauty with cosmetics just as much as I enjoy making them unrecognizable with special effects makeup. I work in film, where I often need to make actors look beautiful, scary, or dirty, sometimes aging young actors or creating monsters, aliens, and zombies or injury ! I handle all these aspects of makeup.

When people see my work, they often assume I’m booked a year in advance for Halloween makeup. My professional Instagram mainly showcases complex projects and collaborations with stars, which makes people hesitant to reach out for regular beauty makeup. But I love both aspects equally!

I genuinely adore my clients who come to me for beauty makeup and leave feeling happy, confident, and with a spark in their eyes. Sometimes they’re overwhelmed with emotion and even cry, which is one of the highest forms of reward for me.
If humans didn’t need sleep, I would say I’m ready to work 24/7 . What sets me apart is my passion for my craft. Even on my days off, I often dedicate time to self-improvement within my profession, watching lessons from the Stan Winston School and practicing my skills.

I’m a very self-critical person, so I see no point in stopping my skill development.

If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?

1) Being a Self-Taught Artist
I started as a self-taught artist and realized how creatively I think when solving problems. When you’re self-taught and don’t know exactly how to achieve a result, your mind generates a million alternative solutions instead of following a single prescribed method. This doesn’t mean you should ignore the resources available online or in schools. It’s important to maintain a flexible mindset, as it accelerates the problem-solving process.
2) Being Moderately Self-Critical
You should understand that there’s always room for growth and not settle for what you’ve already achieved.
3) Hard Work
You need to love your profession wholeheartedly. You can’t work in a job that doesn’t bring you joy; you should change your field of work until you realize you’re getting paid for your hobby.

As we end our chat, is there a book you can leave people with that’s been meaningful to you and your development?

Masters of Make-up Effects by Howard Berger and Marshall Julius!
On September 18 2022 , I woke up and checked on my Instagram. I sleepily read a message from one of my instagram friends . He’s done something that made me cry from happiness! He asked many legendary Makeup Artists
if they don’t mind to sing this book for Ukrainian girl at the presentation…And they all signed this book specifically for me!

He wanted to send me this book to Ukraine. But I told him that I would be in Los Angeles in two weeks and could pick it up in person!

So, I got it on the same day when I was going to go to the presentation of the book at Monsterpalooza. Emotions went over the edge, I couldn’t hold back tears when I got this book.
It’s funny that after the presentation, I decided to stay at line for an autograph signing by Howard Burger and other makeup artists who was a part of the book even though I already had their autographs!
I wanted to meet these people personally and shake their talented hands!
I approached Howard, he said that he knows who I am! We had a small conversation, but he inspired me a lot. And again, I couldn’t believe that this book would bring me so many positive emotions.
Now I’m already immersed in reading this book..The stories of Makeup Artist so inspired !

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.fxmuartist.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/fxmuartist?igsh=MWQ1ZGUxMzBkMA==