Meet Natalie Olivas | Freelance Makeup Artist

We had the good fortune of connecting with Natalie Olivas and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Natalie, how has your perspective on work-life balance evolved over time?
This is something that became recently hard for me. When it comes to creating I don’t have a work life balance, my work is my life and I let it consume me. I recently had a my first daughter at the end of 2022 and that changed everything for me. I had to learn to separate it, I could no longer sit at my desk for hours losing myself I had a whole other life to care for so it was very challenging trying to make time for both. At first I don’t think I really touched my makeup until she was around 3/4 months old. She’s almost 8 months now and i’m still struggling to find that balance, it still feels like a hobby sometimes not being able to fully jump back in.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
I love editorial makeup and fashion so much, I can find inspiration for a look in anything. Ever since i started doing makeup my end game has been to be there at fashion week . My makeup story starts with a two black eyes and a broken nose after getting nailed in the face with a softball, if that didn’t happen i probably would’ve never started wearing makeup. I wanted to go to beauty school and my high school offered it instead of regular classes but my parents wouldn’t allow it because it’s not a practical career choice in their eyes and because i did not want to attend university i wasn’t welcomed. So the first 5 years of my journey was teaching myself everything i could through youtube and literally hanging out with the MAC counter girls while trying to save to finally go to school while trying to maintain bills and rent. In november of 2021 i was finally at a place where i could put myself through school and things were looking up, that is until a week into school my personal life came crashing down and i didn’t even have a place to stay let alone paying for school. Then the most magical december of my life happened and I met someone who finally acknowledged that this is what i should be doing with my life and i’m not wasting my time. at this point in my life if i was taking makeup clients it was for free and for practice even though i had years of experience and should have been charging. He bought me all new professional makeup, was helping me with my branding, and even made me raise my own prices before launching my brand. I had never had someone believe in me like this so unconditionally and knew just like me that this is what i’m meant to do. He helped me becomes so so confident that nothing is holding me back now, and that’s what was holding me back a lot is self doubt. I use to get so anxiety ridden about the fact that a client might hate my work or i won’t book anyone but it’s all faded away now. I’ve learned so much but my biggest is to ask for help, that’s something i’ve never really been able to do relying purely on myself for so long it’s hard to get out of the mindset that not everyone thinks you’re a burden and there are people who want to see you succeed. I want the world to know my brand is safe space to be yourself, makeup is suppose to make you feel like your best self and that’s different for everyone. whether you’re a literal clown or just need help figuring out how to do simple eye shadow i want you leaving my appointment feeling like you’ve been catered to your specific needs in a judgement free zone where you can look and feel amazing. It brings me pure joy when i show a client themselves in a mirror and they can’t stop looking or wipe their giant smile off their face.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
So I was born in California but moved to washington when I was 6 years old and just came back in May because there is way more opportunity for editorial shoots/jobs. I’ve been exploring since I came back though and one of my favorite things was the shop lava flea market in LA i think they do it once a month but i met so many cool people. Downtown riverside had some fun spots for nightlife but i’m excited to explore more. I’ve been spending a lot of time at Venice beach because my uncles live there and i remember it from when i was little but other than that i’m not super familiar with the area, most of my family who does live here stays in la puente

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I have two people that I attribute my makeup success two, one personal and one I’ve never met in my life. The first would be my boyfriend Chris, he’s the one who bought my makeup kit an pushed me to take my first client. The second person is another makeup artist named Selena Ruiz that i’ve watched for as long as i remember and she’s the reason i take risks with makeup.

Instagram: https://instagram.com/olivasnat_mua?igshid=OGQ5ZDc2ODk2ZA==

Twitter: https://twitter.com/nat_olivas?s=21&t=02dhD_wX0_xfIszL7tg9Ug

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100089688281802&mibextid=LQQJ4d

Other: tik tok: https://www.tiktok.com/@thisissuffering?_t=8e4WyqEF8wM&_r=1