Meet Ashley Hernandez | professional special effects/beauty makeup artist

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

Hi Ashley, what role has risk played in your life or career?
The key factor that got me where I am today was taking risks. I’ve always taken risks since it helps me step beyond of my comfort zone and motivates me to pursue my aspirations and goals. I moved from a small town in south Texas to California in order to pursue my professional aspirations of working as a special effects/beauty makeup artist and attend my dream makeup school. Even though it was a risky move since I would be leaving everything in TX behind, I moved to Los Angeles knowing only one person. The reason behind it was that I wanted to achieve my objectives and goals. Because of the chances I took, I gained so much knowledge along the way, met amazing people, graduated from makeup school, and I am now working hard as a makeup artist in L.A. When you take a risk, you may actually succeed and love it! Of course, you won’t know unless you try.

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 started getting into makeup from a very young age, I grew up watching my mom do her makeup all the time and I was always so amazed by how beautiful she always looked! I even remember thinking how I could ever do that since it looked so hard. I started doing my makeup for fun when I was about 11 with cheap little girl makeup which I absolutely loved. As I grew older I started paying attention to the details of the characters in movies of different genres such as horror, sci-fi, action etc. I started practicing special effects and beauty makeup on anyone who was willing to be my model, thinking how amazing makeup is and the transformations it can make. Then from word of mouth I started to obtain my own clients and started charging for makeup, I could’t believe it! I had too many clients, that I decided to reach out to my favorite beauty salons and they gave me the amazing opportunity of working with them. So then I was a makeup artist at a beauty salon in my hometown, I loved my experience at my job. As time went by, my passion and love for makeup grew more and more so by then I knew I wanted to do makeup as a career professionally, I researched and investigated how I could make that happen. Eventually, I found Makeup Designory, a make-up artistry school, and instantly knew I wanted to attend that school. My dream was being able to attend makeup school in California, and now I can proudly say that with all my effort and a lot of sacrifices I am now a certified makeup artist. This career takes a lot of commitment, however, I have never considered this as a battle for me since it is my passion. I am so motivated and will never give up on my dreams! Ever since graduating MUD and moving to L.A, I have worked in photoshoots, music videos, LA fashion week, halloween horror nights, and Grinchmas at Universal Studios Hollywood as a makeup artist. Recently i got a job at pout by Lipstick Nick who I have always looked up to ever since I got into makeup ,so to now be working with her is such a big accomplishment for me, little Ashley would be freaking out right now! I am where I am today because I pushed myself to be better and better everyday. It isn’t an easy career at all, it is actually really hard but when you actually love what you do, you can surpass and overcome any challenges or obstacles you may run into.

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?
There is no place like California because you can drive up for a few hours and see snow, or you can travel to the beach or mountains— it’s so great! I love California because there are so many things to do constantly. Going to the Lake Hollywood park is so lovely to just relax while reading a book, have a picnic, go through emails and admire the Hollywood sign. I constantly remind myself that dreams do come true because even though I’ve lived in Los Angeles for a little over a year, it still feels like a dream. Driving around California and exploring the city is one of my other favorite things to do because there are so many beautiful things to see and places to eat. We also have Disneyland and Universal Studios, so if anyone feels like exploring a theme park, we could go to either, which is so much fun! So whenever anyone comes to visit me, I take them to explore.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?

Without my family and God, none of this would be possible. I’m incredibly grateful for all of life’s blessings! My parents have always been there for me; they have worked incredibly hard to make sure that my siblings and I are happy and have never stopped us from pursuing our dreams/goals. They never failed to inspire me and supported ever since I first expressed interest in the makeup industry. They challenged me to improve as an artist and taught me to never underestimate myself. I also want to mention that my sister and brother were very influential in shaping who I am as an artist today. They were always supportive of me and happy to be my models for anything I needed and they enjoyed it. I also want to give a huge shoutout to all my mentors and teachers because I learned something from every one of them that has shaped who I am now.

Website: https://ashleykmua22.wixsite.com/ashleykarinamakeup

Instagram: @Glamified_ash