Meet Emmalani Howe | Special Effects Make-Up Artist

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

Hi Emmalani, the decisions we make often shape our story in profound ways. What was one of the most difficult decisions you’ve had to make?
The most difficult decision I’ve ever had to make is trusting that I knew myself enough to do a complete career change after dedicating 10 years of my life to becoming bilingual, living and working in Japan.

Pursuing my life long passion of becoming a special effects makeup artist has been a goal of mine since discovering the television competition series Face-Off. Having a deep passion for make-up I was in awe of all of the artists on the show and their beautiful complex mind blowing creations. I thought to myself, ‘This is like makeup on steroids. I want to do that.’

However, at that time I was studying Japanese in high school and was deciding on colleges and the Japanese language route took precedence. Four years later I graduated from Arizona State University with a BA in Japanese Linguistics and found myself with an amazing opportunity to be an English teacher on the JET Programme to live and teach abroad. After three years of living, working and becoming more affluent in the Japanese language I realized that Japan was merely only a chapter in my life and my true passion was still make up.

Moving back to the United States I was determined and shifted my whole life trajectory to pursue the passion that my 16 year old self was so awe inspired by. After touring different schools in Los Angeles I decided to take classes at Make-Up Designory to further my knowledge and profession in this new career choice and brand new industry.

Since then I have been fortunate enough to work on multiple short films, feature films, web series as well as creative photoshoots and explore my own creativity on my own personal projects as an artist.

I am extremely grateful and appreciative of all this life has to offer and will only be going forward with a thankful mindset and willingness to grow and expand my knowledge as a makeup artist. I have realized from this journey that I am not someone who can live my life with any ‘what ifs’ and I hope to inspire others as well to make that difficult decision because no matter what type of outcome that comes from it you will still learn, grow and discover who you are as a person.

What are some of the most exciting aspects of your job?
As a special effects makeup artist character design has to be one of my favorite and most exciting aspects of my job. Working closely with directors and producers on the appearance and tiny details of a character is something that truly excites me as an artist. For my own personal projects I really enjoy diving deep into a characters background and designing their look based off of their personal and past history.

Getting into other creative outlets such as Dungeons and Dragons has also been an awesome inspiration for myself when it comes to character design. I love seeing all of the different character concepts that this game has to offer. Including all of the beautiful digital art work in these books and online. Getting into digital artwork in itself has been an exciting objective for me as an artist and will be something that I am going to pursue later on in my career as well.

When it comes to doing anything new, especially professionally, it is not easy whatsoever. The first time you do anything new is going to probably be bad. However, it’s the process and the journey that you must fall in love with if you truly want to succeed in anything in life. Having an open and willing to learn mindset is the best way to overcome new challenges. Listening, adjusting and communicating are all vital skills when it comes to growing in any profession. Also picking yourself back up after making a mistake or a few and knowing that it takes time to get really good at anything is one of the most valuable lessons I’ve learned on this journey of mine.

One thing I want the world to know is that you can do it! You can change your life and the universe will hear you and support you in every possible way. You don’t have to be an artist to be creative as there are so many different ways to show creativity in your everyday life. Such as being kind, doing the things you enjoy and putting out good energy into the world.

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?
One of my best friends is from Australia and if she ever came to visit I would take her to my favorite contemporary art museum in LA, the Broad. I love all the different type of art that they have and the best part is that it’s free admission! Definitely would recommend if you have never been there before and have an interest in art.

Star Wars Land and the newer Star Wars ride, Rise of the Resistance at Disneyland is a must see if you have never been and if you are into the Star Wars franchise. The way that the entire ride immerses you into the Star Wars galaxy is incredible. I truly felt like I was on set shooting the movie.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
First and foremost my family deserves all of the recognition in the world. My parents have been very supportive of my passions and has helped me with more than I could have asked for on this new journey of mine.

My cousin Kapono Guerrero who works on location in Hawaii for the industry connected me with one of his makeup artist friend and associate, Mahealani Diego. Mahealani took the time to tell me her story as a makeup artist and is also who introduced me to Make-up Designory and connected me to her friend Matthew Turull in Los Angeles.

After touring different schools in Los Angeles, my now good friend Matthew Turull was the first makeup artist I met in LA who also helped guide me on the different schools in the area and was even kind enough to allow me to assist with some of his work as a professional special makeup effects artist.

I was and am very fortunate enough to surround myself by amazing and kind people who only inspired me and helped guide me in the best way possible.

Other female artists who I truly look up to and have had the honor of meeting and even learning from in person is my SFX 201 instructor Cat Paschen and another very well respected artist Shelby Michael Patton.

Being in makeup school at a later stage in my life was a bit dispiriting knowing that I could of been already so experienced if I started right out of high school. However, when speaking with Cat during and after classes at Make-up Designory about how she pursued makeup after graduating college and the difficulties she experienced at the beginning of her career as well as how far she has come as a professional makeup artist, business owner, and instructor gave me nothing but hope and determination that I could achieve my dreams as well.

As a newer artist in the industry I was elated to be apart of the 2023 Prosthetics Invitational hosted by Shelby Michael Patton. This invitational is also in partnership with one of the biggest prosthetic companies in Los Angeles, RBFX. During this invitational I met and worked with some incredible artists and learned a bit about Shelby herself. Another awe inspiring moment that I had is when I learned that Shelby, a very talented and experienced makeup artist in the industry, also lived and worked in Japan on the same program that I was on, the JET Programme. We shared our similar experiences about working and living abroad in Japan as foreigners and as women.

It was incredibly eye opening to meet someone who shares an identical life path as me and is so successful and happy in what she does for work. Shelby has a beautiful and kind heart and is very supportive of the newer artists in the industry and one day I hope to give back to the younger generations like she does.

I believe that everyone not just artists need this inspiration to keep moving forward and not give up hope in their true passions whatever that may be.

Last but not least, I would love to shout out a few more inspirational women in my life who inspire me to work as hard as I can and never give up no matter what industry you are in.

One of my best and longest friendships I have is with my friend Stephanie Howe. We met because we have the same last name although there is no blood relation as much as we like to joke that there is. Stephanie is the founder of the music and arts entertainment company idgaFNK and is pursuing her passion of bringing transformative events to the music industry in Arizona. I love coming out to Phoenix to see the creative style and new artists that her company brings. Watching her grow and achieving her life long dreams of creating these beautiful experiences is something that I will never get tired of and will always be supporting no matter where life takes me.

Being appreciative and recognizing how strong individuals that you surround yourself with can influence your growth and mindset as a person is something that my very close and good friend Chyna Golden-Smith has shown me as I have watched her grow and be successful in her career as a network engineer. She impresses me day by day with how her professionalism in a male dominated industry doesn’t sway her own personal goals and she continues to be a light for women everywhere by continuing to better herself through any tough situation that may arise throughout her career.

In each industry I have seen so many of these young powerful women succeed and it gives me a great deal of motivation to continue to not just pursue my passions but to strive to be the best and most professional version of myself that I can be.

Thank you to everyone who has touched my life in an awe inspiring way. Know that your kindness and generosity doesn’t go unnoticed and these graces that you have shared will revisit you in your life multiplied.

Website: www.em-mua-lani.com

Instagram: @em.mua.lani

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/emmalani-howe-72b213b3/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/i/flow/login?redirect_after_login=%2Femhowe__

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/emmalani.howe

Image Credits
Photography by: Deverill Weekes and Emmalani Howe