Meet Valeriya Eros | Makeup Artist and Content Creator

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

Hi Valeriya, why did you decide to pursue a creative path?
I think a career in arts is like a magic wand – you don’t choose an artistic career, an artistic career chooses you! Some people know that their path will be in the arts from a young age… That was not the case with me. I grew up in a family of mathematicians – my mom is in finance, my stepdad was in tech, and my grandma was a math teacher. The environment I grew up in was heavily influenced by non artistic careers, which also made my journey going into this path especially interesting. Growing up, my mom was convinced I would grow up to be a lawyer or a doctor, so you can imagine the shock she felt when I went on to become a TikToker. While I always had a passion for the arts, I never planned on making it my full-time job. I had fantasies of becoming an actress, but my concrete plans always laid in the “stable” path. While pursuing that path, I would still draw and experiment with different art mediums. In pursuit of my dream of being an actress, I would spend a lot of time in my school’s theater department where I also learned the basics of special effects makeup. Having the basic knowledge of the craft, I started recording videos of attempting random sfx looks and posting them online. There was a heavy sense of creative freedom I felt once I started posting, that I wasn’t able to get from the “stable” path that I was previously on. To my surprise the videos did really well! As I continued posting, my support and follower count continued to grow. While I was still a college student I could finally afford to quit my day job and focus on social media full-time. To this day, I still have not put my business degree to use, but I like to believe that the knowledge I got from my studies helps me navigate contracts and deals as well as plan out my content strategy from a business perspective. In a world where social media and content creation continues to grow, I notice a lot of overlap between the creative industry and the business world. I think that the world works in mysterious ways and that you will find the place where you belong. Pursue your passion, and the rest will follow.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
I am a makeup artist and content creator specializing in special effects. Imagine makeup inspired by emojis, but now imagine they got run over by a car – that’s me! My original niche primarily laid in horror and the series that got me to where I am now is my “Gone Bad” series where I took popular trends and turned them into nightmares. This ranged from zodiac signs gone bad to video games, emojis, popular brands, and even characters like Peppa Pig, Elmo, and Santa. Despite having a gruesome start to my career (literally), I always valued the community that my audience formed. The amount of people supporting me and each other is truly heartwarming. I do and always have loved seeing people recreating my looks or taking inspiration from them. I never waited to have a “perfect makeup kit” or a single “come to god” moment to pursue what I wanted, the most important part of the start to my journey was simply just doing IT. This just goes to show that make up is for EVERYONE and you don’t need special training or expensive materials to be able to express yourself through art. My growth and journey was smooth sailing until TikTok updated their community guidelines marking my content as “shocking.” My scary videos started getting flagged and to not have my account taken down, I was forced to change my niche. My audience still demanded the scary stuff, so I moved my horror content to Snapchat and turned my TikTok videos more mainstream which unfortunately cost me some profile traffic. Social media platforms continue to change and expand, and if you wanna survive in the industry you gotta do the same. I mean, what am I if not adaptable? I’ve been working on my content and honing my skills every day. I am so incredibly thankful for all the support I get.
I think the biggest lesson I’ve learned is to fall in love with the process. Let me explain:
You know how some people say – “do what you love and you will never work a day in your life”? – that’s a lie. Any hobby turned into your main source of income will ultimately start feeling like work. Obviously, because it’s no longer a hobby, it’s now your job. No matter how amazing your job is, once you have to meet deadlines, pay rent and bills, and constantly keep up with 10 different projects at once, you will get stressed. I don’t wanna generalize, but you know what I mean. I get stressed! And that’s exactly why you have to fall in love with the process 🙂 No matter how low I’ve been mentally, no matter how stressed I’ve been, no matter how much I didn’t wanna get out of bed, I still loved the process. I always sat down at my desk, and hit record and the energy would come naturally. Having an end goal in mind is great, but news flash, you won’t get there if you aren’t willing to work for it. And isn’t working for it just so much more fun, when you enjoy the journey?
It doesn’t matter how much you want something, it’s your actions that will lead you to your dreams. A quote that I often think about is “You don’t get what you want. You get who you are”
And if there is something I want the world to know about my account, is that it is always a safe space! I want everyone to feel comfortable exploring the arts and being able to express themselves freely. We all have our differences but art is universal and I wish we could use the online space to support each other, no matter the background. Trust me, you’ll enjoy what you do so much more if you lift others with you instead of pushing them down. Although it may be easier at times to push each other away, I’ve come to learn that there are so many strengths we can find in our differences. There are enough things going on in the world that are out of our control, why would we add to this chaos? Let’s find joy in the smaller things and let art take its course to heal us.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
I actually have only lived in LA for a year but from what I’ve experienced, here are some of my favorite places to go!

On a nice sunny day go to Abbot Kinney Blvd – it’s a street filled with a bunch of cute shops, bars, and restaurants. Even if you’re not planning on buying anything it’s a beautiful area to be in.
The Butcher’s Daughter is a MUST. It’s a vegetarian restaurant and if you have any dietary restrictions you will find something to eat there. If you go, please get their mushroom calamari. (Keep in mind, I’m not vegetarian or vegan, but I love their meat substitutes more than actual meat. Idk how they do it)
After getting lunch there, you can take a little stroll to Salt and Straw down the street and get some ice cream. They have the craziest flavors that actually taste good. I’m not a big ice cream person, but I will always make an exception for Salt and Straw.
Another store on Abbot Kinney that I suggest visiting is Huset. It has a lot of cute merchandise as well as a display of Swedish candy! I will always pick a pound of candy and munch on it for the rest of the month (if I have the self control to not finish it all in a day).
Abbot Kinney Blvd is ridiculously close to Venice Beach. So after you’re done with your shopping and eating, a short drive will take you to the ocean. You can just chill by the water, go to the Venice Boardwalk, see Muscle Beach, or even make your way down to the Santa Monica Pier. (Which is cute to see for a few minutes but I wouldn’t go there for a whole day)
LA has a lot of amazing food so it’s hard to recommend just one place. But I can say for sure that Korea Town has never let me down. In my opinion K-town also has some of the best nightlife. The crowd tends to be more inviting and open than they are on the West side. If you like clubs, I suggest going to either Locke and Key or Terracotta. (Do go a little early cuz the lines can get looong!)
If you want a more mellow suggestion for nightlife, go to 4100 in Silverlake. It’s a very spacious bar with a bunch of pool tables. It gets busy on the weekends but it is open all days of the week!
For the nature lovers, I suggest going to the Huntington Gardens and Library. It’s a huge garden that’s perfect to walk around, take pictures, or just relax. This place is also isolated from the normal loud city life and noises, so it makes for a nice escape when I get overwhelmed. You do need to get tickets ahead of time though cuz they do sell out.
If you like hikes, you can go to Eaton Falls which is a pretty easy waterfall hike near Pasadena.
If you’re up for the drive you can make your way down to Newport Beach. It’s extremely clean and has a bunch of activities for people of any age. Including kayaking, paddle boarding, and an inflatable water park. All of this is located at Newport Dunes Waterfront Resort (you do not need to book a stay there to use the activities, but you do have to purchase passes, so do that ahead of time!)

Honestly, LA has so many beautiful places and activities that it really depends on your preference. I’m lucky enough to live in a city that has a mixing pot of culture and activities so I’m sure that with a simple google search, you will find a million things to enjoy.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
As a very anxious person who second-guesses everything, I would like to give a shoutout to the book “The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck” by Mark Manson. It made me look at life from a different perspective and helped me care less about a lot of external factors that I do not have control over. It’s brutally honest about the unfairness of life but in a good way if that makes sense. It’s a pretty easy read and if you haven’t read it yet, I highly suggest it!
In my personal life, I would love to highlight my support team of my family and friends. My mom for supporting my dreams and being my #1 fan and my friends for helping me with so much filming and videos that I can’t even count. In an industry where there is so much instability, I’ve learned to love and fully appreciate how important it is to have a good support system; whether that be through reading books, or the people around you.

Website: https://www.tiktok.com/@valeriya.eros

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/valeriya.eros

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100088422110875&mibextid=LQQJ4d

Youtube: https://youtube.com/@valeriyaeros

Other: Snapchat: https://t.snapchat.com/fC7Hcaxr