We had the good fortune of connecting with Yamini Swetha Nandakumar and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Yamini Swetha, have you ever found yourself in a spot where you had to decide whether to give up or keep going? How did you make the choice?
I love this question, at times i keep posing this question to myself. Should I give up now? Honestly, this question makes me realise how much efforts I’ve put into what I’m doing now and the growth I’ve had. Sure, things aren’t going great now, but I remind myself that I’m honing my skills for something great. When you are going on a journey to reach the highest point in your life, there’s going to be struggles and self-doubt. Which is a natural thing, but your willingness to push past that to reach your goals will help you to keep going.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
I’m a self taught creative makeup artist and a creator. I predominantly work on my face to create art looks. It’s funny to see that I’m able to call myself as a creative makeup artist/Creator now, while it all began as a process to relieve the pent up stress from my 9-5.

When I started using makeup, I had no clue what makeup was all about.. There was no rule for me, I just created anything that popped in my mind. I just drew my heart out. After a while, I decided to tap into makeup techniques to make my works stand out. And now I’ve come to the point of doing complete transformation looks, it would be better to term it as illusion than transformation. To me, makeup is about camouflaging my features within my art. It should be an illusion to the viewer.
As I mentioned earlier, makeup was never on my scale. I barely knew how to draw a perfect liner. I couldn’t have imagined that I’ll come to a point where I’m able to draw over my lids, which I have to say wasn’t an easy task. Having a 9-5 and having time for a hobby was two things that never go together. I sometimes come home by 10 and still do my makeup at midnight and get ready for work by 7 in the morning. That was the amount of hardwork I put into the growth I’ve had. I created looks almost everyday and that helped me explore new things and to improve myself.
There were different challenges I faced while learning makeup. It was learning it as an artist and to make myself look good. Identifying the techniques to accentuate or suppress my features was quite difficult, as I did not have a model like feature. But I was able to overcome this with a  passion to be a better me.
Back then, I knew I would never be contended with what I was doing. So I brazenly took the steps to come out of my comfort zone. I hope my story would impact atleast one person to follow their gut feeling, leave behind what’s holding them and go explore their interest. Trust me it will open doors you’ll never imagine.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
Being in the heart of the city, I’d first take them to the beach. And after spending our time there, I’d take them out to a restaurant that piques their interest. We solely go by the menu in store, so the choice of food throughout this visit would be selected by them. Next day would be time to explore the ancient civilization through the local museum. Third day would be a time for rejuvenation. We’ll order some food and watch movies or catch up. And the following day, we’ll go for an amusement park. The next day would be a long drive to Mahabalipuram, where they can explore monuments and ancient temples. Followed by a day off, and we’ll finish the trip by a day for shopping.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
I would like to give a shoutout to my family and my friends. When I had no choice but to quit my 9-5 they were the ones who stood by me and gave me mental support and motivation to go ahead with whatever I was going to do.

And after getting into Creating, I got a lot of support from the people I follow and people who follow me. I even made quite a few friends who’d tell me what I’m doing wrong and help me improve. Their insights always help me improve.

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/yana.artistry

Youtube: https://youtube.com/c/YaminiSwethaN

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