Artistry of a Beauty Boss

By Remy Haynes

If you were raised by a single mom, you may find certain qualities define you, even in your adult life and shape the choices you make both in your personal and business life. For Beverly Hills hair and makeup artist, Tatiyana Elias, her unstable past fuels everything she touches now. “It’s my mission in life to help people feel safe and happy.” From building her beauty business, to launching her book on positivity and starting a non-profit to help single mother’s, Tatiyana thrives in the chaos of life and sets even bigger goals for her future.

I feel like such a baby, Tatiyana tells me, in everything I do. “I wasn’t given a lot of guidance when it came to business, so I’ve had to learn everything on my own.” The term ‘self-made’ comes to mind. With ten years in the hair and makeup artistry business, Tatiyana has worked with well-established actors, models, style icons, artists, and musicians such as Michael Douglas, Jay Leno, Colleen Heidemann, Johnnie Burn and Mandeep Dhillon, to name a few. Netflix and the CW have trusted her expertise for their show posters and Fruit of Loom hired her and three of her associates for a worldwide ad campaign.
Her superpower is transforming the simple and mundane into something provocative and sexy. Like a painter, when she meets new clients, she observes many things about her blank canvas. “I always ask my clients first what they want to enhance or hide. Then I observe their skin tone and hair and eye color. Sometimes I’m given a photograph of a sample of what the client is going for, what vibe they want to emulate. I must pay attention to a lot of little things to make the look work. A smokey eye is very different from an eye that looks bruised.”

Tatiyana tells me about her magic bag of tricks that is always in tow, that she can pull from when needed. Filled with items like saran wrap, glitter, beads, stickers, netting, iridescent powder, tape, etc. she’s able to pull from this bag when the client wants something different or unique. “One time I was inspired by the textures of bark on a tree on one of my walks, so I came home and tried to recreate it with different shades of cream eyeshadow.” Inspired by the world around her, Tatiyana can feel that spark of inspiration hit while doing the simplest of things. “I’m inspired by life,” she tells me, “Everything around me, and my emotions, even the dark ones. I take a lot of my pain and use it. My work is created by all the energy sources around me.”
These sources of inspiration have culminated in a few signature looks that Tatiyana is known for; shaded lips and skin luminosity. Scrolling through her Instagram you might think her photos are filtered. Nope. That is her artistry at work. She paints flawless faces and lips that dazzle with ten shades of red. The drama she creates using contrast of light and dark is reminiscent of 17th century Dutch painter Rembrandt. “I typically have to mix several different shades to get the tone to match what I want. I like to think of myself as a creative alchemist.”

Being experimental and scrappy comes with the territory of growing up with just one parent. “I’m so passionate about single mother’s getting the help they need that I started a non-profit of my own to help them and their children. All the proceeds from my book and a large chunk of my general income goes back into growing, “Mother’s in Unity.” Feeling lucky to have found success in Hollywood, Tatiyana is eager to give back in big ways. “I do my best work when I remember how many challenges I’ve been through, when I pull from that deeper well of emotion.” Mother’s in Unity is looking for collaborative efforts to grow and can be found at www.mothersinunity.org.

Between her guest appearance on TV show, “Destination LA,” and her regular contribution to online magazines highlighting beauty and skin tips, Tatiyana has also managed to find time to write a book. Focusing on the root chakra, “The Positivity Process,” promises to unlock your potential one affirmation at a time. This first edition focuses on the root chakra, with six other chakras being addressed in up coming books. For those who are unaware of the seven chakras, they are energy centers from the base of your spine to the crown of your head and it is believed that when these energy centers are aligned and open your mind and body can work at its most optimal state.

“I’m a big believer in positive affirmations to align the good energy in the body. It’s how I’ve gotten out of some deep depressions over the years.” This seems like a great segway to talk about creative blocks, because as all of us artists know, they are inevitable. “A creative block is real,” Tatiyana says flatly. “I really want to talk about that. I had a period when I didn’t think I could create anything. Nothing was coming easily to me. People are so afraid to talk about creative blocks, like it’s a weakness or something. Create something beautiful out of the pain. Fall back in love with yourself, your artistry and life. Once you feel okay with your art and stop self-doubting, that’s when it will come back.”

In spending some time with Tatiyana it’s clear she’s made it her life’s mission to beautify, transform and support others in all ways possible. Growing up with instability and scarcity has only fueled the fire inside to build a better life for herself and make a larger positive impact. “Real success is following your gifts and being deeply thankful for everything you achieve.” Add genuine and driven to those unique qualities that only turmoil and strife can create. Like a bright, shimmery diamond, only manifested through very high pressure and extreme temperatures Tatiyana shines. “Tell me I can’t do something, and I will do it twice and take pictures.” I have a feeling this #beautyboss is just getting started.