October 15, 2016

Meet Hollywood Makeup Artist: Melanesia Hunter

Local Stories

Today we’d like to introduce you to Melanesia Hunter.

Melanesia is a self-taught makeup artist with a natural gift for creating and detail. Her love for makeup landed her a job at the MAC counter her senior year of college. The day after Melanesia graduated with a BA in Psychology from Auburn University she moved to Atlanta to “become a makeup artist” and little did she know back then, that she would be DIVINELY guided through a successful makeup career that has led her to travel across the world working with some of the top photographers, glam teams, stylist, art directors,celebrities, artists, musicians, actors, and more.

Melanesia has had experience in Television and Film, Red Carpet Events, Editorial Shoots, Commercials, Retail, Bridal, Male grooming, and Touring.

Over the years her niche’ has led people to call her ‘The Queen of Clean” and “The Brown Skin Expert” due to her personal decision to always ENHANCE what is already there and not TRANSFORM. In a sea of artists in Los Angeles, Melanesia has stood out and become recognized as the go to make up artists for a lot of professional and celebrity women of color. She is steadily creating a lane for herself because of her well-roundedness. Melanesia is able to work with and naturally enhance ANY skin complexion from the fairest of fair to the most beautiful chocolate or ebony brown.

“I got started in the 7th grade …in the bathroom putting cheap white eyeliner and tons of lip gloss on a line of homegirls in there with me lol… but like I always say… It was written…and I’ve been divinely guided…I’m just glad I had the guts to listen and follow…”

Has it been a smooth road?
Has it been smooth sailing??? Of course not… being an entrepreneur… freelancer… or an artist who wants to be paid and survive off of doing what comes natural to them and what they love to do is not easy.

When you are one of those special creatives… things like politics …. money…. who you know… who knows you … bills…. gas… fake it till u make it..social media etc …it’s not what comes first… it’s not WHY you create but YOU HAVE TO DEAL WITH ALL OF THESE THINGS SO YOU HAVE TO FIGURE IT OUT.

I can remember all of my financial struggles… especially when I was back in Atlanta…I can remember people telling me to grow up and get a real job so that I could pay my bills… and I struggled with that because although I knew they had a point and it was valid… I knew with everything in me that my art, vision, and skillets were going to make a way for me and it was going to pay off in the end if I kept fighting for it.

I went through periods of doubting myself because I wasn’t “BEATING” faces…. I used to hear the things other artists would sometimes say about me and my “clean” approach which was nothingness to them I guess lol…. In my defense lol it was still most definitely a “beat” lol… but it was always a well-balanced enhancement and not a complete transformation. I used to think that I couldn’t do make up if I couldn’t do the heavy Atl look that was gaining popularity at that time…So I definitely forced myself to do it just to make sure I could …. and once I realized I could… I got over it. I realized that what I did was special…and a niche that aloooooottttt of people were searching for. Photographers, Clients, Celebs, and everyday women were into what I was doing and my career and life changed because of that.

I also had a fear of teaching makeup or any kind of beauty classes because I was self-taught… and hadn’t taken many classes myself, so I felt like I had no business teaching people…. but over the years I have learned to get over that fear as well. I’ve had other artists help me out throughout the years and they would be floored at how much I naturally taught them and how much valuable information I so freely shared with them. It’s like people get scared to hand you the tools and information to possibly become greater than them so they hold back… not me though… My purpose is great and I know the things that are for me will always come to me.

When you look back, can you point to a period when you wanted to quit or a period that was really frustrating?
Of course… Chasing your dreams and wanting to turn your passion into your career doesn’t necessarily come with benefits, stability, a salary, or anything else that could make your journey way smoother lol. There have been times when I have been financially stressed and would hear from all around me that I needed to grow up and get a “real job” so I could pay my bills. I was told makeup was a hobby and I needed to do x, y, & z. There were times where I compared myself to others because they were making money and I wasn’t, or because they did the whole heavy beat face trend and I was obsessed with natural beauty and “enhancing” not transforming. There were times I got discouraged because I got taken advantage of by other artists. I went through the whole I’m tired of working for free….always hearing there is no budget or the budget is tight…. then watch people pay a stylist or hair artist they really wanted their rates… I got tired of doing mad free shoots and never getting pictures back…. or spending 16 hours on set only to hate the final product bc the team as a whole was not strong. I got tired of hooking people up all the time then when they finally get a budget they use someone else lol. I have gone through feelings that me being such a genuine soul…wanting to do business and create in a certain way just meant that I wasn’t cut out for this industry which can sometimes be catty and cutthroat. My kindness got taken for a weakness a lot….. I said yes too soon many things I wanted to and should have said NO to… so much till it made me not want to do makeup anymore. I would always say I’m more than a makeup artists… I wanna heal people… I wanna change the world… and I can’t do that just out here doing makeup. But I was so wrong…. Me being an empath, a visionary, and an amazing makeup artists turned out to be some of my greatest strengths because it’s natural for me to connect with people and to create. I’m loyal and my clients know it so I’ve established so many beautiful relationships. I have a degree in psychology that sometimes comes in handy lol, and I started developing my Make Up Activist brand. Through that, I empower women in so many different ways and it is the most fulfilling thing ever. My makeup career has connected me with people I am currently shifting culture with through other ideas and platforms I have started. My makeup career now funds all of these ideas. My makeup career led me to my purpose… and for that, I am so glad I did not give up.

Let’s change gears – is there any advice you’d like to give?
Don’t get so caught up trying to fit in or keep up. Envision your own path. Really dig deep to figure out what YOU want and WHY. What’s your mission? What’s your purpose? Why do you want to do whatever it is that you want to do? In a perfect world I would wake up every day and do ____ with ____ and I would make ____ and have the freedom to ___ … ( really complete this sentence and ask yourself questions like this…then do everything in your power to manifest and build around that). It is always better to create the life you want to live. You were not born to pay bills and die. If you create with purpose… you will always prevail.

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