Meet Kate Kats

Today we’d like to introduce you to Kate Kats.

Kate, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
I am doing makeup with more than 12 years. Makeup was a hobby while I was a student. Creating makeup looks, participating in different championships in Russia was my passion. I loved to create special overwhelming looks and always loved to create something special for the stage and models. I reached the TOP-10 Russian makeup artists in 2009 according to the international organization OMC. A few years later, in 2013, I placed in the TOP-10 best makeup artists and body painters from all over the world (according to WBA). Since 2010 I have worked in Grand Opera (Bordeaux) with a team, assembled by Annie Bardon Lay, top-makeup artist in France.

After my graduation (I graduated Academy of Сivil Services) I already had been best makeup artist in Russia, but I didn’t have special education for that. I decided to get through makeup education. So my second education became makeup artistry.

After I placed the top 10 best makeup artists in Austria during world body painting festival, I wanted to go to New York and to learn the industry from inside.

It was hard. It is really hard to get through a lot of jumps and downs in the industry. Never know what will happen tomorrow and what kind of people you will meet.

I have a lot of stories how I started to work as makeup artist in the other side of the world. But my life was changed when I met Anastasia Soare in Los Angeles in 2014. I was a beauty editor in one of Russian fashion magazine and I met Anastasia for my interview. My article was the first article in Russia about brows! How important they are for every single woman for every single person. After that, I understood that my vision of beauty is on the right way and I feel same. Anastasia is a very strong Romanian woman, she is self-made successful lady with amazing brand and so inspiring. That year was really special. That year was about “Selfie pictures”. We did with Anastasia our first selfie on IPAD. I did so many interesting projects during this year, I met so many beautiful people who was my inspiration and they asked me to come to USA to work with them.

But in 2013 it was difficult to change my life because I already opened my first beautiful makeup studio with my team in Russia and I couldn’t close my small business when I had just opened it and I married in 2014 🙂

In 2016, I opened a small makeup school in Russia and still tried to study in USA and do projects with Russian production in LA and in New York.

Well only in 2017, I found that I could do extraordinary visa to have this amazing chance to start to work in USA. And the first city that opened doors for my art was New York.

In 2018, I decided to be focused and to spend more time in USA than in Russia.

Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
Well, I can’t say that I have struggles and I can’t say that I had a smooth way 🙂 Life is really interesting and you never know what kind of wave you will catch. It can be a big wave or small but anyway you must love it and enjoy it. It is like surfing 🙂

You never know when the board will hit you in the head, but when it hit you, you need to swim out and lie down on the board because it can hold you. I want to say that I had a good teachers in my life who helped me, who believed in me and it is really important to believe in yourself and in your art.

I never had an eagle under my head. I hate people who had it…such a divas and stars. I think smart people – they are smart stars and they are humans first of all. So even if I have been a key makeup artist in a big shows, I am a team player and I love work in a team. I am very flexible and can do different types of projects. I just enjoy to be who I am.

Alright – so let’s talk business. What else should we know about you and your career so far?
My company is Make My Day studio. The company is a beauty company. We are creating the day. The perfect, amazing everyday. Makeup artists – are not just artists, they are best friends, they are therapists, they are family members, they are keeping secrets and they could be better than doctors.

I have a story. Before I started my company, I tried to choose the best name which is really shows my artistry vision. I had a lot of options. One of the options was Make My Day. One day one of my customers came to a place where I worked (I rented a chair on one of the beauty salons). She had a headache, she had a really bad mood. She told me that she had appointment with therapist, she got so much headache and she didn’t know what to do. Well. While she was telling me that I did brow cleaning for her. And I decided to do a makeup for her. We talked a lot. By the way, I love my customers, I really think that all women are beautiful, just all. And if you can use a makeup on the right way, all women will shine like a diamond. So, I didn’t ask her permission, I just wanted to make her happy and I did a makeup for free. After that, she told me that I made her day. She forgot about her headache at all, she felt so beautiful and so special and she told me that she didn’t know why she spent so much money for the therapist, her headache went away after makeup and after our easy talk.

Well, after that I decided to name my studio MakeMyDay 🙂 And in 2018, I opened it in New York and in the 2020 I came back to LA.

I am specializing on creating beauty. Makeup for everyday, Makeup for special events, Red Carpet, Production projects, Fashion, Beauty and Wedding. E-Commerce, Commercial as well.

If you had to go back in time and start over, would you have done anything differently?
Nothing 🙂 Everything was on the right time.

Pricing:

• Start from 200$ makeup

Contact Info:

• Website: katekats.com
• Email: kate@katekats.com
• Instagram: katekats.com
• Facebook: kate kats

Image Credit:
Photographer: Igor Oussenko, Alex Musin

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