Valentina Li
Courtesy Photo
SHANGHAI — For Valentina Li, a single yet well-placed Instagram direct message made all the difference.
The freelance makeup artist, who had been working steadily in China for the past four years, had already created something of a name for herself here. She had notched a number of prestigious jobs under her belt — like working on a YSL film directed by Wong Kar Wai last year and was a regular with high-profile magazines like Vogue China. But she was yearning for the next big challenge that would help her grow creatively.
So just before Paris Fashion Week last September, she penned a message to Maybelline’s global makeup artist, Erin Parsons, telling her how much she admired her and asked if Parsons could use an extra pair of hands. It was a long shot, but it worked. A day later, Parsons, who typically receives hundreds of Instagram messages a day, replied and invited Li to Paris to work on runway shows with her.
Li packed her bags, booked her own flight and hotels, and traveled to France, where she was thrown into the deep end.
“It was amazing,” Li said, nearly a year later after that experience while sitting at a cafe in Shanghai. “I consider it such a precious working experience. We did Jean Paul Gaultier with 120 models. It was Schiaparelli with water drop makeup. The haute couture shows had six makeup rooms and the biggest models — Karlie Kloss, Gigi and Bella Hadid. We just could not stop, it was [she waves her hand as if she’s holding a brush] for six hours straight.”
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