We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Dailyn Robaina. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Dailyn below.

Dailyn, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. How did you learn to do what you do? Knowing what you know now, what could you have done to speed up your learning process? What skills do you think were most essential? What obstacles stood in the way of learning more?

I originally started as a self-taught makeup artist. I stumbled into my love of makeup and dove in head first, eager to better myself. For about four years, I taught myself everything from beauty, face painting, and even out of kit applications. I would practice on myself almost every day, evolving my skills with each application. At the time, I wasn’t aware of the many resources I could use to gain my knowledge of makeup, so I often took to YouTube or messed around with products until I taught myself! When I was a junior in high school, I decided I was going to pursue makeup as my career. I enrolled in a makeup school where I studied for almost a year and became a certified makeup artist and licensed esthetician. Three days after graduating, I began working my dream job at Universal Orlando. Here is where I believe I have learned and grown the most in my industry. Being surrounded by so many incredible and experienced artists has pushed me to break out of my comfort zone and learn a ton! Knowing what I know now, I would have looked into professional resources such as the Stan Winston Online Courses to kickstart my career in special effects much earlier than I did. I often refer to credible online resources and books to freshen up on makeup applications or learn a new craft entirely. The two skills that I have found to be most essential are perseverance and patience. It is almost impossible to learn a new skill in a day, and there will be many setbacks and hiccups along the way. I found that as long as I was patient with myself and continued to pursue my craft, I would learn the task with flying colors!

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

My name is Dailyn and I am a professional makeup artist! I started professionally in the industry about three years ago, but I have had a fascination with special effects makeup since I was a child. I began my self-taught journey when I was about fifteen, painting myself almost every day in pursuit of creating beautiful, scary, and fun makeups! After high school, I enrolled in a makeup school and received my certification and licensing in 2021. Just three days after I graduated, I accepted a job to work as a makeup artist at Universal Orlando and I have worked with the company since, creating amazing characters and creatures! I provide a large array of services including beauty, special effects, body painting, film/tv, airbrushing, mask making, and much more! I aim to be a well versed artist that is trained in all aspects of makeup application and design.
One of the main things I want clients to know is how truly passionate I am about my trade. I am always bettering myself and working towards the next step in my field and I want to always provide clients with the best version of myself and my work!

What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?

The most rewarding part about being a makeup artist is seeing your finalized makeup application as a living, breathing character. Days and sometimes even months go into prepping for applications. Conceptualizing a makeup is often times one of my favorite parts of the process. I find myself going back and forth with many different ideas trying determine the best one. After that comes creating costumes, props, teeth, nails, lashes, and even prosthetic pieces for the character to be applied and used on application day. Products may need to be ordered, models need to be contacted and locations need to be picked out all before you can even begin applying the makeup. On application day, hours go into applying and painting to create the finalized vision. Theres no better feeling then when you finish the final touches and get to stand back and admire your hard work.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

Absolutely! This story makes me laugh now but at the time, it was the most stressful day of my life and almost made me quit before I had even started. When I had accepted my job at Universal, I was still living down in South Florida but had plans to move up to Orlando in the coming weeks to work at HHN. While I was in Orlando helping my partner move his belongings into our new apartment, HR called me and asked if I could start work in just two days!! My heart sank, I wasn’t expecting to start working for at least another week! I said yes and immediately left to go home and pack up my belongings and move. I packed my car that night and the next morning I anxiously began the three hour drive to our new apartment and my dream job! At the halfway point of my drive, my car begins to act strange and I end up pulling over on the side of the road. My engine was overheating and I couldn’t finish my drive. I was stranded on the side of the road in the middle of August with all of my belongings in my very hot car – it was AWFUL! I cried and thought this was a sign from something that maybe this job wasn’t for me. Once I regained my composure, I called family and friends and tried to solve the issue rather then just giving up and going home. Hours later my dad was able to switch our cars and that night I was in Orlando, unpacking for a job that I was terrified to start!
After that unplanned hurdle, I still had the terrifying reality of starting my dream job in just one day. I was a nervous wreck and struggled my first few days on the job, almost giving up at some points. I found myself harshly criticizing my work and comparing myself to veteran artists. I felt as if the job wasn’t for me and was incredibly bitter towards myself and my work. Rather than giving up and quitting, I learned from those around me and realized that my hard work was paying off. Over the next few weeks, I found myself growing exponentially as an artist, learning new techniques and pushing myself more then I ever had before. It made me feel silly for almost quitting, but I persevered and was resilient and now despite those initial hurdles,I can’t imagine working anywhere else!

Contact Info:

• Website: https://dailynrobaina.wixsite.com/mysite
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dailynrobaina/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/dailyn.robaina

Image Credits
Last photo (pink/purple skull) Makeup collaboration with Jamie Fazekas