We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Victoria Ray a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Victoria, thanks for joining us today. We’d love to hear about when you first realized that you wanted to pursue a creative path professionally.

When I was in middle school I dreamed of working in a company. I wanted to get up early, get dressed neatly, go to an office to work with my computer until my tasks for the day were completed and then close the computer and be able to stop working until the next day. I mean, basically I imagined myself structured, with fixed schedules, with a marked agenda, routine and being able to finish work at the office and not take home work. It´s funny to think how life turned out to be for me profesionally.

Today my schedule changes constantly, I carry my work with me at all times, I can work anywhere and I don’t need a computer.
It all started when I met my current sister-in-law and she invited me to learn to do my own makeup with her. She is a makeup artist as well. Until then I had used brushes but only on paper. My mother and her sisters are artists too, they paint wonderfully and I felt very comfortable with acrylics and oils. With that class I discovered that there was another canvas to experiment with, a live one. I used to put makeup on and also do my friends and I was really good at ir, but now I had a technique. At that time, my sister Belen, who is the one who follows me up, insisted that I took a course in Professional Hairstyling to complement. Not very convinced with the idea, I told her that I would do it if she came as a model. This course gave me a great work tool and also gave me many moments of enjoyment with my sister.

I started doing hair for family and friends and they recommended me to other people and that’s how I started to occupy myself on weekends with this job. Word of mouth was always the way I made myself known. I did not want to expose myself on social networks. At that time Facebook was being born, it was a great promise, but I was not interested. My work began to “go viral”, more and more people asked me for my services, and, by then, I was only a professional hairdresser, not a makeup artist, but I did makeup anyway because they asked me to because they liked what I had done to their friends. I was still sure that my job was going to be in a company as an employee and not as a beauty entrepreneur.
It was already 2010, I was reaching the middle of my Marketing career, which I enjoyed very much, and I also worked a lot as a professional hairdresser and accompanied the look of my clients with makeup. One day I got up and stared at the ceiling for a long time wondering what to do. Many questions arose: What am I doing? is this what I want? Why do I say it’s a hobby, it may not be anymore, do I enjoy it? Yes, I like it? Yes, is it good for me? Yes, and on top of that it gives me money! That’s it, there’s no turning back. So I signed up for my first professional makeup course to obtain the title and leave the excuses and explanations behind.

That day I made a decision that I do not regret; I started my second career, which today is my main occupation and I also decided to continue my degree in marketing because I knew that nothing is in vain.

Little by little my schedule filled up but clearly not in the way that I imagined it would be when I was a girl. My agenda was renewed and changed day by day, never one day is the same as the other, but always with a genuine gratification of seeing in the other a different light, a before and after that tuning. And that’s so nice that it’s not difficult to work on weekends where people usually rest, the balance is always positive.

I studied makeup to formalize and put a framework for the job I was doing. Since then I have continued, with different trainings and moving through different environments (editorials, models, catwalk, TV and events). I ended up in the field of social events specializing in Brides. I also worked with different Argentinian makeup brands as an ambassador (Revlon, Q-Soft and Mila Marzi) and formed my makeup studio in 2011.

Pablo Picasso used to say: “When inspiration strikes me, let it find me working”. I think that something like this was what I experienced. I am glad I let myself be driven and so today I can look back and confirm that this path as an artist makes me happy.

Victoria, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

My name is Victoria Ray, Argentine nationality and I have been working as a make-up artist for 15 years. I started doing makeup without a formal training, just imitating and being inspired, and after a time in which I began to make myself known in my environment, I studied makeup to formalize and put a framework for the work I was doing. Since then I have continued, with different trainings and moving through different environments (editorials, models, catwalk, TV and events) I ended up in the field of social events specializing in brides. I also worked with different Argentinian makeup brands as an ambassador (Revlon, Q-Soft and Mila Marzi) and formed my makeup studio in 2011 in Argentina that is still running.

“SETS ME APART FROM OTHERS” I am a makeup artist who loves to create and share beauty with others. It fascinates me not only to see the transformation that many times we experience, but also to see how people fall In love with themselves when they see the results. Inner beauty is real beauty, there is no doubt about that, the problem is when you cannot see it yourself, so makeup is a great way to feed that internal beauty. By looking good, pleasing ourselves even if it is on the outside; we begin to smile, we dare to look up and stand out, to accept ourselves, to love ourselves, to shine and do whatever we dream.

Pure Fashion is an organization that works to empower teenage girls by bringing true values to the world of fashion. I was a part of it for 10 years, the last 3 as their director. I grew with it and learned to explote my personal skills in many ways. Focusing on inner beauty for the girls I can confirm that makeup is a great tool to make smiles, and make happier people.

“PROUD”
What I am proud of is that every job, big or small, ends with the same feeling of joy and empowerment. In some way I can be tired but my interior experiences gratitude. I am sure that I take more than what I give. When I work with a bride for her wedding, I experience everything to the fullest; nerves, emotion, I share the happiness they have that day, I vibrate with them and I come back with enhanced energy that invites me to more, I want to make up more people and fill this again.

“PROBLEM” My path as a entrepreneur was very lonely, that is, I trained in different places, with different professionals, I worked on different projects meeting many people but I was always my own boss and beyond that it sounds cool, many times it was uphill for me, maybe my story of success would have been different if I had had a partner, or a manager, or a secretary, or someone who knows me or empowers me or would sometimes tell me which way to go. So I had many moments of facing my prodigious difficulties, seeing the part of the glass half empty, not having a look that complemented me. My weak area is everything that has to do with technology or organization and being methodical. That was and still is not easy for me.

“INDUSTRY/ BUSINESS / PRODUCTS SERVICES ” Starting with the word of mouth and recommendations that were given among acquaintances, my name was taking flight. I exploited my talent wherever it took me, initially it was people who had important events where they wanted to see themselves beautiful, generally weddings. Then I went into magazines, fashion campaigns and editorials, which allowed me to have greater visibility with brands who chose me to work with them as an ambassador and be part of their squad. In this way I developed as a make-up artist and beauty consultant. Brands came to me not only to show their products or test them, but also to give a valuable message that would go deeper into the consumer.

All of this was not only shared through the brands but also in my own makeup and hairstyle studio in Argentina. There I gave various courses: self-makeup, self-hairstyle, professional makeup and hairstyle, makeup and hairstyle improvement for professionals, and all of this courses also online for people of other countries and during COVID. In that space I also gave advice on beauty, eyebrow & eyelash styling and cosmetology. Also bridal makeup and hairstyle tests. My studio was one of my favorite places to be in. There I gave my everything to train professionals who will generate an impact on others and achieve the same or more than me.

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

I am going to say something that might sound contradictory: “Being an artist allows me to have a framework/a limit where I can move and that framework is limitless.” Having this title gives me the freedom to express myself without giving an explanation and without pigeonholing myself. In this way I can constantly reinvent myself. Sometimes it’s about the way I do my or others makeup, others the approach I give to my work, or with the group of people I am linked to. Therefore, not only with makeup, but also with my hobbies and moments of recreation, I allow myself to explore and try activities that are very specific or not so common.

Have you ever had to pivot?

COVID 19 came to shake us up and take us out of our comfort zone. In my story, this pandemic forced me to make a change, and that change was to encourage me to do something I always wanted and hadn’t found the time. I launched my own brand of aromatherapy. I provide a service with makeup, getting close to others sharing a moment of mutual enrichment. So offering a product to my clients with the idea that they can have me in some way in their homes and generating a positive impact in this difficult time was something wonderful! This virus gave me the strength to reinvent myself and exploit my side as an entrepreneur.

Aromatherapy by Vicky Ray hitted it off very well with my regulars and it help me expand to new people. I offered candles and diffusers with fragrances that “transformed environments” (according to my loyal customers who gave me feedback).
It was fun and entertaining and it helped me learn new things on the way when taking care of branding, packaging, shipping and so many things that I had never done before. It was very gratifying to be able to continue developing my way of being and my person in a product that become tangible and had a very noble use such as lighting a candle to generate a special moment, renew energy, awaken the senses with fragrances and make homes or places a more welcoming space.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: @vickyrayestudio