Meet Nicole González Malavé | Makeup Artist

We had the good fortune of connecting with Nicole González Malavé and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Nicole, what do you attribute your success to?
I would have to say my authenticity.. Everywhere I go, any job I do and even the people I meet receive my best and truest energy. I believe that growing within you’re own beliefs and aspirations can help you focus on your main goal. Pushing myself into a mold to adjust to outside standards will never be an option for me. I do change. I do grow. And I do adjust but to the needs of my clients or to my changing standards. Not to anyone’s expectations or image of me.
Additional factors that i believe should be in every artist’s notebook would be educating yourself constantly and practicing practicing practicing… A lot of practice is never enough when you wanna be the best for yourself.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
Oh, it has definitely not been an easy path.. I first decided to start in makeup when i was in my first year of college (2019) taking Biology; a very crazy turn. In that year I began posting makeup looks for fun on Instagram, started getting attention from it and even my friends insisted on me getting on that makeup career asap.. So i did. I dropped out of regular college and went to makeup school that same year. Ever since I haven’t looked back.
One of my biggest challenges has been staying true to myself… Trying to work or create like other people just to get the jobs is not the best way because you’ll end up shrinking your art to become somebody else’s.. That is not what a MUA should stand for.
A MUA should stand mostly by their creative personality. Anybody can recreate a piece of art but no one but you can translate the story you put on it, and that’s what makes my art special. I create what I feel or what I want someone to feel. I give experiences more than just a service.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
I’m from Puerto Rico and everywhere you go is an amazing experience but i’ll try to give you a brief tour lol First night maybe take it easy because of jet-lag so we’d go to a cute place called Patio de las Flores ( Flower Garden) to get some cute/creative drinks there and catch up.
Another day would be river day in Vega Baja at Cuevas Arenales (is a very pretty cave with a river crossing through it and you can easily swim and admire nature, and after heading to some criollo cuisine restaurant.
The beach and brunch in Aguadilla would be a most to do while in the island.
A chill day walking through the old streets of San Juan and eating some gelato at Annita’s would be the bliss of the week and some night kayaking in the Laguna of Condado.
Some other amazing places here in Puerto Rico are The Yunque forest, the Pine Forest at Cayey for a good hike and wouldn’t be able to finish a list of restaurants to visit but Naguabo does have some great ocean cuisine.
Puerto Rico is a never to regret trip!

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I don’t have every single name that has helped me in my career journey (Intercosmic Productions, Zuleika, Karl Louis, Kiquita, etc…) but if some of the people that have given me even THE SLIGHTEST opportunity to work my art on are reding this, I give my most sincere thank you!! Those people from my beginnings have such a big space and my heart and will never stop to appreciate you for believing in my work when most didn’t.
Because of you I took a step forward in creating and fulfilling my career of a MUA and for that i will never forget you.

Instagram: @artellista

Image Credits
@jtiagovisuals y2k look @k.lfung runway picture @kissdesayuno marilyn monroe style and blue diamonds pictures all on IG