Aga Kankanyan, Makeup Artist Of Sirusho, Janet Jackson, And Samantha Jade
*I’ve been Aga for more than 16 years,” mentioned an interviewee of ArmStar.am half joke and half serious. Aga has become an inseparable “companion of many women and girls today. Makeup artist Aga, Aghavni Kankanyan, has loved doing makeup for her dolls since childhood. “One day I cut my mother’s new dress and sewed a dress for my doll, but of course, she didn’t get angry.” Later, the dream of a child became a main job, and the “dolls” became models.
“At the time, to my delight, the “Atex” fashion house opened where I took painting and modeling lessons in the classroom led by Andrey Milmon. Milmon couldn’t pronounce the name Aghavni, so he named me Aga, and everyone started calling me that way”.
During her studential years, she did makeup for the models of this fashion house. “In those years, there was no makeup profession in Armenia, and I did not trust the makeup of my models to anyone, so I did it myself. During one of the shows Andrey Milmon noticed my talent and offered to cooperate”, Aga recalled.
The talented girl could not remain unnoticed; the job offer did not take long. During those years my hair was quite long; I tied it into a tight ponytail and styled my eyebrows on my own. Everyone was amazed and surprised at how I could get such an eyebrow shape and that is where my career started. Later, I worked in a beauty salon, even though my parents were very much against it,” Aga says.
Although at that time many people were surprised that one may apply to a makeup artist to have eyebrows done, Aga proved the opposite. She has many clients today. “My clients are people who have good taste, style, and individuality”. In addition, Aga has determined prices that are more or less affordable for everyone. “Of course, there are many myths told about the “astrological” prices at my studio, but I have tried to keep them in line with our country”.
The famous makeup artist does not stop learning; she always follows fashion trends.
Aga explained
“There are fashion trends in makeup too, there was a time when thick eyelashes were fashionable, but leading girls didn’t want thick eyelashes, and now they love the natural look of the eyebrows. The natural look of hair that is taken care of. Who walks around with lacquered hair nowadays? And the same is in clothing. Evening dresses used to be luxurious and heavy, but now lighter, quieter style dresses are preferable and so is the makeup,”
She often advises as well: “What is fashionable, doesn’t always suit you. Sometimes you see a girl in a transparent apricot color beautiful bride dress with smoky eyes. She has probably just heard that it is fashionable and decided to do that makeup. Everyone should know that makeup is not a separate element; it should complement your whole look Makeup is presenting facial expression correctly. When you look at Jolie, Lopez, you do not immediately think if the dress is appropriate or not. You just understand how well the image is chosen.”
Aga’s Studio employs image-makers who work on the complete book of a client. “It’s an image studio where they work on both image and everyday care. I will say more, there is no competition among us, as I like to say, all of us have come together to create beauty,”
Ága said.
The famous makeup artist values cooperation between her and Sirusho very much.
“I’m the one who always works with Sirusho. It is a pleasure for me to work with her. I even consider her demandingness to be a quality. Interestingly, many at Eurovision 2008 thought that makeup artist of singers Ani Lorak and Sirusho is the same person, but we were both working in the same style independently.”
She remembered a few important episodes from her trips as well: “When we were in America, during the Sirusho photo shoot, we worked with world-renowned singer Janet Jackson and with Jerry Avenaim, the photographer of many famous celebrities. When he saw my work, he offered to cooperate. I got acquainted with Karen, a very talented hairdresser of Armenian nationality in America, and in those days he invited me to make up singer Samantha Jade,” Aga recalled.
Many famous girls write to famous makeup artists today asking for advice. Aga has posted two videos specifically for them on her YouTube page, where she teaches to do makeup.
