Today we’d like to introduce you to Karina Pita.
Karina, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
At 3 years old I discovered my love for all things beauty when I snuck into my grandmothers room and ran out a few moments later wearing all her makeup – yes I mean ALL her makeup on my face all at once. The fact I was wearing her high heels and scarf were a dead giveaway of my mischief. Since then my creative side was nurtured. I am a natural born artist, I’ve always had an affinity for drawing, painting, and creating. Growing up I dedicated a lot of my time to drawing and practicing my makeup skills. Being the oldest of 3 sisters I would be the one they would call to when they needed their makeup and hair to be done. I styled many looks for my friends too, the highlight being when I landed my first big gig – doing my best friends hair and makeup for her Luau Themed 15’s. In high school I decided to enroll in a magnet school for the arts. Going to DASH was the best decision I made; it was there where my artistic views developed. In 2005 I modeled on the runway for Miami Fashion Week featuring my own makeup. In college I chose to go a more conservative route and ended up studying business. Truthfully, creating has always been my passion and being my true authentic self is my legacy. Now I work as an Art Teacher – inspiring my students to be unique, and to never fear being who they are. With that I decided to take that advice with the inspiration and support from my husband, family, and my amazing photographer friend to pursue my passion. I decided to work with an amazing group of women styling their photoshoots along with Nicole from Nicole Grace Photography. I found this to be an inspiring and wonderful opportunity to bring a fresh take to the beauty industry. I created the hashtag #thefreshfacerevolution to inspire authenticity and transparency in the beauty industry. I want to challenge beauty standards by showing an unapologetic realistic perspective to all things beauty and fashion in social media. I think this revolution is about using makeup to enhance natural beauty and to show everyone that beauty comes in all shapes and sizes. Beauty is so much more than just skin deep, and I hope that if I do anything at all it is to inspire everyone to love themselves and always be unapologetically genuine.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
For me personally, it has been a struggle. I have always put responsibilities first and sometimes that included putting aside my own dreams and passion. With a 9-5 job it is hard to find the balance and inspiration sometimes but I am ready to put myself out there and bring to fruition my dream of working for myself. Not to mention in a world saturated with beauty filters and photoshop it is difficult to stand out as a minimalist makeup artist and especially one that challenges beauty standards and promotes self acceptance and self love. Perseverance and success are in my nature, I’ve never let these struggles get me to the point of giving up. I am determined to get my message out there and inspire a new generation of amazing people that love every part of themselves.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I am a free lance, self taught makeup artist. In a way what I grew up hearing was my weakness, I’ve made my strength. I’m sure you’ve heard the saying: “A Jack of all trades is a master of none”. I have heard that my entire life, and to be completely honest I was always so bothered by it. I love to learn and that is one of my strengths but many times I was told it was a weakness because I can’t be involved in everything. As an adult I discovered that is a lie, and my personal truth resonates with something else. My makeup looks are a reflection of the person they are on, I love to take the feature they are most self conscious about and focus on its beauty. What a concept to teach someone to love their imperfections through makeup instead of hiding them. My tagline is: fluidity in art because I think my art is fluid across many different mediums, makeup, fashion, drawing, even tattoo design. I love to be able to impart a piece of myself in everything I do. Which is why that phrase I mentioned earlier bothered me so much- it was incomplete, the entire phrase is more aligned to me; “A Jack of all trades is a master of none, but oftentimes better than a master of one”.
So maybe we end on discussing what matters most to you and why?
What matters most to me is being authentic and genuine. I feel that allows people to connect with you in a way that leaves an impact in their life. I want to inspire self love and acceptance of your true genuine self. This is a personal journey and it takes work, you have to make that decision to be authentic and transparent even with yourself everyday. I am still on that journey and what an amazing feeling to have people that support you and provide inspiration to keep going. I want to let everyone like me, that has ever felt like they need to conform, or that they are not good enough, or that have compared themselves to the unrealistic expectations set by society know that they no longer have to hide who they are, we are here to be real not perfect.
Contact Info:
- Email: [email protected]
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/k.artistrymua/
- Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@kartistrymua?lang=en&is_copy_url=1&is_from_webapp=v1
Image Credits
Nicole Grace Photography
