The West Londoner is taking the beauty world by storm with her extraordinary artistic approach to make-up
The Dazed Beauty Community is our ever-expanding encyclopaedia of creatives and emerging talent from across the world who are redefining the way we think about beauty. From supermodels to digital artists to makeup prodigies transforming themselves in their bedrooms, these are the beauty influencers of tomorrow who embody everything Dazed Beauty is about. Discover them here.
Ana Takahashi is the 19-year-old MUA exploding and expanding the very canon of make-up with her intricate artwork. “I do what I do because I want to try and push the artistic boundaries of make-up and eliminate the do’s and dont’s of beauty,” she says. And push she does. Taking inspiration from things as diverse as Venice canal water, Romeo + Juliet, Mount Fuji, the Met Gala, and an A/W16 Alexander McQueen dress, her looks are a wonderful mess of three-dimensional trickery, floral face paint, dripping pearls and shell eyepatches.
But, these fantastical looks are not just limited to the gram. Takahashi is a fully-fledged freelance make-up artist, working for clients like as Nylon, Rich Fashion, Ghospell. “I never thought people would actually appreciate my work, let alone employ me to create more of it.”
Describe your beauty aesthetic in three words.
60s glam with a hint of modern Renaissance.
What does beauty mean to you?
Being authentic and unapologetically yourself.
What inspires your looks?
Nature inspires me the most - it’s where I find the best colour combinations and textures which are endlessly pleasing to look at.
Tomorrow you wake up with another face of your choice. Whose is it and why?
Jane Birkin because those feline eyes are so dreamy.
You’ve had an accident which causes you to lose your sense of smell. The doctors can’t return it fully but can give you the ability to smell one scent. What do you pick and why?
To smell makeup. I change the products which I use all the time, so different products remind me of different stages of my life. I get very nostalgic when I go back to using old products.
You have to replace your body with that of an animal or a mythological creature. What do you go for and why?
Definitely, a mermaid because since I’m obsessed with pearls and I could get real ones for free.
You have to donate a feature of your body to an icon of yours. You get nothing in return. What feature do you give and why?
I’d probably give my nose so that I could have a blank canvas for makeup, Voldemort-style.
It's 30 years from now. You stumble home at 3 am and catch your reflection in the fridge door. What do you look like?
A glam robot.
If you could have a new sense on top of your existing ones, what would it be?
Being able to read people’s minds so I could tell if my employers actually like my make-up or not.