Lara Violetta, the viral editor disrupting Parisian beauty

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Lara Violetta has perfected the art of making a statement with her make-up using the smallest of touches. She is adding metallic blue lipstick to an otherwise bare face, and putting coral eyeshadow only underneath her eyes and then bringing it up over her bleached brows, in a technique she calls “reverse eyeshadow”. She is applying her iridescent pink eyeshadow across the bridge of her nose. Always remaining elegant and impossibly chic, Violetta still manages to break all the rules of make-up and let her creativity have full reign. “I hope to communicate a sense of freedom through my work,” she says.

Currently based in Paris, Violetta was born and raised in the forests of Bavaria. “I grew up in the countryside, close to Munich,” she says. “Our house was in a forest, it was quite lonely.” It was this remoteness, however, that both necessitated and allowed space for her imagination and creativity to flourish uninfluenced. “Looking back, it pushed me to start thinking creatively and to come up with solutions to fight my boredom,” she says. “Later I moved to Berlin to study. After my Masters, I moved to Paris.”

Since moving to Paris in 2020, Violetta’s online presence has grown – with almost 300,000 followers across her Instagram and TikTok accounts. Online she posts make-up tutorials, taking her followers through the step-by-step process of creating her unique looks. Glossy lids, metallic deep blue shadows and bold lips contrast her icy white hair and bleached brows, creating otherworldly, alternative beauty looks. 

Last year, she founded Violet Papers, a print publication analysing digital culture through the lens of fashion. The first issue, ‘What’s Inside’ unpacked ideas around oversharing on the internet, parasocial relationships and the way we let people into our inner worlds. Contributors included the likes of Carlijn Jacobs, Kiko Kostadinov’s Laura and Deanna Fanning, Jamie Maree-Shipton, D’Heygere, MOMU Antwerp, and Isamaya Beauty.

Below Violetta talks to us about her career, what beauty means to her and her current beauty obsessions.

What is it you do and why do you do it?

Lara Violetta: I create content on social media and just launched my print magazine ‘Violet Papers’. I do it because I love to share what I love and believe in. My job also gave me independence, access and freedom. So I feel very lucky. 

How did you get into it?

Lara Violetta: I started to overshare online.

What’s your earliest beauty-related memory?

Lara Violetta: When I finally got the chance to wear mascara for the first time. I was dressed up as a princess cat at age five. 

What’s been your career highlight so far?

Lara Violetta: Launching my own magazine!

Describe your beauty aesthetic in three words.

Lara Violetta: It’s always changing.

Which fictional character do you most relate to?

Lara Violetta: Alice in Wonderland because I’m quite dreamy as well. I’d also follow a white rabbit at any given time.

Who is your beauty icon?

Lara Violetta: My beauty icon is Inge Grognard. She sets strong statements but they always look effortless and so well balanced.

What is your current obsession?

Lara Violetta: Deep colours: blue, forest green and purple.

What does beauty mean to you?

Lara Violetta: Feeling yourself, but a bit better. 

When do you feel most beautiful?

Lara Violetta: After the hairdresser! Freshly bleached & toned. 

Are you optimistic about the future?

Lara Violetta: Yes, we have to be. 

What is the future of beauty?

Lara Violetta: If I dream about products, how fab would more textures be? Imagine not only having colour palettes, but a palette of different textures to apply on top of colours (like a layer of velvet, for example).

Tomorrow you wake up with another face of your choice. Whose is it and why?

Lara Violetta: Oh this question freaks me out, to be honest. I’d like to keep mine. 

You’re the editor of a time-travelling beauty journal 100 years from now. What beauty trends are you reporting on?

Lara Violetta: Maybe wrinkles? After fillers and tweakments being popular now, I could imagine the future seeking naturally aged skin. 

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?

Lara Violetta: Sardinia, Italy.