Valini Dass Hansraj

Written by Niki Stad

I was so excited to meet the lovely Valini of VDH Makeup Artistry & Hairstyling!! Not only was I excited that I get to interview her, I was excited that I had the opportunity to ask her to do my make-up someday too. With the Holiday season in full effect and people shopping all around us, the mall probably wasn’t the best spot…but with a bit of searching we were able to find a nice quite spot to talk.

Valini is a mix of Trinidadian and Guyanese, but she was born and raised right here in Toronto. I remembered her from a few years back when I saw her exotic modeling pictures but since then she has found her way into the role of professional hair stylist and make-up artist. I was quite surprised to see how much she had grown in just a few years and how far she had reached. When I asked her how she did it, she said; “When I stopped modeling I had a sense that I wanted to work behind the camera, and I loved it! It’s a lot of fun to make people look pretty.”

Her transition from modeling to a hair and make-up stylist started with enrollment at Glow Academy…and from there she started taking courses one after another. When she finished she immediately started to put her skills into practice. Whenever there was an opportunity she would work on photo shoots and would experiment with different looks and styles, all the while building up her portfolio and getting her name out there as a professional make-up and hair stylist.

Through time she has managed to find most of her clients through networking online and offline, and now her name is spread out. Now everyone brings clients to her and that’s not only because of her artistic hands, but because of her personality too. While I was sitting with her I probably burst out laughing ten times. Not only does she prepare peoples appearance for their events and photos, but with her great attitude and playful nature she has this great ability to take the stress out of the moment and build up their confidence. I am sure this is why her clients keep coming back and why she gets so many clients referred to her.
 
So what is her secret? She says; “Doing a persons make up depends on the individual, something that works on one person might not work on a different person. Some people naturally have some exotic looks so I just go with the flow and with the individual. Normally when I go to the shoots, I don’t get a chance to see the models before hand, so I make myself prepared for anything and I decide on the spot.”

Below is just a sample of Valini's work.

Check out her facebook page