Using beauty as a medium for playful self-expression, Myla AKA Pradaolic’s make-up is breaking norms, boundaries and traditions

Pradaolic beauty looks12
Pradaolic Myla beauty looks
Pradaolic Myla beauty looks
Pradaolic Myla beauty looks
Pradaolic Myla beauty looks
Pradaolic Myla beauty looks
Pradaolic Myla beauty looks

“The best way to describe my style would be The Sims,” says Myla, the 22-year-old make-up artist and beauty creator behind the Instagram account @pradaolic. “I truly wake up every day with the intention of dressing up my avatar (me!) in whatever way I feel like that day.” Sometimes that feeling is an otherworldly fairy with a face full of pearls, other days its Bliss from Powerpuff Girls. Running through every look, however, is their standout bleach brows and cutting-edge editorial-style aesthetic. In a world where you can be anything, they choose to “break norms, boundaries and traditions”.

Now at almost 100,000 followers on Instagram, it’s safe to say that the love and support for Myla’s carefully crafted avatar is gaining momentum – and rightfully so. In a sea of conformity and micro-trends, they stay true to themselves and find joy in using beauty as a medium for playful self-expression. “I portray beauty in my own alternative way, my beauty in my work is meant to evoke the thought ‘Woah you can do that?’ or ‘Woah I didn’t know this was possible on someone who looks like... me,’” they say.

Here Myla chats with Dazed Beauty to pull back the curtain on what inspires them, the reality behind brand inclusivity in 2023 and their take on viral beauty trends like strawberry girl make-up.

I love the bold looks you create. Do people ever comment on them in public?

Myla: Thank you! I do, I get stopped quite a lot by people either complimenting my outfit and/or my make-up, in particular my bleached brows.

How do you handle the comments, and where do you get the confidence to stay true to your style?

Myla: I’m a really smiley person. Whenever anyone compliments me I immediately grin until my eyes disappear. But I’m honestly not too sure, I think my confidence to stay true to my style goes back to me waking up and having the mindset of ‘I get to dress my avatar today, what will I wear’. Like, clothes are just so fun and silly. 

Where do you find your beauty inspiration?

Myla: I find my beauty inspiration within myself as well as my surroundings, my mind is a beautiful chaotic place that’s constantly filled with ideas and I’m truly inspired by everything.

Do you find inspiration in trends (e.g. latte makeup, strawberry girl makeup and blueberry milk nails)?

Myla: Trends don’t really appeal to me as I feel I wouldn’t be very authentic towards myself if my whole identity was fuelled and surrounded by ‘trends’. There have been times in the past when I have participated outside of Instagram with trendy make-up looks and whenever I did them it just felt ingenuine to me as if I was putting on a front.

Although I do think trends like ‘strawberry girl make-up’ are fun! It seems as though most make-up trends these days are recycled with just a new name slapped over it. ‘Strawberry make-up’ is something that Black and Latina women have been rocking for years and people fail to of course give credit, and instead name it something completely different.

Is “beauty” (whatever that word means to you) something you try to capture in your work or something that you reject?

Myla: Beauty is definitely something I try to capture in my work naturally. I say this because with each creation comes a different emotional and mental state, and I try my best to capture the beauty of all that in each piece of work I put out. I portray beauty in my own alternative way, my beauty in my work is meant to evoke the thought ‘Woah you can do that?’ or ‘Woah I didn’t know this was possible on someone who looks like..me’. My beauty breaks norms, boundaries and traditions.

How do you select the brands you want to work with?

Myla: I first check by seeing how inclusive they have been over the years and if they actively support any communities such as the LGBTQIA+ community. I also make sure that their views are aligned with mine and of course, if I’m working with a brand that isn’t really inclusive I make sure to direct them to not only myself but put forward in particular other Black queer creators/Black creators that they can also work with in order to expand on their inclusivity.

Do you find that beauty brands have been more or less inclusive in 2023?

Myla: Way less inclusive, especially if we’re talking in terms of who is being selected on the ‘influencer’ side of activations. Brands have resorted back to using the same old mediocre white faces, which very much confirms how performative brands were in 2020. It seemed as though everyone back then was dying to be super ‘inclusive’ and seen as the most ‘woke’ brand, and if they weren’t they were put on blast (rightfully so). But now seeing as the BLM movement dialled down, everyone is back to their usual regime and just not seeing the need to include Black creators in activations anymore, to the point of it being literal crickets from brands, especially during the past Black history months.

You’ve done the nose corset look a few times (including recently on Dami Hope for GUAP GALA). Where did your inspiration for the nose corset come from and how can readers recreate it?

Myla: I absolutely ADORE creating things on my nose, I like to call it nose art! That particular look was inspired by Yahiko from Naruto and the fact that I just wanted to accentuate his features and adorn Dami’s nose with jewellery to match his outfit. My mind had a ‘Eureka’ moment as I was on the train home and that’s how I came up with the look and term nose corset! I personally think the nose corset has to be one of my easiest and least complicated creations as the directions are very straightforward!

What does beauty mean to you?

Myla: Beauty to me is exploring endless possibilities with make-up, without limiting yourself to one box.

Are there any smaller creators whose beauty looks you’re fond of?

Myla: All of the small beauty creators that I know of are all HUGE now in the beauty scene, but I would have to say my all-time favourite makeup artists have to be Rasia Flowers and Raoul Alejandre. Their work is insanely beautiful!

What do you think is in store for beauty in 2024? 

Myla: Hopefully more inclusivity on a much larger scale! What I can say for sure is that 2024 in the beauty and fashion industry is very much going to be a Myla takeover!

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