((PKG)) HOLLYWOOD HAIR STYLIST
((Banner: Hollywood Hair))
((VOA Uzbek))
((Reporter/Camera: Odil Ruzaliev))
((Adapted by: Martin Secrest))
((Map: Los Angeles, California))
((NATS))
How do you like it?
((Shirin Gulyamova, Owner, Shirin Nova Studio))
I had always dreamed about working with celebrities. My friends from the beauty school would ask me what I wanted to do after school and I said that I wanted to work with celebrities. They would laugh at me. They thought I wasn’t serious. Every time I watched Jennifer Lopez’s music videos on television when I was in Uzbekistan, I would tell myself that one day I would work with her.
((NATS))
((Shirin Gulyamova, Owner, Shirin Nova Studio))
I specifically looked for a Paul Mitchell beauty school because I knew it was prestigious and if I went there, I would get a good job. I found one in Los Angeles and applied same day.
((NATS))
((Shirin Gulyamova, Owner, Shirin Nova Studio))
During my work as an assistant to (celebrity makeup artists) Scott Barnes and Frank Galasso, they would always tell others about my experience. They thought my life had a motivational power. They would always describe me to actresses as someone who came from Uzbekistan, endured all the hardships, and is very hard working.
((Photos Jennifer Lopez / Courtesy: AP))
((Shirin Gulyamova, Owner, Shirin Nova Studio))
One time, we were working with Jennifer Lopez, and they told her about me. She turned her head towards me and said, “Wow!” and gave me a high five.
((NATS))
((Shirin Gulyamova, Owner, Shirin Nova Studio))
Actresses play different people in different movies and we fall in love with them for their characters.
((Photo Catherine Zeta Jones / Courtesy: AP))
((Shirin Gulyamova, Owner, Shirin Nova Studio))
Most of all, I enjoyed working with Catherine Zeta Jones. She was a real Hollywood actress with the way she dressed, the way she spoke, the way she looked after herself. I was so impressed that I told myself that when I grow older, I will be a woman like her. I used to live near an airport in Uzbekistan.
((Photo Courtesy: Shirin Gulyamova))
((Shirin Gulyamova, Owner, Shirin Nova Studio))
From my balcony, I could see planes take off and land everyday. I was hoping to fly away one day. Everyday when I wake up, I still can’t believe that I live in California, in Hollywood, that I met so many people. It still is hard to believe this.
((NATS))