L’Oréal Lifestyle: Going Beyond Beauty, Militza Yovanka Lets You into Her World

Despite how much of their lives beauty gurus broadcast to the world—whether through their Instagram feeds or personal blogs—it often feels like you’re only getting to know them on a surface level. After seeing plenty of their selfies, you know exactly which lip colors they look amazing in, but don’t you want to dive a little deeper? If you answered yes, and you’re one of beauty influencer Militza Yovanka’s many followers, you’re in luck. Militza gave us an inside look at her life, going beyond her best beauty tips (although she shared plenty of those too!) and speaking on everything from the importance of self care to how she ended up living in Los Angeles.

On breaking into the beauty industry…

Discussing how she ended up with such a great gig—sharing her beauty expertise with her large following—Yovanka says, “I always had a huge interest in everything that was beauty-related and I always wanted to do it myself.” She continues, “I wanted to learn how to cut and dye my own hair, do a cat eye, or apply lashes. Everyone around me encouraged me to give Instagram and YouTube a try, I guess they were tired of calling me to ask me about makeup and wanted to have videos!”

On advice for anyone looking to do the same…

Beauty gurus are always being asked how someone can follow in their footsteps. Yovanka’s best advice for anyone wondering is as follows: “Make sure to carry a positive message in everything you do because beauty truly goes beyond looks.”

On a typical workday…

You might assume influencers—who are most often self-employed—have no standard workday, but Yovanka proves that theory wrong. In her own words, her schedule typically goes like so, “I like to wake-up pretty early. I check my emails, make sure I’m up to date on anything that needs to be done that day and then I follow the plans I always prepare the night before. I always try to film multiple pieces of content a day.”

On self care Sundays…

Yovanka prepares for a new week by taking care of herself—and her skin. She says, “I usually work on the weekends, but I indulge in a lot of skin care on Sundays.” Of course, self care isn’t reserved for Sundays. She shares, “I also take a few minutes to meditate every morning. It helps me set the right tone for my day.”

On skin care…

Speaking of skin care, Yovanka has a skin care routine worthy of a beauty guru. How fitting! Relatably, she is always changing her skin care routine and trying new skin care products, but certain things stay the same. She’s strict about exfoliating her skin three times a week (with the L’Oréal Paris Pure-Sugar Purify & Unclog Face Scrub), using clay masks at least twice a week, and always using a facial oil as the base for her makeup.

On beauty trends…

If you’ve perused Yovanka’s Instagram grid recently, it will come as no surprise that she’s loving the fact that blinding highlighters are trending. And fittingly, her absolute favorite L’Oréal product is a highlighter. More specifically, the L’Oréal Paris True Match™ Lumi Natural Glotion Glow Enhancer.

On beauty tips…

We promised there would be beauty tips directly from Yovanka—and here they are! Passing on the best tip she’s ever received, she says, “Makeup is amazing but taking care of your skin should be the first step of any beauty routine.”

Another Yovanka-approved tip: using bronzer and blush as eye makeup when you’re in a rush.

She’s also an amazing source of skin care tips, offering up the details on how she changes her skin care routine depending on the season. “During the summer I use a lot of lightweight products and a 50+ SPF,” says Yovanka. As for how she’ll change her regimen for winter, she says, “During winter I like to change my whole beauty routine and add a lot of oils and moisturizing masks.”

On getting inspired…

Since there's a near constant expectation for influencers to release new content, staying inspired is important. Yovanka doesn’t stick to one source for her inspiration, saying, “Since I was a little girl I always loved spending hours reading fashion magazines. Now, thanks to Instagram, there is an infinite number of inspirations right in our hands, which is truly incredible.”

In terms of her beauty looks, Yovanka is also influenced by where she grew up. Yovanka is from Serbia, where she says women are passionate about beauty—something else that has inspired her since an early age.

On life outside of beauty…

Beauty isn’t the only noteworthy aspect of Yovanka’s life. Her hobbies, which include reading and painting, act as additional ways to get inspired. More recently, she reveals, “I started doing yoga with my husband. We are still learning and always end up laughing a lot.”

On moving to France…

Born in Serbia, Yovanka came to France—where she lived until recently—as a child. Speaking on her experience, she says, “Being born and growing up in Serbia in the ‘90s was truly hard. I saw France as a gift.” While leaving her birth country was challenging—both financially and emotionally—she considers it the best thing that ever happened to her and her family. She says, “I was from a village and I know that I would never be able to be who I am today if I wasn’t given this opportunity.”

On French beauty…

Everyone loves the French beauty look and Yovanka is no different. She says, “French style is a huge inspiration for me, I love how French women are naturally chic yet bold.”

On French hot spots…

Planning a trip to France anytime soon? If you are, Yovanka has a suggestion or two to add to your travel itinerary. Firstly, her favorite tea shop in Cannes, Volupté. She gives the shop a rave review, saying, “It’s the cutest little place, they have any tea you can think of and all of their patisseries are delicious!”

On ending up in Los Angeles…

Yovanka currently lives in LA, and she didn’t end up there by chance. She says, “Since I was 12 I always said that one day I would move there.” And she made it happen. Going all the way back to her first blog post, Yovanka posted in English, which resulted in working exclusively with US-based companies. Eventually, that made the move to LA a logical next step. See, dreams do come true!

Feeling inspired? Next, read about how 5 Female Scientists Are Working on Groundbreaking Melanoma Research.