Meet the horror-movie obsessive who now earns thousands every month sharing her creepy make-up techniques from her home in the UK.
Natasha Jane Wood used to “sneak downstairs” and watch her favorite gory blockbusters when she was a young girl.
“It probably sounds crazy but I used to fall asleep watching ’28 Days Later,’ which is a zombie movie,” said the the 28-year-old. “I just found it so soothing.”
Inspired by Hollywood icons Tim Burton and Stephen King, Natasha had studied special effects makeup at Bolton University in 2019—but the pandemic provided the perfect chance to try new techniques, when she was furloughed from her job at a jewelry store.
Honing her skills from her childhood bedroom in Darwen, Lancashire, Natasha found online fame after uploading her sinister looks to TikTok. She has since amassed over six million followers on social media and made her passion a full-time career.
“It all just kicked off in 2020 when I did my ‘Disney Princesses Gone Wrong’ series on TikTok. A video I did transforming myself into Jim Carrey’s ‘The Mask’ has over 100 million views on YouTube.
“My little brother and sister thought it was a bit cringe at first, but now I have the same amount of YouTube subscribers as some of their favorite content creators.”
The Disney Princess series included Snow White, Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, and Belle.
“They were inspired by the Grimm Brothers, who did the original versions of the stories,” she told Southwest News Service. “With Beauty and the Beast for example, I did one where she actually got scratched by the beast, so it turned quite gory.
“With Disney, it’s all happily ever after, but you don’t really see what would happen if it went wrong.
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When TikTok began cracking down on gore (even fake gore) she turned herself into an unfinished Mona Lisa painting.
In 2022, Natasha launched her YouTube channel and collected three million subscribers—and realized she could earn a good living.
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“A manager reached out to me in April 2021 and from there I even had advertisements coming in from makeup companies like Tatti Lashes and Natasha Denona.
“But it’s nice to have a community of people, and especially since I talk about mental health and portray it with my looks.
“I did a series called ‘Makeup Inspired By Emotions’ and did one themed on anxiety. Since those videos I’ve had people reach out and say, ‘this is exactly how I feel’, and can relate to it.
“It does show we’re all going through the same things. Because my own mental health is up and down it makes me feel like I have a purpose.”
“I feel very privileged with the money I have to give back to charities too.
“I’ve even been able to buy my grandparents a holiday to Cornwall in June 2023.
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Her advice to others is simple: “We’ve got one life, so go for it. It’s better to try and not live with what-ifs.”
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