As Bored Panda got in touch with Trendafilka to talk about her passion and career, she shared that it was during her first pregnancy that she took up braiding as a hobby on her own hair, learning mostly from video tutorials and getting tons of inspiration from other hairstyle designers. For Trendafilka, braiding has a calming effect. The artist felt the need for a change in her career, which happened by starting as a freelance hairstylist. During the transition period and throughout the whole creative process, she is mostly grateful to her husband for helping her with the family and supporting her dream.

“I decided to take a brave leap of faith to open new doors in my career. I decided to trust my inner intuition to point my career in a direction that truly honors who I am and I am so glad to have made that difficult decision,” shared Trendafilka.

Although her inspiration comes from various different sources, such as patterns on rugs or even tattoos, she makes sure to add her own twist to it. Despite her limitless fantasy, Trendafilka gets her followers to help her name her new hair styling techniques she comes up with, as you can imagine that she’s had to come up with quite a lot over the years. Her recent achievement was winning the #ONESHOT Hair Awards in 2019 and although it’s hard to choose, the design that got her the award is her favorite one. The artist admitted that she loves everything about hair braiding and enjoys every minute of it. “It brings me joy and fulfillment to do my day-to-day responsibilities which improve my overall happiness. Nothing is difficult when you love what you do. You can only become truly accomplished at something you love.”

The mother of two now has her own studio where she works on models as well as mannequins and also runs a YouTube channel where everyone can learn how to braid more or less complex hair designs—or, well, at least give it a try. She shared that doing your own hair is actually not as easy as it may seem, mostly because you can’t see your the back of your head, so it requires a lot of patience. But a good starting point is actually a side fishtail braid, which is actually easier than doing a simple braid straight down your back. According to her, the key element is in properly prepping the hair and adding smoothing serum or spray before starting the braiding.

The artist added that she loves this art form: “It’s limitless and there are no rules to creating it. It allows me to express myself in so many more ways than words can. It’s also fun, therapeutic and rewarding. I find braiding to be so calming and I am in my own little world once I start braiding my mannequins. Artistic expression is what colors the world.”