'Human Barbie' Valeria Lukyanova, V Magazine Interview: 'I'm Happy I Seem Unreal'
V Magazine flew Valerie Lukyanova all the way from her home country of Ukraine to New York for an interview and photo shoot, and for the first time the "real-life Barbie" sat with reporters to reveal who is behind the internet sensation that Lukyanova has already become.
"The truth is that Valeria is very much real, as brought to our attention by a Ukrainian contact who prefers to remain anonymous," V noted. "Our source also claimed that the Security Service of Ukraine is having Lukyanova's activities monitored... We brought this viral phenom to New York City, entranced by her unnaturally thin waist, dramatic curves, and trendy, new age sense of style, which often includes pastel spaghetti-strap crop tops, navel piercings, and bindis."
The twenty-one-year-old referred to herself as the "most famous woman of the Russian-speaking Internet" and said she often uses the alias "Amatue," which means sun goddess. She is friends with "Anime Girl" Anastasiya Shpagina who makes similar online beauty tutorials and Lukyanova said she is aware of the "trend" of girls trying to look like real-life living dolls.
"Every good-looking woman with fine features and a slim figure looks like a doll. I won't deny that I play along with people's perceptions. I'm amused by the reactions. I don't take it seriously," she said.
Currently Lukyanova's Youtube account has over 12,000 subscribers and over 16,000 video views. As for her daily routine, she told the magazine the following:
"In the morning I work on my face and I get a massage, then I spend some time on the Internet," she told V magazine. "I meditate and travel in my astral body, and after that I work out at the gym. I go for a walk with my best girlfriend, I get home, and I make dinner for the man I love. Then I spend some more time on the Internet, do some reading and meditating, and go to bed."
Many critics have claimed that girls trying to look like real-life dolls, with Lukyanova being no exception, are unreal; just a sight to see on the computer or a transformation done with the help of plastic and cosmetic surgeons. Her photos online of her looking like a Barbie became so popular that ABC News did an article questioning if she was even real.
"Many are crying foul to her claims of her au natural Mattel-branded looks. Whether she underwent plastic surgery or uses photoshop to carve out that waist remains unclear," the report noted. "It's unclear whether Lukyanova exists at all, or whether it's all a hoax thanks to the world of photo editing."
Even more so, no other publication was able to get a hold of Lukyanova for an interview before V magazine flew her into the States.
However, in the flesh, Lukyanova told V she does not take the criticism to heart.
"Many people say bad things about people who want to perfect themselves," she said. "It's hard work, but they dismiss it as something done by surgeons or computer artists. Some people even spread rumors about me and retouch my pictures to hurt me. But I don't take them seriously... It's what success is like. I'm happy I seem unreal to them, it means I'm doing a good job."
