We all know how a Barbie doll looks, but let's take a closer look at Valeria Lukyanova, the Human Barbie. Born in Moldova, Valeria's heart was set on achieving a certain level of beauty perfection, like Barbie.
Meet Valeria
Valeria Lukyanova was born in 1985 to parents Valery and Irina in Tiraspol, Moldova. At the time, Moldova was part of the Soviet Union, and her parents did everything they could to provide a normal lifestyle.
Her mother worked in the military, and her dad was a construction worker and disc jockey. Everyone was always fixated on Valeria's beauty: gorgeous blonde hair and doll-like eyes. However, no one could have ever predicted how far she would go to maintain her "doll-like" image.
Obssessed With Barbie
Growing up, Valeria had a vast collection of Barbie dolls, which felt pretty ordinary for any young girl that was interested in playing with dolls and pretending to live in Barbie land. Her parents would always catch her playing with them and dressing them up in different outfits. But what made Lukyanova different?
Her interest in Barbie went well past her adolescent years. She was completely mesmerized by the doll's perfect dimensions, airbrushed appearance, and symmetrical body type. At a certain point, she was utterly obsessed. But no one could have predicted that her interest in the doll would soon be responsible for her transformation.
Working Hard
Lukyanova saw her parents struggle, working multiple jobs and doing whatever they could to support her and her sister. Watching their work ethic, Valeria knew early on that she would do anything she could to make sure she could provide for herself and live a fabulous lifestyle.
At 16 years old, she left her family and moved to Odesa, Ukraine. There, she attended the Odesa State Academy of Constructions and Architecture, where she received a degree in architecture. But in 2014, the war in Donbas began, so she decided to move to Moscow where she would pursue her dreams.
Miss Diamond
She was always fascinated with beauty from a young age, and that interest only heightened as she got older. In 2007, Valeria ented the Miss Diamond Crown of the World beauty contest, where she took home first place out of 300 contestants, winning over the judges with those same big eyes and radiating blonde locks.
Although the competition did not forbid plastic surgeries or body modifications, the newly crowned winner was so naturally gorgeous that she hadn't gone there yet. Her win presented her with a whole new career full of photo shoots, interviews with Russian media, and more. However, the stamp of beauty approval from the judges wasn't enough for her.
First Steps to Becoming Barbie
Despite taking home the Miss Diamond Crown, Lukyanova was not fully satisfied with her appearance. She knew she was naturally beautiful, but she craved the idea of having these unnatural Barbie-like features. All Valeria wanted was to transform herself into a real-life Barbie.
After much consideration, Lukyanova began her transformation with a breast augmentation. However, this was just the beginning of a long list of unnatural cosmetic procedures she would undergo. At first, Valeria denied having her breasts done but later admitted to it.
Surgery After Surgery
Lukyanova's breast augmentation was just the beginning. At first, there were smaller, yet noticeable, changes in her appearance. Eventually, she began to look closer and closer to the doll she always wanted to be. She had one plan and one plan only: to become a Barbie.
Plastic surgery experts pointed out that Valeria must have gotten a brow lift, nose job, cheek and neck reduction, and sculpted tummy tuck. They also thought she had liposuction done on her limbs and scooped out her shoulders to achieve this Barbie look. However, Valeria denied ever getting anything done.
International Coverage
After undergoing significant surgeries, Lukyanova was ready to show the world that she had officially become a human Barbie. People worldwide were fascinated with her appearance, for the good and the bad, calling her transformation "almost inhuman beauty."
Lukyanova reached international recognition status when she was featured on Jezebel and then appeared in V magazine spread. The media defined her as a real living Barbie Doll, but soon people would begin to question her life choices, and she had quite a lot to say about it in response.
Her Natural Figure
People quickly noticed how her figure changed, pointing out her tiny waist and extremely symmetrical hourglass body shape. Seeing as though a 19-inch waist is not biologically possible for someone her size, audiences accused Valeria of removing her ribs, but Valeria denied the claims, saying she had no plastic surgery done.
She said people were altering her older bikini pictures to exaggerate her look and make it appear like she had work done. Lukyanova admitted to wearing contact lenses, wearing makeup, and getting her breasts done. Other than that, she credits her transformation all to a controlled diet and workout routine.
Becoming a "Breatharian"
Most models follow strict diet and workout plans, but Lukyanova took hers to unhealthy extremes. In several interviews, she proudly shared that she deprives herself of food, practicing a raw vegetarian and liquid-only diet. She doesn't drink water while she eats and waits a few hours after working out to eat.
Lukyanova even tried the most unnatural dietary plan of all, becoming a "breatharian," meaning she only lives off sunshine and sir. It eventually failed, as spending too much in the sun was bad for her Barbie-toned skin, as she realized she preferred to stay away from the UV rays. However, she does admit she would try it again.
A Day in the Life
So what does a day in the life of Valeria Lukyanova look like? Is she constantly wearing a pink bikini and driving around in a pink beach buggy with a surfboard in the back? Well, kind of. She begins her day with meditation, yoga, and gymnastics, before moving on to blogs, photoshoots, and other Barbie-like activities.
Lukyanova teaches at the International School of Out-of-body Travel, where "instructors show students how to learn their physical body and travel their spiritual body." She goes by the name Amatue and considers herself a spiritual guru.
Astral Traveling
Despite believing that the spiritual body can transcend the physical, Valeria still puts a lot of time, energy (and money) into transforming her physical self. For her, good looks alone do not define success, but being connected to your spiritual self is what allows one to achieve success.
Her goal is to master the art of astral traveling and help others be in touch with their astral selves. Astral projection is an intentional out-of-body experience that allows one to reach a higher spiritual realm away from the physical world and travel through the astral plane. She even wrote a book in 2012 called Astral Travel Amatue.
Multiple Identities
But where exactly do all these spiritual beliefs come from? When Valeria Lukynova was a teenager, she began to find herself assuming one of her few multiple identities. She had an affinity towards conducting experiments and considered herself a witch.
She would wear all-black garments and go out to the forest to perform different ceremonies. Eventually, she would grow out of her witch phase, but as we can see, she's prone to trying out different identities. At one point, she convinced herself she was not part of this world, claiming to be an alien and having strange visions.
She Hails From Venus
Not only does she believe she is an alien, but many of Lukyanova's critics insist that she looks like an alien. In 2013, she appeared on the TV series Vice in a documentary series titled Space Barbie. On it, Valeria declared to the public that she is not a human, but that she actually comes from Venus.
She believes she was brought to Earth from Venus to teach humans something. During the documentary, Valeria says she doesn't remember much, but always knew she was different due to her hyper-awareness and spiral visions. She claims her mother drew a chalk circle around her bed to separate her from the rest of the world.
Space Barbie
Valeria explained that her vertigo, hyper-awareness, and spiral visions affected her ability to sleep. It all felt too intense, to the point that it almost drove her absolutely insane. She decided the only way for them to stop was the manipulate her mind to stop the images from taunting her.
After explaining her stories to the world, she was given the nickname Space Barbie, although she does prefer to go by Amatue. Amatue is her spiritual persona that comes to life when she meditates while holding snakes and other objects. However, all the negative and hateful comments from the public started to take a toll on her.
Seeing a Psychiatrist
Eventually, the spiraling images and dizzy feelings made Valeria question her own sanity. The Space Barbie decided to visit a psychiatrist, hoping they could explain her abnormal visions and constant voices in her head. However, the doctor didn't actually prescribe her anything.
Instead, the doctor took everything Lukyanova said and suggested she was a psychic who should pursue her gift. The doctor claimed other professionals might not have gone this route, but he believed in her. Eventually, Valera would find individuals who were similar to her and embrace her psychic abilities along with her.
Family Ties
At her core, Valeria Lukyanova is just trying to be good in this world, especially considering where she came from. Growing up, her younger sister looked up to her - as any younger sibling does! Olga often tried to copy her sister's style, but eventually, she realized the Barbie look wasn't for her.
The Lukyanova sisters share some similarities, but Olga has preferred to keep it natural over the years. She may choose to keep her own identity, but she gets very defensive when audiences criticize her sister over her choices. Their brother, on the other hand, is a whole different story.
Too Close for Comfort
While Olga and Valeria seem to have a solid relationship, the opposite goes for Valeria and her brother, Ivan. Her brother goes by the nickname Vanya the Modelt due to his love for building airplanes and other machinery. But in reality, there is a much darker side to him.
Life in Plastic revealed that Valeria's brother had an unusual obsession with his sister early on. They used to dress up together; he would wear her clothes and take photos together. He later said his sister is the ultimate definition of beauty. And things began to spiral when Valeria started to distance himself from him.
A Complicated Relationship
Ivan became more infatuated with his sister and began making controversial posts online. Valeria's spiritual group even labeled him the Astral Wanker, and he was mocked by other online users. Eventually, Lukyanova made a statement saying how disappointed she was in him over his substance abuse, as well as his money and family issues.
However, she eventually publicly forgave him, and even tried to find her brother a girlfriend among her followers. When that didn't work out, he ended up meeting Irina Biryukova, who eventually became pregnant. Ivan denied the pregnancy and posted inappropriate pictures of his sister online, all in a ploy to extort money from the media.
Tying the Knot
After Ivan published these photos, Valeria confirmed the pregnancy rumors were true and that her brother has a son named Felix. Lukyanova has shared she feels lucky to be an aunt, despite not believing in sex and intimacy herself. However, she is married to a childhood friend of hers, a Ukrainian businessman named Dmitry Shkrabov.
Her husband is totally understanding of her Barbie appearance and supports her decisions. As for their marriage? She doesn't want to have children because there are no children in the otherworldly dimension she comes from, and everyone is asexual. The two are in an open relationship.
Through Thick and Thin
Valeria constantly praises her husband's character, explaining that he loves her for who she is, not because of her Barbie appearance. "Dmitry is always on my side. He loves and supports me. He likes me with makeup and without," she's said of her husband.
And well, Shkrabov feels the exact same way. "This is my pet, my wife Valeria Lukyanova, aka Amatue," he wrote on his Facebook profile, expressing his love for both Valeria and her alter-ego, Amatue. Together, they enjoy going hiking, eating healthy, and just being together.
The Attack
Unfortunately, things were not always smooth sailing for the Human Barbie. Two years after receiving threatening phone calls and e-mails, Valeria Lukyanova was attacked outside of her house. She was out enjoying Halloween in Odesa, and upon returning home, her life was changed forever.
Two masked assailants strangled and punched Valeria, but a neighbor saw the assault and managed to step in before anything else happened. She was immediately rushed to the hospital, where she was treated, explaining that everything happened so quickly. Unfortunately, some people were out to get her.
Addressing the Haters
As she was undergoing her body transformation and after fully transforming into the human Barbie, Valeria received tons of negative comments on the Internet. People hated on Valeria for being "completely fake," looking "too thin," speaking "weirdly," and a lot of other things.
"I notice that the media is only interested in the negative. Show someone in a bad light; show someone's mistakes," she said in regard to online users pointing out all her flaws instead of shedding light on positivity. Lukyanova decided to address the negativity head-on rather than ignore it and push it aside.
Energy Vampire
In interviews, Lukyanova has referred to herself as an "energy vampire" because she takes in the negative comments and uses them to her advantage. At the end of the day, the negative comments are horrible, but they give her the attention she always wanted.
She understood that her decision to become the human Barbie would come with a lot of attention, both good and bad. However, she decided to see herself as a novelty rather than anything else. She sometimes tries to react as positively as possible to promote kindness over anything else.
Calling Out Celebrities
She's more empathetic towards fellow celebrities and women in powerful and vulnerable positions. However, Valeria has also made some pretty negative comments insulting women who do not meet her beauty standards.
In April 2017, Valeria made headlines after attacking a particular celebrity. She called out Sex and the City star, Sarah Jessica Parker, calling her a "lazy horse face," stating her appearance reflects her "inner ugliness." Unfortunately, the ugly comments didn't end there.
More Negative Comments
Valeria says she has Eastern Baltic ancestry but claims she is closer to Nordic origin. However, in a 2014 GQ interview, she made an insensitive comment regarding mixing ethnicities. The human Barbie added in the same interview that plastic surgery has become more prominent due to "race-mixing."
She said in the interview that children who are a product of race-mixing would need surgical assistance to reach beauty, stating that women were naturally beautiful in the '50s before mixed races became an issue. Valeria believes this won't be a problem for her because she doesn't want children, and the thought disgusts her.
Looking for More
Valeria insists that "perfection has no limitations" and continues to make drastic changes from time to time. She even legally changed her birth date to 1991. As the years went on, she indirectly admitted to undergoing complicated surgeries, but at a certain point decided her perfect physique wasn't enough.
Lukyanova decided that her blonde hair, 19-inch waist, and perfectly symmetrical features were not enough. She wanted to reach a new physical appearance by hitting the gym and enhancing her abs and biceps. However, would Valeria make a good bodybuilder?
Different Personas
Switching between identities is Lukyanova's specialty. Although she was born Valeria Lukyanova, she has spent almost her entire life playing into different personalities. As soon as she feels bored with one personality, she quickly adapts to another one.
With her makeup, outfits, and career choices, Valeria can go from Amatue and then back to Space Barbie just like that. Luckyanova has always been fascinated with playing different characters, so it was no surprise that she decided to give acting a shot.
Her First Acting Gig
The human Barbie made her debut role in a 2016 horror film called The Doll, written and directed by Susannah O'Brien. However, the thriller movie wasn't for those young girls who adored Barbie; it was a lot darker than that! So what was it about?
The storyline centered around Lukyanova's character, an unordinary escort created by a doctor who created her from different doll parts, instructing her to kill the men who enlisted her service. The director claimed Valeria "was a natural," proving not to be her only fan.
Social Media Presence
After her film debut, Valeria's fame continued to skyrocket despite the many adverse reactions to her becoming the human Barbie. Lukyanova has achieved the fame and success she always wanted to, with almost 2 million current followers on Instagram.
Her social media presence has grown exponentially in the past decade, with her audience continuing to expand. Valeria has 319,000 subscribers on YouTube, where she provides makeup tutorials for those interested. One of her biggest fans, Anastasia Shpagina, has her own YouTube channel where she mimics the human Barbie's look.
Ken Meets Barbie
And in case you were wondering, there is a human Ken that, too, exists. Justin Jedlica, known as the human Ken doll, is an American model turned Barbie doll who, unlike Valeria, has admitted to undergoing 190 surgeries in order to achieve his ideal look.
Jedlica and Lukyanova have met before, but according to the human Ken, when they met, Valeria wasn't welcoming and warm. Instead of getting along, the two ultimately got into a fight over their appearances. Apparently, the world isn't big enough for another human doll!