In 1985, Valery and Irina Lukyanova welcomed their daughter Valeria into the world. They strove to provide their beloved child with an ordinary upbringing, or at least as normal as they could in their hometown Tiraspol, Moldova, which was part of the Soviet Union at the time. Her dad worked as a builder by day and a disc jockey by night, while her mother’s occupation was in the military.
Everyone doted on Lukyanova’s beauty with her long blonde locks and big doll-like eyes. However, they had no idea how much she’d internalize the very word “beauty” and how far she’d go to uphold it when she grew up.
As a little girl, Lukyanova boasted an extensive collection of Barbie dolls. Her favorite pastime was to dress up each doll to the nines in fashionable outfits. This behavior certainly didn’t seem out of the ordinary; most young girls love playing house with their dolls and creating fantasy worlds. The difference between Lukyanova and other girls was that she took great interest in her Barbies.
She was captivated by Barbie’s perfect plastic look, symmetrical dimensions, and airbrushed appearance. It became somewhat of an obsession, but little did anyone know this was a major contributing factor to the drastic transformation she would embark on later in life. Read on to find out what transformation she would make.
Lukyanova was no stranger to hardships; she saw how hard her parents worked to survive and raise their children. From early in life, she was determined to achieve anything she wanted in order to secure herself more fortune and success.
When she turned 16, she moved to Odessa, Ukraine where she obtained her degree in architecture from the Odessa State Academy of Constructions and Architecture. Then in 2014, the war in Donbass broke out so Lukyanova made her way to Russia, Moscow, but her decisions would take her to some place more exotic soon after.
Lukyanova’s childhood beauty never faded. In 2007, she entered the “Miss Diamond Crown of the World” beauty contest and claimed first place when she wowed the judges with her thick lips, big eyes, and shiny blonde hair. The contest was open to 300 contestants, so clearly Lukyanova was the crème de la crème when it came to beauty standards.
The rules of the competition didn’t forbid body modification or plastic surgery, but her natural beauty seemed beyond that. This was the start of something new for her: photo shoots, including erotic ones, and interviews published in Russian media. Unfortunately, this confirmation wasn’t enough for her and she would take her beauty to new bizarre heights.
Lukyanova knew she was beautiful, but she was far from satisfied. She desired the perfect look her Barbie dolls possessed, so this meant she’d need to take drastic measures to emulate their perfect and unnatural proportions. That’s right, Lukyanova wanted to become a real-life human Barbie.
She decided to get a breast augmentation to kick start her road to transformation, but this was just the start of some uncanny and unnatural procedures. At first, Lukyanova denied having breast implants, but later admitted to the procedure. The question is: how far did she actually go and did she admit to the other obvious changes?
At first, there were tiny inklings of Lukyanova’s transformation, but her appearance began to take on a real Barbie-like facade that people noticed the changes, and fast. After taking just one glance at her, some critics, savvy in the world of plastic surgery, pointed out some startling observations.
Once Lukyanova somewhat achieved the look she was going for, her critics assumed she must have had a nose job, brow lift, cheek and neck reduction, shaved jaw line, liposuction on her limbs, scooped-out shoulders, breast lift, and a sculpted tummy tuck to become a human Barbie. Surprisingly, the beauty queen blatantly denied having any surgery and her reasons would shock you.
Lukyanova was ready to present herself to the world as a human Barbie. She gained international coverage for her conspicuous appearance after she posted provocative photos and videos on the Internet. People labeled her as an “almost inhuman beauty” who used image editing software and encouraged the objectification of women, but this didn’t stop her – not by a long shot.
She gained international coverage when she appeared on a Jezeebel blog and then a photo shoot in V by Sebastian Faena. The media went all out on labeling her the real living Barbie Doll, but soon worse labels and accusations would follow in reaction to Lukyanova’s bizarre career choices and offensive comments. In fact, the back and forth insults between her and the public would take on quite a vicious and dangerous turn.
Many people took notice of Lukyanova’s tiny waist and perfect hourglass frame and therefore suspicions grew that she removed ribs to achieve the look because her proportions were biologically impossible. She accused people of altering older bikini pictures of her to exaggerate her look and make it seem like she underwent body modifications. Lukyanova also downright denied the claims calling them malicious and proclaimed there was nothing plastic about her. Besides for the crafted makeup look, contact lenses, and a boob job, Lukyanova claimed to be totally natural.
She attributed her slender frame to her good genes, as well as a strict diet and daily gym workouts. The problem with these claims was that her idea of diets and exercise routines was worlds apart from the norm. What exactly was Lukyanova up to?
Most models follow strict dietary and workout plans, but Lukyanova proudly stated in several interviews that she deprives herself of food, opting for a liquid and raw vegetarian diet. She also explains that she only allows herself to eat a few hours after exercising and that doesn’t drink water while eating. Her rules, however, only came after her unsuccessful attempt trying her hand at, to no surprise, another unnatural dietary approach.
Lukyanova tried to live as a “breatharian” at one stage, which meant she only lived off air and sunshine.
The sunshine part proved to be a bit of an issue for her because she swears by her flawless skin and prefers to avoid ultraviolet rays at all costs. This diet was a failure, but she said she wants to try it again some time. This is just one example of Lukyanova’s ironic nature, which you’ll soon discover from her contradictory claims and antics.
One would picture Lukyanova mimicking Barbie’s life to a T with the likes of a pink beach buggy, pink bikinis, beach parties, and lots of fun in the sun, but the human Barbie has a different idea of fun. A day in the life of Lukyanova starts with some meditation and yoga, followed by an out-of-body experience into the astral body, some gymnastics, and then personal blogging, photoshoots, and her other hobbies. Yes, you heard right; Lukyanova considers herself a spiritual guru and even works as an instructor at the International School of Out-of-body Travel where she says “instructors show students how to leave their physical body and travel their spiritual body.” She even has a spiritual name: Amatue.
The crazy part is that she firmly believes in the spiritual body and transcending the physical, so why on earth would she place so much attention on her physicality? It doesn’t end here though; her beliefs get even more outrageous.
Lukyanova is of the opinion that good looks cannot secure success alone; one needs to do spiritual work in order to achieve results. She believes she has something beyond good looks to offer to this world, and she desires to help people get in touch with their astral selves. She revels so much in her spiritual knowledge that she penned a book called “Astral Travel Amatue” in 2012 that she made available as a downloadable RTF file on her website.
Her biggest goal is to master the art of astral traveling which involves shedding the flesh to access a higher spiritual realm where all the secrets lie waiting to be discovered by willing souls. Where do all these beliefs stem from? The answer to that is quite surprising and involved.
It all started in Lukyanova’s teenage years; at least the start of assuming the first of her many identities. She had a knack for experimentation since she was a child so it’s no surprise that Lukyanova considered herself a witch back in the day, while wearing all black garments and going out into the forest to prance around fires.
Her witch phase came before she delved into her otherworldly personas when she grew up, one of which is possibly the most “out there” yet. But before we get there, we need to take a look at the root of all this to make sense of it all, or at least try.
The human Barbie seemed to inherit her good looks from her mother, but clearly that wasn’t enough and she transformed into a real-life doll. One would assume that mother Irina Lukyanova would have been offended and concerned about her daughter’s strange obsession with beauty, but her response was quite the opposite. It seems like her mother took on the same persona – at least with makeup, the blonde platinum hair, and strict diets – and the only difference is that Irina appears slightly older. While Irina was inspired by her daughter’s Barbie look, Lukyanova was influenced by her mother to embark on a spiritual astral life writing books, doing yoga, and traveling.
However, it doesn’t end with just witches and out-of-body experiences. Lukyanova didn’t abandon her spirituality after her witch phase; instead she claims to be an alien who has strange visions, visions that caused her mother to perform even more bizarre actions. In fact, she is convinced that she is separate from this world and that she too doesn’t need to eat or drink.
A lot of Lukyanova’s critics claim she looks like an alien, and she does not think these people are so far off after all. She appeared on the TV show Vice in 2013 in the documentary series called “Space Barbie,” where she told the public that she doesn’t consider herself human and that she hails from Venus. She believes she was sent to Earth to teach humans a thing or two.
On the show Lukyanova proclaimed that she doesn’t remember much beyond the fact that she originates from Venus, but from a young age she knew she was different because of her hyper awareness and the spiral visions that used to appear before her eyes. She said that her mother drew a chalk circle around her bed to separate her from the world around her.
Lukyanova has spoken out about her vertigo and spiral visions that robbed her off sleep because they danced around her, taunting her to the point that she went mad. She didn’t want to allow the visions to get the better of her so she manipulated the power of the mind to stop the images from haunting her. When Lukyanova came out with all these stories she gained a new nickname Space Barbie, while she preferred to go by the epithet, Amatue.
Amatue is her spiritual persona in which she mediates and falls into deep trances while holding snakes and other objects. Despite the fact that Lukyanova believed in her alien heritage, it doesn’t mean she didn’t seek help at one point and feel hurt from all the negative comments recieved from the public.
The spiraling images and dizziness made Lukyanova question her sanity, so she sought the help of a psychiatrist who could tend to the voices in her head and the unusual visions. Surprisingly, the doctor didn’t attempt to prescribe medication or implement intense therapy sessions. He didn’t seem too perturbed about her appearance either. Instead, the doctor boasted that other professionals would lock her away or talk her out of her insanity, whereas he understood the world she came from and wanted to hone in on her special skills.
He believed she was a psychic and should work in the field. This lead to Lukyanova finding a group of people to embrace her psychic abilities with. While the critics would view it as some crazy people singing Kumbaya around a fire, it gave her comfort and she felt like she had a purpose.
Lukyanova seems to have many pastimes, some of which are DJing, opera singing, and composing. She has recorded two new-age albums called “Sun in the Eyes” and “2013” under her spiritual name, Amatue. She has also teamed up with a group of talented composers to put together a new age opera focusing on soft melodies that reflect the natural sounds of the universe.
Lo and behold, the facts about the human Barbie continue to get better and better, one of which is the story of her siblings and how they turned out in this world. The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree when it comes to Irina and her daughter, but Lukyanova’s siblings might even be more eccentric than her; well at least the brother.
The human Barbie has a younger sister called Olga. One can see the similarities between the sisters, but Olga looks more natural with brown hair and full lips. Moreover, Lukyanova’s sister seems to know how to crack a smile, while Lukyanova prefers the vapid doll-like pose. Olga went through a stage where she looked up to her sister and tried to emulate her style, but in the end she decided that the whole Barbie look wasn’t for her.
She prefers to uphold her own identity, but she is very firm on defending her sister and doesn’t like it when people use the term “Barbie” because that has connotations of a lifeless and unintelligent being. Olga believes her sister has a lot to offer to this world. Her brother, Ivan is of a different opinion as you will see by reading on.
While Olga seems to have her head screwed on her shoulders, Ivan is quite unstable. At first glance he seems normal when he focuses on building his airplanes and other machinery that earned him the nickname Vanya the Modelist, but on a deeper look inside, there’s quite a bit more than meets the eye. Life in Plastic did some extensive research on Lukyanova’s brother and found that from a young age he had a sexual obsession with his sister. He used to wear her belts and pose with her in compromising positions in pictures.
Lukyanova recalled how they dressed up in their parents’ wedding outfits when she was 10 and he was 6. He also claimed that his sister is his ideal definition of beauty. He became out of control when he grew up that his sister distanced herself from him.
Ivan became sexually obsessed with Lukyanova performing graphic things online with her pictures in the background. He was nicknamed the Astral Wanker by her spiritual group and was mocked about taking antidepressants when he published a picture of his collection of pills. In 2007, Lukyanova made a public statement about her disappointment in his money extortion, drug addiction, and quarrel with their mother, but soon after she publicly forgave him and tried to find him a girlfriend amongst her followers, which proved unsuccessful.
He finally found someone by the name of Irina Biryukova, but when she fell pregnant he denied being with her and posted naked pictures of Lukyanova online in an attempt to fool the media for money. Lukyanova confirmed the facts about Biryukova and told the public that their son’s name is Felix. She loves her nephew, but her stance on sex and children is quite astonishing, especially when she made some controversial comments.
Lukyanova doesn’t believe in sex and intimacy, but this doesn’t mean that she doesn’t believe in marriage. In fact, she married her childhood friend Dmitry Shkrabov, a Ukrainian businessman who is head over heels for her. Shkrabov is completely supportive of Barbie appearance and tries to block out all the negativity she receives from haters. When it comes to intimacy, the two are proudly in an open relationship and Lukyanova has no issue with that.
She has stated several times that she doesn’t feel the desire to be a mother because in her otherworldly dimension, there is no such thing as children and everyone is asexual. She also admitted that she isn’t interested in any animal instincts and believes that it’s better to be celibate. However, they compensate in other ways for one another.
Lukyanova constantly dotes on Shkrabov saying, “Dmitry is always on my side. He loves and supports me. He likes me with makeup and without.” She fondly talks about his love for climbing mountains and their escapade to Nepal and the Himalayan mountain range.
He also talks of her with love, well at least he seems to think so, with the words “Meet. This is my pet, my wife Valeria Lukyanova aka Amatue” on his Facebook profile. Shkrabov also follows a strict vegetarian diet, even before his wife became one, and enjoys making her dinners and protecting her in any way he can, but unfortunately there was a time when he wasn’t there to save her and things got pretty ugly.
Things weren’t always bright and cheery in the Human Barbie’s world. In 2014, after two years of threatening phone calls and emails, Lukyanova was attacked outside her house. It was Halloween in Odessa and she was about to call it a night at home when she was completely caught off guard. Two masked assailants punched and strangled human Barbie until a neighbor stepped in to the rescue.
She was rushed to hospital to treat her bloody wounds. Once she came to, she claimed that it all happened so fast and there was no way she could have anticipated the attack. Sadly, this was not the first or last time she would be verbally attacked by critics, but Lukyanova was ready to fight back, even to the point where she became unnecessarily malicious.
The human Barbie often reads all sorts of negative comments about her on the Internet. People attack her from being too thin, for speaking funny, for being a complete fake, and many other insulting things. In several interviews she had explained that she expected all the negativity and for people to object to her appearance and life decisions. “I notice that the media is only interested in the negative.
Show someone in a bad light; show someone’s mistakes,” she lamented about the media. In reaction to the hate, Lukyanova takes all the negativity in her stride and addresses the ruthless media in her videos and on her social media accounts. Turns out, however, that she can be quite scathing as well.
Lukyanova has described herself as an “energy vampire’ because she says all the negative comments actually give her the attention she desires. She has expressed that the price of being perfect isn’t always easy and comes with its hardships, especially when people regard her to be a novelty rather than a living being. According to Lukyanova, it hurts her to be seen as a novelty, and yet she thrives off it and claims that she hails from another planet.
She is particular about the fact of enjoying the attention about her perfectly-molded face and body, but she doesn’t want her identity to depend only on the physical. Sometimes, she prefers to react positively to the hate by trying to empower others by being kind to them and not harboring hard feelings, however, she can also be nasty if she chooses to like when she ridiculed women she found less than attractive.
One would assume that Lukyanova would be more empathetic towards other stars and celebrities, but no, the human Barbie is full of surprises. In April, 2017, she released an online video hurling insults at women she deems ugly and who don’t meet her beauty standards.
She targeted her wrath at one celebrity in particular, none other than the Sex and the City star Sarah Jessica Parker. She labeled her a “lazy horse face” and claimed that her appearance is just a reflection of the actress’s “inner ugliness.” This wasn’t the first insulting comment she made, though.
The human Barbie claims that she has Eastern Baltic ancestry, but she says she’s closer to Nordic origin. That’s all good and well, but then in 2014, during a GQ interview, she proceeded to say that there’s degeneration as a result of ethnicities mixing. In the same interview she said that she doesn’t want children and that the thought of having kids revolts her. She proclaimed she’d rather endure a torturous death than have to give birth to children.
What worries her most, however, is that plastic surgery is becoming more common as a result of “race-mixing.” She believes that children who are products of race mixing will require surgical assistance to look beautiful. She insisted that women were naturally beautiful in the ’50s and ’60s, before mixed races become a problem. What other absurd beliefs does the human Barbie have?
Lukyanova believes that “perfection has no limitations “and enjoys changing things up now and then.” She even changed her birth date to 1991. Over time, she admitted to having some complicated surgeries, but only indirectly when she said she’s enhanced her body surgically during an interview. This doesn’t mean that she doesn’t want to rule out any surgical procedures in the future.
Seeing that she’s a walking contradiction, it is no surprise that she told a fan she’d consider plastic surgery once she gets older, but for now she doesn’t need any work done. Her switching between identifies can be quite tiring to follow, especially when she contradicts herself like in the following statement.
After spending so much time, money, and effort on achieving the perfect Barbie doll physique, Lukyanova has had a sudden change of heart. Her perfect blonde hair, plastic boobs, and crafted face are not enough for her anymore.
The new looks she wants to try out requires Lukyanova to buff up and enhance her biceps and abs. Whether Barbie would make a good body builder is up for debate, but that doesn’t stop Lukyanova from reaching her goals; an impressive goals she has, like when she starred in a film.
Switching between identities is second nature for Lukyanova. When she gets bored of one look or persona, she can adopt another one. All the Space Barbie needs is a mirror and she can conquer the world with her different makeup looks and career choices.
Lukyanova has a critical eye for detail, so it makes sense that she was included in the casting of a horror movie. Was the director hinting something about her appearance, or did he appreciate her natural ability to act?
Who knew a human Barbie would star in a horror film? Lukyanova made her debut role in 2016 in a movie aptly called The Doll, but it was not for young girls who admired and adored Barbie. This was a horror sci-fi film written and directed by Susannah O’Brien.
The plot revolves around Lukyanova’s character: a bloodthirsty escort created by a doctor from different doll parts and instructed to kill the men who order her services. Sounds like “Frankenstein” gone wrong, but O’Brien praised the actress saying she “was a natural.” O’Brien isn’t her only fan though; the human Barbie seems to have a high fan base rooting for her all the way.
As of 2014, the human Barbie’s fan base reached over 30 million views on YouTube, 997,812 Facebook fans, 10,030 Twitter followers, and 336,565 followers in the Russian social network VK, but that number keeps growing and growing. Many girls around the world look up to Lukyanova and her beauty. She is a role model to them and they admire her makeup skills that many have taken to YouTube to record video makeup tutorials.
One of her biggest fans, Anastasiya Shpagina, has her own YouTube channel on which she creates Lukyanova’s look. But some fans have taken things way beyond the brush.
Just in case you were wondering or had any doubts; the human Ken exists and goes by the name of Justin Jedlica. He is an American model turned Barbie doll. The only difference is that he has admitted to undergoing over 190 surgeries to achieve his chiseled Ken look.
Jedlica found Lukyanova quite attractive, but after a bit of a showdown between the two of them he changed his mind about her going as far as calling her a fake. Isn’t that the pot calling the kettle black? Well, let’s see what actually went down between the two.
Jedlica claims he approached Lukyanova one day to hug her, but she wasn’t having it and rejected him with her usual cold and vacant look. She doesn’t particularly like him and doesn’t want to hang around with him just because he looks like Ken. The human ken then lashed out at human Barbie stating her beauty is just a product of fake hair and carefully-crafted makeup. He even went as far as calling Lukyanova’s features drag queen-like.
He isn’t impressed with the fact that she’s denied having any surgeries when it’s quite clear that she has. Just when we thought that was it, there seem to be other real-life human Barbie dolls frolicking around. Nothing wrong with expanding the human Barbie squad, no?
Angelica Kenova is another Russian Barbie who calls herself a “living doll.” In fact, this Barbie was raised as a living doll from the moment she was born with her controlling parents dictating what she could eat, wear, and when she needed to exercise, all in the name of maintaining her beauty. Her parents are so controlling that Kenova is only allowed to go on dates if her mother, Natalia, escorts her and tags along. This human Barbie also claims to have many talents and careers, some of which are a ballet dancer, model, and child psychologist.
She also maintains that her doll-like look was achieved without any surgery despite her unrealistic body measurements. It might not come as a surprise, but there are many more human Barbies worth exploring.
Lolita Richi, a 19-year-old from Kiev, Ukraine possesses the same bodily proportions of Barbie but claims that she hasn’t placed one stitch in her face or body. Her waist measures at 20 inches and she boasts a 32F cup size.
Richi was reported saying, “I think I’ve achieves this image better than anyone else…I haven’t even heard of Valeria Lukyanova.” She went on to say that people were always jealous of her look and all the boys at school liked her, but they were not her taste. The difference between her and Lukyanova is that Richi claimed she never had an interest in playing with dolls when she was a child; she preferred playing outside with the boys.
It seems like Lukyanova has a lot of competition. Tatyana Tuzova, 31, from Moscow, Russia gained a lot of media attention back in 2015 as the new human Barbie. She has termed herself the “Russian Barbie” and enjoys dressing up in pink while she’s seen at parties all around Moscow. She told The Daily Mail that she likes being a working human Barbie because it makes her feel like a princess.
She does have some things in common with Lukyanov: she loved admiring her Barbie dolls at the age of 12 and she doesn’t like Ken – at all! She thinks he looks too feminine and doesn’t even look like a man. She feels men should look “big, strong and un-pampered” unlike Ken.
Then along came Anderssa Damiani. The Brazilian Barbie gained popularity in her country because of her stark resemblance to Elsa from Frozen and her doll-like appearance. Damiani also has a 20 inch waist, 32F bra size, and huge eyes. Critics don’t believe that she hasn’t had plastic surgery.
They also think she starves herself because she’s so underweight. Despite all the haters, Damiani wants to prove to the world that anyone can be a Barbie doll. “You don’t have to be skinny or blonde – just create your own look and be happy.” So, what’s next for the Human Barbie?
Lukyanova’s goal is to spread her spiritual knowledge far and wide to receptive audiences who are willing to accept her for who she is. She repeatedly says that her ambitions know no bounds, and that the world should be ready for what she has to offer. Besides for her recent collaboration on the new-age opera composition, the human Barbie claimed she has a lot of surprises up her sleeve, whether it be her body building look or other career choices which she cannot yet reveal.
Watch this space for Lukyanova’s next move. The human Barbie lives and in full force!