This Northbridge resident has worked with the likes of Hugh Jackman, Maggie Beer, Elle Macpherson, Shirley MacLaine, John Travolta and even the Bondi Hipsters. But she’s no name dropper. She prides herself on approaching each client in the same way.

It’s that humble and gracious nature that makes Petrina such a delight.

Speaking with the North Shore Times about her 30-year career, Milas said how fortunate she felt to have crossed paths with such amazing people.

Her Northbridge home is now her place of work. Studio Petrina Milas is where everyday people come to learn how to reinvent themselves or to be transformed by the hands of a true artist.

“I’ve been lucky enough to work with many celebrities and interesting people over the years,” she said. “The one that really made me starstruck was Shirley MacLaine.

“I had three days doing her hair and makeup just a few years ago.

“She must be in her 80s and had an energy and presence that knocked our socks off. She regaled the crew with stories of (director) Billy Wilder and Marilyn Monroe and the Rat Pack — it was amazing.”

Milas recalls working with Hugh Jackman on a Qantas shoot four years ago.

“He is just gorgeous and he is really friendly, just lovely and down to earth. Funnily enough, I’ve also done his wife’s makeup — Deborra-Lee Furness.”

Not all glitz and glamour though, Milas has also worked to make some of Australia’s most prominent sporting heroes look like they have been hard at play.

“I’ve worked with Allan Border, Steve Waugh and Cameron Smith,” she said.

“They will arrive for a TV commercial and they have just had a shower and you’ve got to make them look like they’ve been playing a game.”

Milas’s professional reputation in the industry is borne of dedication and hard work over 30 years.

“My work as a hair and makeup artist has been constantly evolving,” she said.

“I studied professional makeup and TV and film production but then got waylaid with a modelling career, transitioning to being on the books at Chadwick and Vivien’s model agencies as a freelance makeup artist.

“I worked in fashion and editorial, did dozens of magazine covers and had six covers in one month once, working with brands such as Nike, Chanel, Allianz, Oroton and magazines such as Cosmopolitan, Cleo, Dolly and Women’s Weekly.”

It was a fast-paced industry to be in at the time but it was just the beginning for the mum of two boys who has, in the years following, diversified her job and business into what it is today.

Now working from her quaint home studio, a garage-turn-glamour den, Studio Petrina Milas hosts brides to be, local residents, friends and those starting out in their beauty careers as well as women of all ages trying to learn a bit more about makeup.

“I love the variety and the lovely people I meet,” she said.

“I could be doing a wedding one day with a 6am start at Palm Beach, a television commercial the next, which could be a 14-hour day, or getting my clients looking glam for a special event in the studio.

Milas said clients enjoyed coming to her studio to be transformed.

“Clients want to stay current and look and feel good about the way they present to the world,” she said.

“I love helping them achieve a look that’s appropriate, relevant and savvy. Looking good is very much about being healthy and timeless, no matter what your age.”

As for the teaching she does, Milas said her strongest advice for those hoping to make it in the industry was to have the right attitude.

Whether teaching the basic art to teenagers or stylists, Milas said the right attitude would determine whether you make it as a beauty professional.

“Granted, it’s not easy to break into editorial and advertising but there are certain qualities that will put you way ahead of the rest,” she said.

“I can teach someone to be a good makeup artist, but most of all it is attitude that counts.

“Firstly, always be reliable, have a positive, can-do attitude.

“Look clean, tidy and well groomed, turn up on time, in fact 10 minutes early and remember, it’s not about you.”

Traits which could easily be argued have got Milas to where she is today, however it might also be due in part to her generosity.

While she has given way to the glitz and glamour of the world she immersed herself in as an up-and-coming hair and makeup artist, Milas now spends a lot of her time giving back to the north shore community she has lived in for 26 years as well as to charities.

Most recently, she headed to Wellington with Barnardos Australia to transform a group of young girls into a glow-in- the-dark art installation with makeup free of charge.

However, where she gets the most satisfaction is from her work with the everyday people who keep coming back for her advice, products and services.

As if she is not busy enough already, she also manufactures and sells her own makeup brand, which includes lipsticks, primers, eye shadow pallets and foundations which she customises for every visitor.

Milas said every woman should feel beautiful and it was a message she had really focused on. “I think, for the first time in history, my age group has been a really powerful demographic,” she said.

“Our mothers and our grandmothers, they would just disappear when the kids grew up … whereas I think it’s very different these days.”

Milas said women today were reinventing themselves to stay current with their look.

“They are starting new jobs, starting businesses, travelling and they are not ready to disappear and they want to look good and they want to feel good.

“I love having women in my age group come to me because they feel they like the privacy of coming here rather than sitting up at a counter and having someone much younger than them trying to show them some makeup.

“I understand the challenges and the things you think about (as you get older), like the eyebrows start to fade and your lips need more definition and ‘What will I do with my hair?’.”

While the days of owning her own makeup studio in the heart of Neutral Bay — those who were around the area in the 1980s will remember — are well behind her, she said it was a tough experience getting her head around how to transform her career into a business.

But it has all been worth it, having landed gigs including being involved in the launch of the Qantas A380 and looking after former mayor of New York Rudy Giuliani and his wife Judith while they were in Sydney.