From Ukraine to LA — Milana May Finds Home in Adult

A version of this feature appeared in the February edition of AVN magazine. Click here for the full digital issue. LOS ANGELES—The first time Milana May ever hooked up with a girl was on camera for Babes.com. “I touch big boobs for the first time in my life and I was so happy about it,” May recalls. It’s safe to say the fans were not complaining about it either. It was at that moment—working with Darcie Dolce in the first scene of her porn career in “Scaredy Cats” for Babes—that the petite beauty from Donetsk, Ukraine, knew that porn was for her. “I understand I’m in the right place,” says May, a professional makeup artist who also has a Master’s degree in International Economics.    Since that scene May added about 25 other scenes to her resume—including nine for Girlfriends Films, two for Girlsway and two for Twistys—which turned out to be more than enough for her to earn her first AVN nomination for All-Girl Performer of the Year going into the 2019 show last month in Las Vegas. “It was so good—really good,” May says. “My time on the red carpet was so exciting and the show was really amazing with all the people around. Everybody was so nice and happy and everybody was having fun. … I felt like a star.” May, who moved to LA from Kiev three years ago, recalls falling in love with the Southern California lifestyle from Day 1.  “I’ve traveled a lot—with my parents—around the world,” she says. “I was in a lot of countries and cities and islands, and when I came to Los Angeles it was my first time when I felt like at home. I just can’t explain it—the air, the energy, I don’t know. But I felt like, ‘Oh my god, I want to live here.’” She was not expecting to be in the running for AVN honors so soon. “I just started about a year ago in January and I was so surprised and excited—and so happy to get nominated. … I’m going to work much more and I want to win next year,” May says. “I always try to do my best because I love my job. I feel like it’s the best job in the world. I like girls and I don’t even feel like it’s my job.” May, who is represented by Society 15, also received a 2019 nomination for Best All-Girl Group Scene for her performance with Kendra Spade and Jade Nile in My Girlfriend's Girlfriend (Zero Tolerance). When she isn’t shooting, she’s often on set doing makeup for her significant other, Xander Porn, who produces and directs for several Mindgeek sites. The couple actually did not tell each other about their jobs in porn when they first started dating. “I was afraid he would not understand and then we met at an AVN party,” she jokes. “We try to work always together.” May studied cosmetology at Beauty PRO Academy in Ukraine under a renowned teacher, Taisia Vasileva, who is credited with creating the pencil technique in makeup. “She created one technique which is used now in all the world awards. So now all world competitions on makeup are using only pencil technique and I was her student,” says May, who also learned her craft from other teachers, too. May says her porn work is "not about the money." “I really like girls and when I shoot with girls I feel really fun and really good,” she says. “I have pleasure to shoot with girls but with guys I can’t be having sex with anybody. Xander was my first man sexually… Maybe it can explain everything. I was super religious all my life; that’s why I was virgin. I wanted to have only one man in my life and wanted to be virgin before marriage.” She adds, “I want to work more with a lot of companies. I want to film as much as possible.” Photography by @Xander_Porn