If it wasn't for quarantine, we wouldn't have seen the beauty in her work. Corona Virus didn't stop her from spreading her talent and hobby. She took a deep breath, put her heart in it, and went for it. She didn't stop; in contrast, she took a step towards her career and dream. You might describe her as a skilled, brilliant, or a professional person. But if I were to describe her, I'd use the word 'artistic'. That is exactly what she is. Jasmine is a 21-year-old make-up artist. She isn't an ordinary make-up artist, she works her magic on every look she creates and you could say that she is a magician with the most beautiful powers ever.
Make-up was her interest from a really long time ago. But she had an excuse for not starting her work earlier. "In Egypt, we don't have much of the products we need. In other countries, the products are so affordable and they're everywhere." So, she found it hard to put her hands on the products she needed to start. But quarantine was her game-changer, the excuse wasn't there anymore. "I couldn't go out and buy or look for anything. So, I had to work with what I got. That is what made me start, that I had no more excuses." At the beginning of the pandemic, she was anxious and stressed, so she had to deal with it. "It was my coping mechanism." She dealt with what she got at home, trying to do something creative. So, she started creating the characters but this wasn't her favorite part. "My favorite part wasn't just the make, it was also the accessories. I created the accessories with household items like glue, tape….etc." She used items that are affordable and existing in every house. "That's what made me more creative with it."
When she posted her first look, she didn't even think about it. "I was like look, here is what I did. My account wasn't even public and then it received a lot of love and support." As for her second look, she didn't even think that it would be a 'thing'. But it got even more and more support. "I didn't think that this would be like a career until the 5th post or I did. Surprisingly it went well and I kept going." She got many requests asking her to create her page, to post all her work on it. "I didn't like that and for the first three months; I kept posting with my friends only," Jasmine admitted that she is the kind of person who gets interested in many things and she works on her interest for a couple of months, then drops it. "I didn't want to start a whole thing, especially if I might lose interest in it." But eventually, she found out that make-up is her profession. "what made me start was that I found myself still interested in it and I always was. It never went away." When she thinks of her career, she thinks of something she loves to do. "If I don't love it, then I'll never do it." Realizing that make-up is the only thing that she never gets bored of, she went on and started her journey.
Jasmine doesn't like routine, she likes changes. "Make-up fulfills that for me, it is always changing. There are a lot of things you can change in it, it is never a routine. Every look is different than the other, it is always interesting." And that is exactly what made her think of it more professionally. Searching for more talented people like her, she found out that there aren't a lot of people in Egypt who are interested in what she does. Remember when I said that her make-up isn't just some ordinary make-up? Jasmine works on Fantasy make-up, Character creating is her profession.
She confessed that there are some challenges that you could face through a journey like hers. "Some people struggle with creativity to create looks." For her, the products were her biggest challenge. "The products in Egypt are not for Fantasy make-up. It is just for normal make-up. The make-up here can't stay for long hours." She added that even if this kind of make-up exists in Egypt, it would need a big-budget due to it being very expensive. "It is so not affordable, especially for someone who's still starting." It is a hard struggle but she didn't give up, she worked with a hat she got and she succeeded. "I still don't have the perfect kit and make-up." At first, she used paint to create her looks, which is not right. "It's toxic so, I started using body paint."
Jasmine's love for make-up was there from her childhood days and she taught her self how to put it on. "I learned make-up from YouTube. I watched so many videos. Most of the people that I look up to are YouTubers," there are also some make-up artists that work their magic on big shows. "They are my source of inspiration." Jasmine isn't into normal make-up; she prefers fantasy make-up for a reason. "I find Fantasy make-up much more exciting and it needs a lot of creativity and a huge imagination."
Speaking about make-up on daily basis, she finds that there is no appropriate amount for make-up that everyone should put. "Some people judge some girls for putting so much make-up and others judge them for not wearing much. It is not about putting make-up because of feeling insecure about the way I look. It is about the power and confidence that you feel when you wear it." Everyone should be allowed to wear as much make-up as they want, without any judgment. "If I want to wear blue eyeliner today, then I will. It has nothing to do with impressing someone." Jasmine isn't a person who wears make-up on daily basis, since she goes through really long days in college. "It's hard not to touch my face or eyes."
All of Jasmine's looks consist of many details, make-up, and colors. And they indeed take a long time in their making process. "When I finish one of my looks, I find it hard to wipe it out immediately. It takes a long time. Most of it, I do it on Instagram live. Because I want my friends to join and speak with me so that I won't get bored." Some of her look took about 5-6 hours to complete and others might take 2. "The longest one I started at midnight and finished it at 8 am. It was exhausting and of course, when I finished it I had to take some pictures. And at that time I couldn't come with good ones." For her, one of the worst parts of putting on make-up is removing it. "Especially if it is body paint or glue. It takes a lot of time."
Being a make-up artist isn't easy; you need to have some important qualities to become one. "You need patience and not just some patience while putting it on, but you need to have the patience to perfect it." She added that creativity is the key in this field; it is the second needed quality after patience. "You need creativity to create different looks and put your twists on them." Besides creativity, you also need a strong imagination. "Most importantly you have to love it."
Using a lot of make-up could harm your skin sometimes. That is why I wanted to get to know Jasmine's skin-care routine. "When I first started, I didn't care about skin-care routines, and that caused me some skin problems." She believed that nothing would affect her skin the way it did. "I just put my make-up on and remove. I didn't know what could go wrong." But it did affect her skin, mainly because of the products she used. "Then I started to use the right products."
We all need supportive people in our lives, especially if we are doing something that we are truly passionate about. As for Jasmine, she believes that she already has all the support she needs. "My family is so supportive. My mom is very supportive and it took my dad a while to understand what I was doing. I got the most supportive parents. My sister is always there while I'm putting it on and she helps take all my pictures. My brother is supportive as well. As for my friends, they are so supportive and awesome."
As stated above, Jasmine has been interested in many hobbies throughout the years, but she drops them in a month or two. She is multi-talented. "At some time I played the guitar and ukulele. I was a ballet dancer and I still really love it. I love my work in college, scenography and film-making, I love this field. The second thing I love to do after make-up is film-making. I photograph too."
Everyone defines success in their way and perspectives. But for Jasmine, she had her unique definition of success. "Success mostly is when you're satisfied with what you're doing, fully satisfied. For me, I still want a little bit more. I still have dreams. Maybe when I reach them, I'll be more satisfied. You should never lose inspiration, ambition, love, passion, and motivation. That is what helps you do the job right. If you have them, then you're successful."
When we look at her work, there are some hidden details or something done for a specific reason that we don't get. Here are some surprising facts about her characters. "I research most of my looks. Like if I want to create a look with an African style, then I'll look for different looks and how to make the accessories. I feel that no one sees that. I feel that I'm the only one who for example knows why I used purple in this specific look, just because purple symbolizes a specific meaning in that culture." She enjoys doing researches, looks, characters, and following a color scheme. "The fun part is trying to create the perfect look."
Jasmine worked on many looks and series of looks. She did a series where she personalized all the horoscopes. "I literally can't remember why I even started working on them." The first horoscope she did was random. "It is all about a concept that I try to personalize it into a look or a person, like how it would look like if it was real." Lately, she has seen many things that she wants to turn into a character. "It is more of concepts, like; regret, envy, anger, fear…….etc." She always wonders how it'll all look as if they were characters. "That made me start. Horoscopes were already done before, so I wanted to add my touch to it, and especially the accessory part. That motivated me to start working on the horoscopes series. Because I was able to use my concept in them and it was fun trying to match the features of each sign." For her 'Leo' look, she didn't want to do a basic lion character. "I wanted to do it like a forest and in an African style." As for her 'Gemini' look, she wanted to reflect its most known characteristics in her look. "I wanted to include mood swings, magicians, and wizards. That was everything for me." Jasmine loves adventures and taking risks. She always tries to use new techniques. "In most of these looks, I've tried a lot of things for the 1st time. I didn't practice it before, I just try it."
Using social media platforms to market your job is not easy. Many people struggle with marketing their work more than doing it. Jasmine also finds a hard time marketing her work. She believes that this is the hardest part for her. "It's very hard, trying to market and brand my work. Some people love marketing. But for me, this is my weak part." Many people tell her that her work is really good and that she should have a bigger platform and followers. "I'm trying my best to learn about marketing. Make-up is like a piece of cake beside it. I didn't start doing my work for the followers, that's why it is hard for me." She tries to research it and ask as many people as she can.
Jasmine gave a few tips for anyone who'd love to follow in her footsteps, which I find important. "Don't wait for the right time and don't wait till you get the best products. It all happens when you're working. If you want something, just do it. As time passes it will get better and you'll start to get the right products and needed equipment." She also had some advice for the younger generation under the title of 'Don't make my mistake'. "I feel that the new generation is more smart and creative. They can do it and they're already doing it. My advice for them is; just do it. That was my mistake that I didn't start earlier and I waited a long time for the perfect moment."
Jasmine has already created several unique, magnificent, and creative looks. But she still has a lot of ideas that she wants to create. "I thought of doing a look inspired by the elements, which are: fire, air, water, earth. But I still have to do a lot of research about it. I'd also love to do a series based on Greek mythology, it is so interesting. I think that I'd have more fun reading about it than characterizing them."
Most of her looks contain different mixtures and color combinations that are mesmerizing. At the same time, she doesn't have a routine to start her make-up process. "I just start with the detail that I'm sure that I want to do it. Like if I'm certain that I want to paint my face blue, then I'll start with doing that. I'll figure out the rest as I go." Saying that it is hard to plan out the full look before you start. As for the colors, she finds that the color she wears mostly depends on the look and what it needs. "But I love glitter; I think it makes everything work."
Going through this interview, we all learned more about Jasmine and her work. We now know that there are some qualities that she has, that made her highly qualified for this job. Like being patient, creative, imaginary, and many more. What about her personal life? Are there some hidden characteristics that are she doesn't show during her working hours? There are. "I'm a perfectionist, a detail-oriented person. In make-up, this is good, but in my life, it makes me late sometimes. Like some projects that I do for college and form many more things that happened in life. It is a good and bad characteristic." A make-up artist is sometimes expected to be a fashionista too. But Jasmine prefers to wear what she loves and finds comfortable for her. "My fashion style is moody. Sometimes I feel cute and girly and other times I put zero effort in it. Just a hoodie on the go. Sometimes edgy too, but I usually put zero no effort into it."
Going through a pandemic isn't easy. We all had our sufferings and stress during this hard time. So here is the message that Jasmine wanted to share with the world right now, during everything that we're going through. "What made me start is quarantine. As much as I hate it and hate what's happening right now. I feel that if it didn't happen, I would have never started. It was my coping mechanism to deal with stress and anxiety. I was just thinking about my make-up for several hours and working on it and that helped a lot. I find that it is alright for some people to not feel like doing anything at this time. It differs from one person to another. So please, figure out the best for you and do it. For me, that is what helped me control everything."
To end this interview, I'd love to express how much of a pleasure it was for me to interview Jasmine. She's such a sweet, lovely, hard-working, honest, and friendly person. Her talent is magnificent. Knowing more details about her work, made me stare into her looks, and try to find the hidden meanings behind them. This was an opportunity of a lifetime that I'm grateful for. I can't wait to see more of her creative looks out there.
Interviewer: Haya Yasser
Editor: Nagla Aly Khalifa
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