Face for a Canvas

by Samuel Trombetta

Houda spread the glue evenly around her face, making the outline of a heart shape before embezzling it with shiny little stones that resemble diamonds. Deciding that her face wasn’t blue enough after layering on some paint, she drew on tears that went to her cheeks which faded into a light red hue. Finally, she drew her eyebrows, raised at the ends closer to her nose and made them into straight lines, almost resembling a tent to display a saddened expression.

All the while, Houda filmed her progress and later edited the video into a short clip that showcased her final work at the end. She posted the clip on instagram and a picture of the final product, believing it to be just another one of her hundreds of posts that her page dedicated itself to. However, unlike her typical post that received around 300 likes, this one received over 13,000 and her video was viewed 150,000 times. 

As a makeup artist, Houda takes great pride in her work and shares her looks with hundreds of fans and she reaches thousands of people with each post. “I think I fall under individuals who like to express themselves using makeup,” Houda says when speaking about the relationship that she has to makeup.

Like many young girls, Houda discovered her love for makeup in the sixth grade when she stumbled upon a book that taught different makeup techniques. A few years later, Houda began to watch a Youtuber called Michelle Phan and, as Houda describes, “She’s what really got me into makeup.” This seems to be a growing trend with young girls who take up an interest with makeup. In 2017, views for beauty content on YouTube totalled to 104 billion which was nearly doubled from 2016’s mere 59 billion. As of 2018, the number of views now sits at a whopping 169 billion.

After 2009, when the United States was still reeling from the financial crisis that started the year  before, the global cosmetics market has consistently grown at a rate of 3.6 percent or above, but in 2018 and 2019, the market saw a growth of 5.5 percent and 5.25 percent respectively. A lot of this growth can be attributed to sites like Instagram and YouTube because of the nature of the tutorial videos.During makeup tutorials, influencers typically hold up the name and brand of the product that they are using. Companies sponsor these influencers and incentivise them to do this through lucrative contracts and deals.

Houda believes that her page stands out from most other influencers because of her bold and colorful style. She acknowledges this, saying, “I don’t gravitate towards neutral or natural makeup. I think that it’s very boring. In addition to her makeup art, she’s also interested in drawing animals artisitcally with some of her posts featuring stylized animals such as snakes and butterflies. 

While Houda has not  yet reached this level of popularity, she has received multiple makeup kits from a number of different companies free of charge. Of course, excited over having new and expensive kits to play with, Houda featured them on her next post. It’s a mutually beneficial arrangement that has allowed talented makeup artists to thrive and bolster an industry that allows them to express themselves.

“So far I have been added to two PR lists. I have had ‘I Heart Revolution Makeup’ reach out to me. I was also sent makeup by Beauty Bay and both of those brands are based in the UK so I have yet to be reached out to by a brand in the United States,” Houda says when outlining some of the attention that her steadily growing page has garnered.

Some of the brands that featured or reached out to Houda:

• Suva Beauty 
• Norvina
• Beauty Bay
• I Heart Revolution Makeup

While Houda’s passions have taken her page pretty far already, she expresses some of her ambitions for the future in the following quote:

“Somewhere down the line I’d love to work for a makeup brand and help develop makeup. I don’t think there’s many muslim or hijabi women in the makeup community, so I would love to have my own brand or makeup line or even have a collaboration with one of my favorite brands.”

Today, Houda’s pages sits at over 2,000 followers and she continues to post regularly, attracting even more fans.