Woman’s Amazing Makeup Transformation Brings Joy Mixed With Pain
In May 2015, the YouTube beauty guru known as Nikkie Tutorials launched the #PowerofMakeup tag — both to showcase the creative and transformative aspects of wearing makeup and to combat “makeup shaming.” Others on YouTube offered their own take on the tag, with some using it to highlight the empowerment that wearing makeup can bring, especially for burn survivors and people with various skin conditions.
A poignant reminder of makeup’s power arrived this week courtesy of Sadia Akram. The UK-based makeup artist took to Facebook on Monday to post side-by-side shots of her client, Assya Shabir, before and after she got to work glamming her up. Shabir, who has epidermolysis bullosa, or EB, a skin condition that affects the skin’s connective tissue and causes painful blisters, approached Akram to have her face made up. “She was told by many other makeup artists they couldn’t work on her, as she has open wounds all over her face and body,” Akram tells Yahoo Beauty.
A photo posted by Sadia Akram (@sadiaakrammua) on Feb 6, 2017 at 1:10am PST
Akram says she had worked with Shabir for Valentine’s Day last year, and shared a photo of the transformation as a recent reminder. “I don’t usually put ‘before and after’ pics up, however today I had the pleasure of making over this lovely lady,” Akram wrote about the repeat job. “She contacted me and said she always wanted to treat herself to a makeover from me so I went round to hers and treated her.”
Akram’s photo has since gotten more than 4,000 responses and 450 shares.
Akram says that while working with Shabir, she took precautions to avoid irritating her delicate skin. “I had to make sure I was extremely gentle when applying the makeup,” she says. “I asked her permission before I used each product, just in case she was sensitive to it. I used clean sponges and brushes for every product applied. I had to avoid using certain products which contained alcohol on her skin.” Akram gathered products from MAC, Nars, and Estée Lauder, to complete the look. The result? Straight fierceness, and a testament to the makeup artist’s immense talent.
For Shabir, the whole experience — of being made over, being photographed, and having her transformational images shared so widely on social media — has been an up-and-down one, she tells Yahoo Beauty.
“Working with Sadia Akram was a dream come true,” she says. “She made me feel special and never once looked at me with sympathy. I was so comfortable with her, and she was happy to do my makeover without hesitation.” She adds that Akram was very gentle, drawing on her eyebrows and applying false lashes, despite not having an eyelash bed. “Never did they fall off or come out of place,” she says.
Still, while the Facebook post received lots of supportive and uplifting comments, it also brought out some cruelty. And on Tuesday, Shabir bravely took to Facebook to express her disappointment over the cyberbullying she experienced.
“The whole photo thing has really messed with my head. This is a whole new world of bullying. I’d never experienced it like this ever before and it’s really shook me up, and it’s really hurt me at how vicious people can be behind there phones or computers,” she wrote. “I just don’t get what sort of entertainment or self satisfaction they get from hurting others!”
The backlash, Shabir says, was quite different from the thoroughly positive reaction she got last year when Akram first shared the Valentine’s Day transformation. Particularly irksome, Shabir notes, were the commenters who projected their own views about her skin onto her.
“Everybody had their own opinion on what happened to me — acid attack victim, burn victim. Instead of asking Sadia or myself, people were just coming out with their own conclusions, [which] was really upsetting,” she says. “I have been bullied throughout my life, and to experience it in the world of cyber really broke me down. It took so many years for me to build my confidence and, thanks to Sadia’s makeover, I was maybe a little overconfident. But the fact people saw the weakness as a target upset me. I got comments like ‘witch,’ ‘Freddie Kruger, it’s not Halloween yet, put a bag on.’ The one that got to me was ‘go and hang yourself you’re disgusting,’ which really hurt. What also hurt was how they were saying my makeover looked like I had plastic surgery.”
Still, despite having to deal with such viciousness, Shabir noted on Facebook that she also gained a lot of new, well-intentioned followers.
And the overall makeover experience with Akram remains one that she cherishes.
“What she did was priceless, and there’s not enough words to describe her talent and how big-hearted she is,” Shabir gushed. “It takes a beautiful soul to forget about the skin condition, forget about how one looks and just do your job professionally and yet make the person feel relaxed. She is definitely the best makeup artist I know! Especially [after] having approached a few where I either got told they didn’t want to risk it or didn’t want to have to buy new equipment just for me. Some wouldn’t reply.”
Akram’s work is another reminder that makeup can be a tool for empowerment and that a little glam can go a long way.
“Just because I have EB doesn’t mean I don’t have the right to feel special or even beautiful. I am just as human as everyone else, and I too have dreams and wishes too like everyone else,” Shabir says. “Maybe they’re not the same as others and I may not prioritize as everyone else, but I want to accomplish my dreams before I die.”
Related: 22-Year-Old With Cancer Slays Hospital Stays Through the Power of Makeup
This Woman’s Makeup Tutorial for Cancer Patients Is Beyond Touching
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