Faten Hassan : special effects makeup artist

21-year-old Palestinian-Jordanian makeup artist Faten Hassan has avidly watched makeup YouTubers and glam-makeup videos ever since she was a young girl.  اضافة اعلان

Once, YouTube suggested a video on how to do a fake scar using makeup.

“I watched it by accident but, it kind of stuck in my head and later on I tried applying the technique I saw in that video using actual glue. It absolutely was not the same material they used in the video, but had a similar texture,” she recalled.

That is how Hassan first got into special effects makeup, also known as prosthetic makeup.

“I have a knack for anything creepy. I found out that I loved makeup looks with fake blood, scars and burns, and I enjoyed trying to recreate the looks,” she said.

“Even though some people might find these looks disgusting or in some cases disturbing, they are actually my favorite ones to do now,” she told Jordan News.

Makeup looks that are based on different movie characters, like the joker, killer-clowns or even a nun, for example, are most popular, especially around the spooky season in October.

Even though some people might find these looks disgusting or in some cases disturbing, they are actually my favorite ones to do now.

“People usually ask for colorful looks, or looks that are inspired by movie characters for Halloween,” Hassan said.

According to her, prosthetic makeup could be considered a creative form of artistry.

“Sometimes it can be hard to show people your emotions. Special effects makeup can reflect your inner thoughts and feelings, it shows them in a visible, artistic way,” she said.

In one of the projects she worked on, prosthetic makeup was used to show how cyberbullying and hate comments might affect and hurt a person.

“The project showed a young man who is suddenly getting bruises on his face, like he was beaten up, but no one was actually hitting him, the bruises were there to emphasise how hate comments are hurting him, showing their effect on him physically, instead of it only being an emotional pain,” Hassan explained.



In a similar project, she did two makeup looks, one representing a beast, to represent the negative emotions that took over a girl’s life, making her reach a point where she wanted to end her life. After trying to run away from the beast, she finds light and feels powerful; that is when the second character comes in to render the hope and strength that filled her heart.

“The ‘beast’ looked scary, with dark circles under his eyes and veins on his face. He resembled negative emotions and depression, while the other character had an angelic look, white graphic eyeliner and glitter all over her face to resemble hope and light,” Hassan said.

She also spoke about artists’ difficulty in finding job opportunities.

“I find it strange that, until today, it is very hard for special effects makeup artists to learn the techniques in Jordan; there are no courses, for example, that they can take to learn, plus it is very hard and complicated to get the supplies they need for the makeup. Usually these supplies are not available here,” she said.

Another reason it is difficult to find a job in this field, she said, is that “clients are loyal to the few most popular special effects makeup artists, they do not feel the need to go search for others that are less popular”.

That is why she knocks at doors: “I came to find out that if I sit around and do nothing but wait for an opportunity to find me, I will never make it in this field; you, as an artist, have to go to filming sets and locations, introduce yourself to make connections with directors, actors, singers and people in general, and chase the opportunities yourself, otherwise you will not get a chance.”



Hassan also posts makeup content on her social media platforms.

“I love filming videos, in general, and I think that it is essential that I focus on my social media now, if I ever want to make myself well-known as a special effects makeup artist,” she said.

“I want to be able to turn my passion into a full-time career. My dream is to eventually have a positive influence on people. I want them to actually feel like, by following my content, for example, they are adding to their knowledge,” Hassan said.


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