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Jordanian makeup artist builds on ‘natural’ look
By Haya Najdawi, Jordan News
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AMMAN — Rama Hijazi, a 20-year-old Jordanian
makeup artist, who studies marketing and management in the UK, has been gaining
social media followers for her makeup videos on Instagram and TikTok. اضافة اعلان
The artists first dabbled in makeup in 2013, when she was only 12 years old.
“There was a phase when everyone was obsessed with YouTube tutorials.
YouTube videos were as popular as TikTok videos are now, and I remember I would watch lots of makeup tutorials, mostly by YouTubers like Jaclyn Hill, Chloe Morello, and Carli Bybel. I really loved them,” Hijazi told Jordan News in a recent interview.
Makeup artist Rama Hijazi is pictured in this undated photo. (Photo: Handout from Rama Hijazi)
“Then I remember I would buy the products that are mentioned in multiple videos, and practice putting makeup on myself” said Hijazi.
After a couple of years, when she was in the eighth grade, with a little more experience in makeup; she attended a makeup course by the Lebanese makeup artist Samer Khouzami.
“He came to Jordan for a one-day course, I went with my aunt — who is also a makeup artist — and we learned about contouring, how to shape the face and about highlights.
‘Contouring’ and ‘highlighting’ were new techniques back then,” she recalled.
The artist said she fell in love with makeup because it has the power to change someone’s appearance or cover an insecurity.
“I used to have really bad face acne; to be able to put some makeup on and change the way I looked gave me so much confidence, plus the happiness I felt whenever I did other people’s makeup is just amazing,” Hijazi explained.
“The satisfaction I see when I’m done with a customer's makeup and them being happy saying that they love the way they look is an amazing feeling, and I guess that’s why I love what I do,” Hijazi said.
The artist also talked about how makeup “is very seasonal”.
Makeup artist Rama Hijazi is pictured in this undated photo. (Photo: Handout from Rama Hijazi)
“Summer is ‘high season,’ because of proms, graduations, and weddings.
Winter is ‘low season’ and I usually focus on studying for university in winter, so there’s no market for me,” Hijazi said.
“When it is prom season for example, I can get up to five customers a day, but in winter I can go for a while without any customers, so I wouldn’t say makeup is my source of income, because it is not,” Hijazi said.
“Whatever money I make from customers, I usually put towards buying more makeup products,” she added.
For the artist, a looks that provide a youthful glow, a touch of sun-kissed color, or a sense of simple and natural are her favorite.
“What defines my style in makeup is my own opinion,” she said, adding that she prefers simple improvements over full-on transformations.
“If you look at photos you will see that I don’t do that much of a transformation, you know like an ‘all over the top’ look is not my thing at all.
I simply focus on what the customer likes and makes their face look prettier, I can do a full-glam too but it is not my go to,” said Hijazi.
Hijazi went to explain how she understands “the struggle” of trying to find a good makeup artist.
“I cannot relate to not being uncomfortable while getting my makeup done, and I would hate it if my customers were unhappy and had an unpleasant experience, so I always ask while I am applying the makeup ‘do you like this? Do you prefer this or that?’ and I do what they ask,” Hijazi explained.
“I try to balance between what they like and what I like my work to turn out as.
Some customers might ask for stuff that I would never do; for example, I would never do a heavy eye-look with a bold lip, it’s not my style — either this or that,” she continued saying.
The artist says that it is very important to keep practicing on new makeup techniques, “I have been in this field for almost eight years and I am still learning new things, good tools are important to have,” Hijazi said.
“I would advise aspiring makeup artists to keep practicing, if you think you are bad at makeup wait until you see photos of the first few looks I did, but you get better at it as long as you practice.”
Read more Lifestyle
The artists first dabbled in makeup in 2013, when she was only 12 years old.
“There was a phase when everyone was obsessed with YouTube tutorials.
YouTube videos were as popular as TikTok videos are now, and I remember I would watch lots of makeup tutorials, mostly by YouTubers like Jaclyn Hill, Chloe Morello, and Carli Bybel. I really loved them,” Hijazi told Jordan News in a recent interview.
Makeup artist Rama Hijazi is pictured in this undated photo. (Photo: Handout from Rama Hijazi)
“Then I remember I would buy the products that are mentioned in multiple videos, and practice putting makeup on myself” said Hijazi.
After a couple of years, when she was in the eighth grade, with a little more experience in makeup; she attended a makeup course by the Lebanese makeup artist Samer Khouzami.
“He came to Jordan for a one-day course, I went with my aunt — who is also a makeup artist — and we learned about contouring, how to shape the face and about highlights.
‘Contouring’ and ‘highlighting’ were new techniques back then,” she recalled.
The artist said she fell in love with makeup because it has the power to change someone’s appearance or cover an insecurity.
“I used to have really bad face acne; to be able to put some makeup on and change the way I looked gave me so much confidence, plus the happiness I felt whenever I did other people’s makeup is just amazing,” Hijazi explained.
“The satisfaction I see when I’m done with a customer's makeup and them being happy saying that they love the way they look is an amazing feeling, and I guess that’s why I love what I do,” Hijazi said.
The artist also talked about how makeup “is very seasonal”.
Makeup artist Rama Hijazi is pictured in this undated photo. (Photo: Handout from Rama Hijazi)
“Summer is ‘high season,’ because of proms, graduations, and weddings.
Winter is ‘low season’ and I usually focus on studying for university in winter, so there’s no market for me,” Hijazi said.
“When it is prom season for example, I can get up to five customers a day, but in winter I can go for a while without any customers, so I wouldn’t say makeup is my source of income, because it is not,” Hijazi said.
“Whatever money I make from customers, I usually put towards buying more makeup products,” she added.
For the artist, a looks that provide a youthful glow, a touch of sun-kissed color, or a sense of simple and natural are her favorite.
“What defines my style in makeup is my own opinion,” she said, adding that she prefers simple improvements over full-on transformations.
“If you look at photos you will see that I don’t do that much of a transformation, you know like an ‘all over the top’ look is not my thing at all.
I simply focus on what the customer likes and makes their face look prettier, I can do a full-glam too but it is not my go to,” said Hijazi.
Hijazi went to explain how she understands “the struggle” of trying to find a good makeup artist.
“I cannot relate to not being uncomfortable while getting my makeup done, and I would hate it if my customers were unhappy and had an unpleasant experience, so I always ask while I am applying the makeup ‘do you like this? Do you prefer this or that?’ and I do what they ask,” Hijazi explained.
“I try to balance between what they like and what I like my work to turn out as.
Some customers might ask for stuff that I would never do; for example, I would never do a heavy eye-look with a bold lip, it’s not my style — either this or that,” she continued saying.
The artist says that it is very important to keep practicing on new makeup techniques, “I have been in this field for almost eight years and I am still learning new things, good tools are important to have,” Hijazi said.
“I would advise aspiring makeup artists to keep practicing, if you think you are bad at makeup wait until you see photos of the first few looks I did, but you get better at it as long as you practice.”
Read more Lifestyle
