Najla Zainy: Good skin is key to great makeup

Saudi makeup artist Najla Zainy has always been in love with cosmetics. She graduated from King Abdulaziz University majoring in Islamic Arts where she learned more about her other two passions, colors and painting.
When she was a young girl, she used to collect pictures of celebrities from magazines to either copy their makeup or to make changes to their looks. “I loved playing with my mother’s makeup as I tried to create different celebrity looks on myself and my cousins,” she said. “When I was in high school, I used to apply makeup on my cousins; I also applied makeup for a bride, also a cousin, when I was in the 10th grade,” she added.
When Zainy was still studying in University she was offered her first full time job at a Jeddah-based beauty salon. “I was worried that the working hours would clash with my studies but the owner of the salon was very flexible and offered me reasonable working hours where I could have enough time for my new job and my school work,” she said. “My mother supported the idea as she wanted me to start my career around my passion and also learn how to depend on myself from an early age,” she added.
Zainy’s sister enrolled in a course for hair and makeup and taught her sister the basics. “After I graduated from the university I started working as a freelancer where I used to work on my clients in my home-based makeup studio,” she said. “I then was headhunted by one of Jeddah’s famous beauty salons, Menna Center, where I work now,” she added.
Zainy defines makeup as substances used to improve the appearance of a woman’s face. “Many women in Saudi Arabia see makeup as the materials used only on special occasions, which is not right. Makeup should be applied on daily basis, according to your needs,” she said. “I always encourage women to learn how to apply makeup to themselves to help them beautify their appearance and promote their attractiveness,” she added.
For great makeup, one must have a great base, according to Zainy. “Women should take good care of their skin and spend time on making it healthy because you will never look good with makeup when your skin is tired or dull,” she said. “I always ask my clients to never sleep with their makeup on because that’s when the skin breathes so it is the perfect time to apply a moisturizer and oils to give the skin time to absorb it,” she added.
“You don’t need a lot of makeup to look pretty, sometimes you just need a little mascara and some lipstick and you are good to go; I promote simple and elegant makeup for daily use more than heavy and exaggerated makeup,” said Zainy. “Makeup can express and tell people about your personality, whether you are shy or wild. It can tell people about your style, just like fashion,” she added.
The makeup artist says it is important for every woman to learn how to apply makeup. “I believe every woman needs to take a course or watch YouTube tutorials to learn how to make herself look good with makeup,” she said. “Women need to learn what are their best features and what looks good on them. Some need to focus on the eyes while others on the lips and so on,” she added.
According to Zainy, makeup goes beyond making oneself beautiful; it also gives a woman the much needed self-confidence. “Makeup aims to reveal and highlight one’s beautiful features and hide the unpleasant ones. If you have beautiful eyes, makeup can help in showing them and if you have bad skin, makeup can help you hide it,” she said. “When you look in the mirror and see yourself beautiful, it will make you feel confident. It transforms you into a self-assured person who is ready to take the next step without worry,” she added.
Makeup is an art and makeup artists must be updated with the latest happenings in the makeup world. “I update myself by monitoring the fashion industry through magazines and catwalks. Sometimes it depends on the colors of the seasons and the trends decided by the fashion industry,” said Zainy. “I love watching videos and magazines to learn more about this art and to improve my beauty techniques,” she added.
Zainy says makeup is a culture that started ages ago and defers from one country to another. “There is a huge variety of makeup types, such as for films, weddings, photo shoots, theater and for daily wear,” she said. “There is a special kind of makeup used by artists to make the actor look older, younger, scared or to highlight any other feature to match his role,” she added.
Local saleswomen at cosmetic stores need guidance and help to learn more about the products they sell. “I am very disappointed with the saleswomen in the makeup shops. They have no clue of how it works and what looks good on women. Some of them cannot even read the product because they don’t know English,” she said. “I wish they could apply for makeup courses so they can help costumers better as sometimes they offer the wrong thing to clients, who end up looking like clowns,” she added.
A lack of beauty schools is creating a problem for beauty salons and makeup artists. “We do have small institutes that teach makeup but not everything you need to know. I am shocked at what they actually give and I believe we need decent teaching for the younger generation that is interested in this field,” said Zainy. “One of my future plans is to start my own cosmetics school and conduct workshops for women who want to start a career in this field,” she added.

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