Breaking Taboos: Kashmiri Women Choose ¡®Make-Up¡¯ As New Career And They Are Really Good At It

At a place like Kashmir, where there are no job opportunities due to lack of private sector, women here are breaking the social taboos and choosing unconventional careers. The most trending career they have chosen is in the beauty and wellness sector. They have become professional make-up artists and set-up their own start-ups.

Studying medicine or engineering is no longer the only option for the youth in the valley as they try their luck in other careers too.

Many young women in Kashmir have taken advantage of the boom in changing trends and ventured into the Industry. Indiatimes decided to feature at least five top female faces from the valley who have been in the field and have set a benchmark. They may have faced a backlash but their spirit to do best and achieve new heights of success keeps them going.

Munisa Mehraj Zargar

Munisa Mehraj Zargar

Popularly known by her social media name glamupbyanu, the 30-year-old Munisa is the most sought celebrity make-up artist in Kashmir. ¡°It has been truly a great experience to make-up the film stars visiting the valley for the shoots. We also get to learn a lot,¡± she says.

She got her first break in 2019. ¡°I got the make-up of TV actor Sunny Sachdeva done in Delhi. Later it was followed by music composer duo Sachin-Jigar, Salim Merchant, Prince Narula and others in Srinagar,¡± Munisa told Indiatimes.

Munisa who has studied cosmetology said that it was really challenging to enter into the film line for this work. ¡°When you have so many make-up artists in the valley and one needs to show its presence, naturally one has to choose something different. I got in touch with the local line producers who helped me. Before going for the celebrity make-up, I had to show them some trail work,¡± she said.

She said that her husband and in-laws have been very supportive to allow her to pursue this career. ¡°My mother-in-law is a working woman and she also wanted me to be working. I didn¡¯t have to put much effort to motivate my family,¡± she said.

Saba Shafi

Saba Shafi

Having her origin from north Kashmir¡¯s Sopore town but born and brought in Srinagar, Saba is a known name in the valley. She has one lakh and forty nine thousand followers on photo-sharing app Instagram by the name ¡®Makeup by Saba¡¯. She is being considered the first female make-up artist from the valley who has set this trend rolling.

¡°In 2012, I went to London to meet my brother and sister who live there. After staying there for some ten days, I felt bored and decided to pursue a course in make-up as I already had an interest in the subject. After coming back to Kashmir, I started dolling my friends and cousins up on their wedding days but later I started receiving the orders for the make-up. That¡¯s when I decided to choose this as a career,¡± says Saba who is in her early thirties.

¡°I shifted to Delhi for freelance work later. In the beginning, I got to do the make-up of some 35 guests in a Non Resident Indian (NRI) wedding at Udaipur. It was an amazing experience,¡± says Saba.

Saba opened her Instagram and Facebook page after receiving the positive response and now she takes the new orders on her Instagram handle.

Saba believes that parents in Kashmir are now allowing their girls to choose this profession. ¡°Since they found that other girls in the field are doing well, they have given liberty to their kids,¡± she said.

She says that people in the valley are too shy to spend a penny on make-up. ¡°They can create memories that will be cherished forever,¡± she added.

Sami Khankashi

Sami Khankashi

30-year-old Sami believes in giving quality work to her customers. ¡°We should value the people¡¯s money in these tough times and give our best services,¡± says Sami, a native of Srinagar.

As of now Sami is taking her orders on Instagram. ¡°Studio is in progress. Hopefully, it will be thrown open by next year,¡± she said.

Sami is available on Instagram with the name makeupstorybysami.

Sami says that this is such an important work and artists need to learn professionally. ¡°In many cases, I have seen people taking the basic lessons from YouTube and getting into the profession which is totally wrong and is degrading the profession,¡± says Sami who does celebrity, bridal, pre-wedding and other make-ups.

Sami started her career some four years back as a freelance make-up artist in Delhi but came back after pandemic broke out.

She says that there is a section of people who are still making the attempts to pull them down but it wouldn¡¯t deter their spirits.

Sami has done the make-up for several stars like Mahira Sharma, Miel and A Kay in Srinagar.

Sabinaa Shafi

Sabinaa Shafi

Isn¡¯t this the love for make-up, when one can leave their well paid aviation job? This is the story of Srinagar based professional make-up artist Sabinaa Shafi who is well known by her Instagram name makeupbysabinaa. She has over one lakh and twenty two thousand followers.

Brought up in Delhi and having served as cabin supervisor at a private jet, Sabinaa knows well to carve her own niche. ¡°I always had love to decorate things and wanted to do it in an innovative way. Having spent over ten years in the field of aviation took me to different parts of the world where I got to see their lifestyle and culture. This is also a factor that inspired me to choose this career,¡± she said.

¡°When I used to go out of the country, I used to buy make-up, do trials with my friends and family, they started loving it and I got involved into the profession,¡± says Sabinaa who has done a make-up artistry course from the UK in 2016.

She said it was very tough to motivate her father to choose the aviation sector. ¡°That was totally a different field. But for the make-up, everyone went smoothly as they had been impressed by the respect I had achieved so far,¡± says Sabinaa who is an expert in bridal makeover.

Diya Umar

Diya Umar

Diya is considered as the valley¡¯s second make-up artist. She started her career back in 2015 with a passion to look for innovative ideas to boost the profession. ¡°I was skeptical about this work in the beginning as there were not many make-up artists. I was confused about whether this profession would work or not but finally I took the risk and got into it. I have loved my work,¡± says Diya who has done a make-up course from a London based academy in Delhi.

She started her own studio in 2016. ¡°We also expanded the work to jewellery, bridal attires and other stuff,¡± she says.

Diya believes that the profession has a lot of scope if the work is done in the right way. ¡°If someone is investing in you, they want the best services and we need to ensure this. One definitely needs to study the courses if they are looking for the jobs in this field,¡± says 35-year-old Diya who has organised various tutorials for the girls.

The artist recalls the time last year when the pandemic was on peak and they lost their business. ¡°We used to take 80-85 brides in a season but after COVID, it has become tough to hardly get 30 brides,¡± she says.

The writer is a Srinagar based freelance contributor.