An Interview with Raisa Naushin
Afrida Lubaba Khan
Where were you born and raised? Do you have any other geographic affiliations other than Bangladesh?
No, I was born in Dhaka specifically, and am a Bangladeshi through and through.
Can you share your story about your journey in the world of beauty? How did you begin your career and how is it going?
As far as I remember, from my very childhood, whenever I got someone I tried to put makeup on that person. I do not specifically remember from what age I started putting makeup on people; however, I just remember I used to put makeup on others a lot. Sometimes, the result used to be horrible but I never stopped. Starting from there, when I was in the 9th standard, my fascination for makeup grew a lot more. At that time, YouTube became quite popular and I used to follow beauty bloggers/vloggers like Jaclyn Hill, Nikkie Tutorials, and many more.
During my school days, my mother gave me pocket money to buy tiffin for lunch — the amount was like Tk 100-200. I saved that money and, for the first time, I bought my own makeup products from Gausia supermarket, Dhaka. The makeup items were a Tk10 eyeshadow and a Tk50 pancake, and I started with those. When I was in the intermediate level, NTV and Woman’s World organized a competition titled “Challenge With Colors,” which was Bangladesh’s first official makeup competition. There, upon a lot of insistence from my friends, I participated randomly and somehow, luckily, I won that competition. That is when my career actually started — I earned some money from the competition and started my business officially.
We are aware of your Facebook Page “Makeover by Raisa Naushin” and it looks fantastic — as ULABIANS we are really proud of you! What are your future goals for the business?
I am a very spontaneous person and I did not have the direct goal of being a makeup artist. I practiced makeup because I liked and loved makeup. As I did not have this idea of doing business in mind, I did not think too far ahead. I just keep doing what I like to do, and I always try to create and bring something new to the table. But now, I think that in the future, when I become more senior/aged, I will create an organization in Bangladesh where people will be trained about the makeup products needed for films. Because I work in the MSJ sector, I see that most of the artists are hired from India or USA for the makeup needed for productions. Hence, if there is an opportunity of learning these things in Bangladesh, we do not have to hire artists from abroad.
Can you name a few well-known faces/celebrities that you have worked with?
I started working in 2016 and I do not remember all of their names. However, one of the people with whom I loved and enjoyed working was Opi Karim. I watched all her TV dramas in my childhood, and seeing her face to face and working with her was something very big for me. Then, there was Rafiath Rashid Mithila, Miss Universe Bangladesh, Shirin Akter Shila, Tangia Zaman Methila, and many others, and I feel very lucky in the sense that I had the opportunity to work with them.
As you may know, many are born talented, and many have worked hard to gain particular skills. We would like to know if you had any training in the field of work you are in.
I would say, considering the field I work in, field experience and practice are way more important than training. So when I used to do makeup in my childhood, I used to do that on my friends or friends of friends, and I think the most important thing that has leveled up my skills is practice and experience. In 2018, I did a course under Selina Manir, a makeup artist from London, but I feel I have learnt the most by myself.
What are your favorite things about your hobby/career?
Sometimes, I feel the work is draining me but the one thing that keeps me going is doing makeup on brides — after their whole transformation, the fact that they become so happy makes me feel like I made their special day even more special. Another thing is that I like creating new styles. In 2016, I first started Halloween makeup; no one did this sort of makeup in Bangladesh back then. I got the chance to bring something new to this country. So, overall I love the fact that I get many opportunities to explore my creativity.
Can you please tell us how you are relating your degree and background in English with your career choice?
I got admitted to the English Department because I had the misconception that studying English would lead to some free time, which I could dedicate to my work. Therefore, I did not get the chance to focus on literature much. It was only until later that I realised that I should opt for a major in Media Studies and Journalism and do my minor in English. However, my education in DEH was valuable. My very first course in the English department was Novel-I, taken by Arifa Rahman Ma’am. From that course, I learned about the history of colonization, how people were superstitious, and how their mindsets were framed on a different level. So what I wanted was to figure out how, with my creativity, I could get those people out of such superstitions.
In every field, as you may know, there are struggles and there are hardships. And, from extreme hardships, success stories are made. Can you please tell us what the biggest challenges you had to face as a makeup artist are? How did you tackle them all by yourself?
For my part, I always had support. From a very young age, I felt like I was a strong woman because I could handle myself with ease. However, I had faced some problems — when you are an entrepreneur, it is a lot of work, and moreover, I am very serious about my studies. Hence balancing these two drains me sometimes and I become mentally stressed.
What motivates you to keep going? Is there anything that you would like to undo/redo — any particular wish?
As we all are human beings, we all make mistakes, but I think we learn from our mistakes, too. Hence, I do not want to redo any of my actions.
We all usually have more than one dream when it comes to a career. Sometimes, when things go south, we hope to keep a backup just in case. If not a makeup artist, is there anything else that you would have pursued instead?
Something that I am still pursuing is filmmaking. I like digital production as I am a student of Media Studies and Journalism, and I really enjoy it. Moreover, as I work on the YouTube platform, I had some knowledge in this area. After studying in this department, I gained a vast amount of knowledge. So, I am pretty sure that besides being a makeup artist, I will be pursuing my career in the area of digital production.
What are the mediums you have been using to promote your profession? Are there any other strategies you use instead of online platforms?
I mainly promote on Instagram, YouTube, and Facebook but before I was a part of this online platform, I used to do makeup on my friends and other relatives. They were the ones who did my promotions and marketing. Then, I used to ask my friends to just click a picture of the makeup I did on them and upload it to social media. They tagged me in their photos, and that worked as well.
Many students of ULAB know you because of your profession, and many are influenced by you as well. For ULABIANS who wish to turn their passion into a profession, what advice would you give them to maximize their chances of success?
This may sound cheesy, but you just need to work really hard and make sure you are passionate about it. Because sometimes people do things to be a part of a trend — some may think vlogging is trendy, but when they actually do it, that person is not passionate about it so they do not pursue that field of interest anymore. So, you have to be one hundred percent sure that you are passionate about this field. Another thing is that people should not just think about the money that they will earn from that field. They have to love the work they are doing and try to bring something new.