Srinagar, July 08: One of the most sought-after makeup artists who are well known in the wedding makeup artist circuit of the Kashmir valley, Waniza Reyaz, 21, chose a career in beauty and wellness sector, while she is still pursuing her bachelor’s degree in arts from Women’s college MA road Srinagar.
Working in the world of makeup for the last three years, Waniza wants to make her clients not only look beautiful but feel beautiful on their wedding day. One unique thing about Waniza is, she offers free bridal makeup to orphan brides across Kashmir valley, and every month she has 5 orphan brides, whom she offers free wedding makeup.
Hailing from Soiteng locality of Lasjan in Srinagar, Waniza is pursuing her bachelor’s in arts from Women’s collage MA road. Though she had not inborn knack for this art, but she has become famous in just three years of choosing this as her career and according to her she is the first youngest certified makeup artist in Kashmir.
In 2019, she did a course in makeup artistry from a Delhi based academy known as Pop Rage Makeup Academy.
Waniza says to have expertise in bridal, party and casual makeup, she did a course, which was of 30 days, but due to her keen interest and her good makeup skills, she completed the course in just 15 days.
“After completing my course in 2019, I did not get time to work much on my makeup skills and did not get enough recognition as there was internet shutdown in Jammu and Kashmir after the abrogation of Article 370, so I had to wait a little and later in 2019, I started an Instagram page where I posted pictures of my work and I soon started getting orders from different parts of the Kashmir valley,” Waniza says.
She says as she started getting a tremendous response for her work and she then decided to offer free bridal makeup to orphan girls, as they don’t have enough resources to bear the expenses of weeding makeup.
“I am offering free wedding makeup to 5 orphan brides every month. Besides excelling in my profession, I want to do something for the society as well, that is my moto. But one thing which I do is, I call these brides to my selected location only, and for the paid clients I go to their location to do their makeover,” Waniza says.
She says she is a freelance makeup artist, and she does the makeover of her clients on freelance basis rather than working for any saloon for employment. “I have my own clientele who can directly call me or reach me through my Instagram page and book an appointment for themselves,” she says.
Waniza, who is the eldest one among her three siblings, besides her businessman father and housewife mother, says her family has been very supportive after she choose this as her profession.
Nowadays many new aspiring entrepreneurs are emerging on different social media sites to make people aware of the services they offer. This young artist is no exception. To expand her clientele, Waniza started her official business page on Instagram by the name “makeup_by_waniza_reyaz.”
Waniza says, during the Covid-19 lockdown last year, there was a decline in orders she used to get as everyone was confined to their homes. “But one good about the lockdown was that I learnt the art of Halloween makeup, which is an add-on to by makeover skills,” she said.
She says financially she has been independent since the day she chose this as her profession. “Though my father does not allow me to utilize my own hard-earned money only, as he has always been very supportive in every manner. I have had the support of my family and friends to turn my passion into a profitable business,” she says.
She said that her message to the youth of Kashmir Valley would be to try and find out the hidden talent inside and try to be independent and self-reliant. “Try to be job-givers not job-seekers, as the Kashmiri youth have tremendous potential to excel in any field and there are several opportunities where youth can be successful entrepreneurs,” Waniza said.
