Professional Mobile Makeup Artist
Thank you so much for visiting my website! My name is Mariam Akbar and I am a professional mobile makeup artist currently living in Calgary, Alberta. I wish I could say that as a little girl I always knew I wanted to be a makeup artist or that I would sit in my mom's room and play with makeup for hours...but the thought truly never occurred to me until years and years later! Growing up, I did however notice and appreciate the beauty in all things and had a passion for anything that called for creativity. I was constantly drawing or crafting when other girls my age were playing with dolls!
I thought I had to grow up and be what society labeled as "the norm" and have a 9-5 office job, which I did for years. Until one day I woke up and thought, "If I don't make a career change and do something that I love, I am going to go insane!". That's around the time that Sephora launched in Calgary and I wanted so badly to get a job there but the little voice inside my head said "why would they hire me?", but guess what- they sure did! Although I was blessed with a talent of being artistic, a gift really, I lacked in the area of product knowledge; however, working at Sephora quickly filled that void for me. I soon became what they call a "Color Expert" and was trained by them in both Edmonton and San Francisco. My confidence started to excel as people began seeing my work and what I was capable of creating. From Sephora I was offered a job at Holt Renfrew Calgary to be a Counter Manager for a line called Shu Uemura and I was trained by them in Toronto. One thing Shu Uemura is known for is their amazing false lashes and working there allowed me to take my creativity to even greater depths as I applied lashes in many different colors and lengths!
I then was very blessed with, in my mind, the best job there is, I became a mother to a beautiful baby boy!
I am now focused on my freelance work and am a lead makeup artist for a few amazing lines which keeps me busy making client's look and feel their best. I also partnered up with photographers and am on call at a few reputable salons. Being a makeup artist is an amazing job with many fulfilling moments that I treasure. I am very content in the destiny life drew for me and often ask myself "How did I at one point never think to do this for a living??" I love to enhance the beauty my clients possess and play up their best features...they were given to us for a reason! Although I often say, you can apply all the makeup you want but without inner confidence, you will never feel beautiful to your full potential. The reaction I get when someone sees what a little makeup and a lot of enhancing can do is enough push for me on an everyday basis. I want to finish off by thanking my beautiful friends, truly if it weren't for you I wouldn't be where I am today. I still remember the day I was first asked to do my friends bridal makeup...I nearly fainted. They saw a talent in me that I was blind to at the time and they encouraged me to move forward with it. Well actually they literally forced me into it!! I hope my story has inspired you in some way and I encourage you to follow your dreams. I promise if you truly want something and work hard you will achieve great things and will always come out on top! Cheers to inner beauty that is excelled by outer beauty, which of course includes a little bit of makeup and a lot of fun! -Mariam xo
I thought I had to grow up and be what society labeled as "the norm" and have a 9-5 office job, which I did for years. Until one day I woke up and thought, "If I don't make a career change and do something that I love, I am going to go insane!". That's around the time that Sephora launched in Calgary and I wanted so badly to get a job there but the little voice inside my head said "why would they hire me?", but guess what- they sure did! Although I was blessed with a talent of being artistic, a gift really, I lacked in the area of product knowledge; however, working at Sephora quickly filled that void for me. I soon became what they call a "Color Expert" and was trained by them in both Edmonton and San Francisco. My confidence started to excel as people began seeing my work and what I was capable of creating. From Sephora I was offered a job at Holt Renfrew Calgary to be a Counter Manager for a line called Shu Uemura and I was trained by them in Toronto. One thing Shu Uemura is known for is their amazing false lashes and working there allowed me to take my creativity to even greater depths as I applied lashes in many different colors and lengths!
I then was very blessed with, in my mind, the best job there is, I became a mother to a beautiful baby boy!
I am now focused on my freelance work and am a lead makeup artist for a few amazing lines which keeps me busy making client's look and feel their best. I also partnered up with photographers and am on call at a few reputable salons. Being a makeup artist is an amazing job with many fulfilling moments that I treasure. I am very content in the destiny life drew for me and often ask myself "How did I at one point never think to do this for a living??" I love to enhance the beauty my clients possess and play up their best features...they were given to us for a reason! Although I often say, you can apply all the makeup you want but without inner confidence, you will never feel beautiful to your full potential. The reaction I get when someone sees what a little makeup and a lot of enhancing can do is enough push for me on an everyday basis. I want to finish off by thanking my beautiful friends, truly if it weren't for you I wouldn't be where I am today. I still remember the day I was first asked to do my friends bridal makeup...I nearly fainted. They saw a talent in me that I was blind to at the time and they encouraged me to move forward with it. Well actually they literally forced me into it!! I hope my story has inspired you in some way and I encourage you to follow your dreams. I promise if you truly want something and work hard you will achieve great things and will always come out on top! Cheers to inner beauty that is excelled by outer beauty, which of course includes a little bit of makeup and a lot of fun! -Mariam xo