Portrait by Merve Hasman
My father is from Guyana and my mother is Trinidadian. They both decided to remain in UK, but present in my upbringing was a bit of everything. We had the best of British, Guyanese and Trinidadian culture, which has given me a broader outlook on life. My siblings and I are all very close in age and I always wonder how my mum managed it. I am my parents third child; I have two older sisters and a younger brother, who was my partner in crime.
Nadira on the far left
My alarm can go off at any time depending on the day ahead; for commercial work I am often up at 5am, for photo-shoots 7am and on rare days off or when I’m working from home I have a little lie in to as late as 9am. Being Coeliac means I have to avoid gluten and certain grains so in the mornings I have my special bread with a slice of meat and black Italian coffee. I can’t be as stylish as I want to because I always get make-up all over my clothes so I would describe my style as comfortable casual and a bit anti fashion.
Photographed by Karan Kapoor/Painted 1/Model Rosie
Art and History have always been my main passions, mainly because they were my strongest subjects at school. After panicking about what to do, I eventually got onto the Theatre Make Up course at the renowned London College of Fashion, which supplied me with in-depth knowledge on the history of make-up artistry, cosmetic science and of course, wig-making.
Photographed by Karan Kapoor/Body and Shine/ Model Shumi
This was good grounding, but the shock of how big the industry was lowered my self-esteem. I wasn’t sure whether I was cut out to be a make-up artist, but I soldiered on sometimes with no money and lack of self-belief.
Photographed by Caroline Molloy/My signature look/Model Karen
Eventually, the momentum began to build when I started to get recommended for jobs and I progressed gradually. Even though I didn’t follow the usual pattern of assisting lots of other make-up artist I survived and strongly believe there is no strength where there is no struggle.
I do both fashion, advertising and publicity work such as working on commercials, videos and with celebrities. I made up the face of Gordon Ramsey who is such a gentleman and not the hot-tempered man on TV, at least not when I’ve worked with him.
Women are multifaceted and intriguing specimens. Make-up artist can be stereotyped as girly, high maintenance or quick to judge, but I am far from it. I am a believer in enhancing what you have if you want too, it’s your choice. The best thing I ever told myself was to be comfortable in my own skin. Own it, wear it and be it!
I am a ComplexdWoman because I am an average woman among much greatness and its so nice be comfortable with that and not ask for any more or any less.