Mother & MUA Rukshana Begum On Breaking Into Beauty & Celebrating Eid
The month of Ramdan is a special month for Muslims across the world and one very close to our hearts. To round off Ramdan and to get in the spirit of Eid, we collabed with the incredible content creators from Modest Visions, a global agency representing millennial, Muslim content creators, to have them takeover our platform and share their stories with you.
We were honored and excited to get the chance to interview the very talented Rukshana Begum, a makeup artist, mother, and beauty and fashion influencer based in Manchester, UK. Rukshana has been in the industry as a makeup artist for over 10 years, and has been through many ups and downs to make her career in online content creation a success. When she’s not creating fire makeup tutorials, inspiring your next outfit or looking after her adorable son, Adam, you might find Rukshana getting crafty and doing some home DIY.
We asked Rukshana all about her challenges along the way, and she also shares some very wise advice for any of you looking to follow in her talented footsteps. Of course, we also chatted a bit about beauty and self-love, and how Rukshana has celebrated this wonderful holy month. We are truly honored to share her story with you.
Check out our full takeover on our Huda Beauty Instagram Stories today, where more talented beauties from Modest Visions will be talking about how they show love to others and themselves during the month of Ramadan and their upcoming Eid celebrations.
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Meet the very talented, kind, and inspiring Rukshana Begum:
1. Tell us about your journey as an influencer and how you got started?
I started my journey many years ago when there was little to no women of color on social media. I found it very difficult to find women who looked like me growing up. I was teased for the way I looked for my darker skin, so I always felt like the odd one out. I never fitted in, so I thought there must be hundreds of women/men out there like me who feel the same way, so I took the leap of faith and started my Instagram and YouTube channel, creating makeup tutorials, fashion looks, and hijab tutorials.
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2. Were there any challenges along the way and if so, how did you overcome them? Have there been any challenges youʼve faced as a Muslim creator?
When I started out it was a lot more difficult trying to break into the beauty industry, firstly being a hijabi Muslim influencer there was very little opportunity available. And on top of that, being a South Asian woman of color, I dealt with a lot of racist colorism remarks from people online, they couldnʼt seem to accept a South Asian WOC proudly embracing her skin tone. But I kept on going, trying to break the stigma and the barriers a lot of women like me face, at times I wanted to give up. Sometimes the mean comments got too much and I was ready to pack in, but something told me to keep going itʼll all be worth it. Just receiving that one message from a supporter saying, “Iʼve helped them love their skin, theyʼve learned to accept their flaws,” was like a mission accomplished, and it kept me going.
Over time, a lot of support and love started coming in and I grew thick skin. I accepted the fact Iʼm just not for everyone and thatʼs okay. Once I changed my mindset I was able to overcome the negative experience by focusing on the positive.
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3. Youʼre a mother, congratulations! How has your life and your work changed since having your son?
Thank you so much! Being a mother has truly been the biggest blessing I could have ever asked for: he gives me a true purpose and meaning to everything I do. Iʼve become more focused in my work; once you’re a mum your work revolves around your children, so I now set times so Iʼm a lot more organised, and Iʼm balancing my work hours around being a full-time mum.
4. How do you show yourself love between creating content and being a mother and a wife?
For me itʼs all about the little things: just having 5 minutes to myself is enough to make me feel relaxed. For example: I recently purchased a fancy Nordic mug – it may sound silly to others, but it makes me feel good sipping on my tea in a fancy cup, even doing my nighttime skincare routine is more meaningful than ever because itʼs a bit of ME time. I also enjoy cleaning my home, making it smell nice, look presentable for everyone, and I enjoy doing a bit of home DIY. I feel accomplished doing something different other than work, it lets me be creative and I’ve always loved a bit of arts and crafts.
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5. What does self-love mean to you?
Self-love begins from within: it’s being true to who you are, without needing validation from others. Self-love is also about respecting yourself, not allowing anyone to mistreat you, being able to put up boundaries, and saying “NO, I donʼt deserve that I wonʼt put up with it.”
6. Ramadan is such a special month – how did you show love to yourself and others during this time?
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So this year my son turned one and I wanted to make Ramadan fun for him so as he grows older he can look back at how festive and special this time of year is. I built him a little masjid corner, decorating the whole room to get into the Ramadan spirit – I love interior and DIY! I also surprised one of my followers by turning up to her house and decorating her living room for Ramadan, it was organised by her younger sister who said sheʼs a huge fan of me. Theyʼve faced a lot of hardship due to Covid, and her sister has been suffering with depression and PND, and she didnʼt have the energy to do up the house. So, she asked if I could do something for her, so I stepped in and made it special for her whole family, especiallyy for her 8-year-old son; I made his little corner more comfortable so he can study his Arabic classes in peace.
I also used my platform to raise money for charity by selling some of my beloved outfits – I knew this would be the best way, being a beauty and fashion influencer! With the money raised, it fed 100 children in Syria.
7. Reflecting on Ramadan, what did you learn?
Iʼve learned how quick time flies by! I had planned so much for this Ramadan but some days I couldnʼt get things done and it made me think about life in general and that itʼs so important to use your time/ your day wisely, make it productive if you can, and enjoy each day and donʼt take it for granted.
8. How will you spend your Eid and what are you most excited for?
I will be spending eid with my loved ones. I donʼt get to see my family very often as the drive is quite far, so when Adam [my son] finally gets to see family, his reaction is priceless. He loves being around people, so I am looking forward to that the most, and just making memories with the people dearest to me.
9. What are some of your Eid beauty essentials?
My beauty essentials for Eid is defo good skin prep! So, the night before I will be drenching my face in an overnight mask by Origins; this is great for dry skin. For morning, I will be using my WISHFUL Skin Yo Glow Enzyme Scrub (I have been obsessed with this since I got it), and makeup-wise for Eid, I’ll be using Huda Beauty #FauxFilter Stick Foundation. I love how it gives me a natural dewy base but I do like to set my oily areas, so I’ll be using my mini Huda Beauty Baby Bake Kunafa powder; I love how tiny it is – perfect to carry around when traveling. Wispy lashes are a must; it literally completes the look but Iʼve not chosen which ones I’ll be using yet. But hereʼs some makeup looks Iʼve created in the past to give you an idea of how I like my Eid makeup look to be:
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10. Weʼre obsessed with your outfit styling and makeup looks! When it comes to choosing a head covering, what are your tips? Do you like to try to tie it in with your makeup or your outfit?
Thank you so much! Yes, my hijab plays such a big part in my outfit styling. The last piece to my outfit is what hijab Iʼm going to wear; it makes such a difference, for example, when Iʼm wearing summery floral dresses, I like a chiffon hijab – itʼs light and easy to just throw over the shoulder for a simple, elegant look. When I wear a smart look, I usually like a turban, and I find cotton is the best material for that as it doesnʼt slide off so easily and is easy to wrap and style. Jersey hijabs I wear for comfort (again you can wear loosely as it doesnʼt slide off your hair), or wear it tight around the face, it kinda lifts the face, and it’s a material I like to wear in colder weathers.
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11. What advice would you give to other aspiring MUAs or Muslim content creators who want to follow in your footsteps?
I would say just do it and BE YOURSELF! Donʼt compare and change who you are to fit in, donʼt focus your worth based on the number of followers you have or the amount of likes you get. You want to enjoy creating content, you donʼt want to burn yourself out trying to do what everyone is else doing. If you’re not being true to who you are, find your purpose and ask yourself some questions: “what do you want to gain? What do you want your followers to gain?” There is so much I could say, but my last advise would be to support others the same way youʼd want people to support you.
12. What are your goals and dreams for the future?
In the future, I would love to start a business my family can be involved in, but Iʼm not too sure which route I’ll be taking later on in life. I have so many dreams and goals but one of them is that I hope I’ll be big enough one day to collaborate with brands; bringing out products with them – that would be soo cool! 🙂 hint hint… 😉
Thank you so much for interviewing me itʼs been an absolute pleasure. X
We don’t know about you guys, but we are inspired and so impressed with Rukshana’s journey and all the amazing things she has achieved and done, both for her own career and for others. Don’t forget to follow her on Instagram and check out our Huda Beauty Instagram Stories today to hear from more amazing content creators and how they celebrate Eid.
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