Shaheer Khan recommends local brand Zay Beauty's Mod Skot palette
“This question is really exciting, I love talking about this stuff," came Khan’s reply when I asked him about make-up.
From favourite brands to his recommendations, from what he looks for in make-up to his holy grails, I asked him everything I could think of, and here’s the breakdown.
First, holy grails: Khan swears by the lipsticks from Entice Cosmetics and TT Cosmetics, and loves the lip-glosses from Golden Rose. He also loves Jeffree Star liquid lipsticks because they’re good for doing eyes too.
Speaking of eye-work, some of Khan’s favourite brands are: Sugar Pill for their bold branding, colours, pigment and formulation; Morphe eyeshadows for bringing good quality at a decent price; SUVA beauty hydra liners, which have a good formula and colour range. The eye primer and brow kit from Luscious Cosmetics is his absolute fave right now, and his favourite mascara and eyeliner is from the British brand Eyeko. For complexion, he loves the Ultra HD stick from Make Up Forever.
"Makeup isn't just there to cover up one's insecurities— it's for exhibiting an image, or a persona. I would love for makeup to be used for self-expression in Pakistani society."
Whilst nearly all the above brands are Khan’s favourites for “his aesthetic”, when I asked him about which brands would he recommend for our readers.
Morphe was the obvious choice for Khan, because Morphe “is a really good, affordable brand with good quality product”. Entice Cosmetics have great lipsticks and primers that everyone should check out. Beautify By Amna has really good primers and serums “especially for the price point”. Luscious Cosmetics, for being both affordable and “up to par” with international brands. Zay Beauty is another local brand that Khan highly recommends, mentioning how their Mod Skod palette “is such an iconic palette, such good quality, and so well thought out”.
Khan was very particular about recommending local brands “because the Pakistani make-up industry is KILLING IT recently […] and I am so proud of them, and I would rather use a Pakistani product than something from abroad anyway, because I want to support my country and I want to support my people, and I’m really proud of them”.
Rapid fire
This is just another way of saying I bombarded Khan with a lot of questions because my team and I were really excited to hear his answers.
Where do you get your make up from?
Mostly family and friends who send him make-up from abroad, along with brands that he collaborates with. If he needs to buy anything, most things are available in Multan, especially since Khan isn’t that picky and doesn’t mind using drug-store make-up, and if something isn’t available, there’s always online shopping!
Which brands are you currently collaborating with?
Luscious Cosmetics, Beautify By Amna, Sigma Beauty (!!!).
Fave beauty gurus?
Khan says he’s “very picky with who he religiously follows”. RawBeautyKristi on YouTube is one, because he loves “how casual and relatable” her videos are. James Charles and Jeffree Star for their out-of-the-box, enjoyable and innovative content. Khan confesses that he is more inspired by Instagram artists than Youtubers when it comes to inspiration, with Giulianna Maria being on the top of his list, along with Rocio Cervantes (whose “Youtube is a banger” too).
Which celebrity’s make-up do you love?
"I absolutely love the late Madam Noor Jahan's makeup! Iconic!!!," he says.
Thoughts on the local make-up scene?
"The local makeup scene is pretty tame and, although dormant, still quite immature. Makeup is not as big in Pakistan as it is abroad and the variety in self-expression through makeup is very rare but, slowly, things are definitely changing!"
Which make-up trends do you want to see Pakistanis follow?
I would love for makeup to be used as self-expression and to be normalised in Pakistani society. Makeup isn't just there to cover up one's insecurities— it's for exhibiting an image, or a persona. It's for experimenting and for self-empowerment.
What do you love other than make-up?
I love literature and poetry! I also love music, it's my favourite form of art after visual arts. I really enjoy cooking from time to time as well. I'm a very boring 'lil boy hahaha.
Which celebrities’ make-up would you love to do?
Hungry on IG and Bjork!
So what's the big deal?
I know many of you might be wondering, ‘Okay, we get it, man who does make-up, very exciting, but so what, why does it matter?’, and the honest answer is that, despite your scepticism, it matters on many counts.
Whether you think of Khan as a man in make-up defying societal restrictions and stereotypes, or as someone adding diversity and representation to both the local and international make-up scenes, he is doing all that whilst also demonstrating how far dedication to a craft can take you—and that make-up is indeed a craft.
Whilst it is very tempting to argue the materialistic status of make-up in our current world, we can't ignore how the rise of make-up and MUAs on social media has helped to diversify make-up like never before and spark debates and voice concerns that previously had been unheard. For example, shade ranges in the international make-up industry are blatantly biased against people of colour, just like many structures that are inherently racist, and the rise of beauty gurus has consequently helped to address those structures and change them to some extent. Too Faced collaborated with Jackie Aina, for example, to expand their shade range after she raised concerns on her Youtube channel. This further opens up the space to discuss how we encounter racism in various forms as consumers.
Thus, when considering how the producer-consumer relationship in the world of make-up has become multi-faceted, supporting and appreciating local MUAs is important not just for the development of our industry but also for the purposes of representation — prominent artists can raise awareness about other matters and project positive, accurate images of our country and society.
By understanding how industries and social structures work, and how universal notions of politics, race, equality and representation manifest in those structures, we can have conversations that can set about the necessary changes we wish to see in society. Just like Khan is more than just his love for make-up, our industries and our relationships to them are more than what we may think.