We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Halima Saadia a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Halima, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Let’s kick things off with your mission – what is it and what’s the story behind why it’s your mission?

Halima Saadia is a professional makeup artist, community advocate, and influencer whose passion for art teaches, inspires, and provides confidence to women of all walks of life. Her mission: to show that regardless of one’s background, there is beauty inside you ready to bloom….it just needs a little light and love. Being a Black Muslimah, Halima have been able to address many issues that she faces that may be swept under the rug while providing a platform of love and light. A shining light and voice for the community, Halima is known for providing a Serene Experience in and out of the industry. Having to start her journey to makeup through self expression with art due to a challenged filled childhood; makeup gave Halima a voice. Halima continues to challenge societal standards of Black Women and making sure the world understands we are not monolithic.

Raised by her older sister, a child of a recovering addict, and growing up with constant struggles, I found the light in dark situations and used my story as a platform to provide resources to my community. She noticed that finding your “village” was so important when going through this life and why I started my business and scholarship.

Halima, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I got into this industry by accident to be completely honest. I used to model before I started covering and my management told me to think about doing something behind the camera when I no longer want to model. He found a mural that I had done and suggested that I tried bodypainting. You can assume my response; I was confused, but also interested so I tried it out. I ABSOLUTELY FELL IN LOVE! After a few months, I noticed that client’s makeup artist weren’t showing up and I began to teach myself and build a small kit. That was in 2015 and I have been in love with makeup every since.
I learned that what set me apart from other artists is the experience that I provided and me wanting to be part of the “why” that they chose to be in my chair. So many times, we forget as service providers that we are allowing people a moment to escape from their harsh realities. I’ve been blessed to be able to excel in beauty and scifi makeup application. It’s been even better to experience this journey with my “Sunflowers”.

In 2019, I began working closer with the youth because of the shallow understanding of what beauty consisted of and determined to blend the two. This is what I am most proud of! I believe you should have pride in who you are internally and that will reflect on how you present yourself externally. I love the fact that I have given young women someone that they can relate to in terms of chasing your dreams despite traumas.

What do you think helped you build your reputation within your market?

I believe what helped me build my reputation was my vulnerability and sharing my journey. A year ago, I sent out a survey about my brand and what people would appreciate and want more. I thought they were going to say something regarding to tangible things, but they wanted to really get to KNOW me. I thought that being perfect and providing clean marketing was the key to having a successful brand, but that’s not completely the truth. I learned that the more that I shared about my journey, the more I realized that there were other women that were going through the same things. I also realized the more that I opened myself, I began expanding my creative thoughts and began growing and creating my own niche. The creation of “The Garden” is new, but it has created a space where women entered in my space where they could let go of the world and find solace while in my chair.

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?

The most rewarding aspect of being an artist is the freedom AFTER you stop caring. I’m sure that made you pause. As a creative, especially ones that receive an income from it, at one point you lost sight of WHY you began creating in the first place. Many creatives found a way to escape or found their voice in times they felt silenced. THAT feeling is complete freedom. There is a space that you are able to dive into where there is no rules or explanation, however there is a language that can be understood through the the heart.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.halimasaadia.com
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/serene_stylez

Image Credits
All image rights are reserved by me