Today’s beauty standards call for eyebrows trimmed, plucked and filled in to perfection, highlight on cheekbones poppin’ and a matte lip an essential. For a broke and busy college student, some of these beauty necessities can be hard to maintain when down to the last hour of studying or last dollar in your account.
Freshman Fatima Sajjad wants to change that horrific reality for students and beauty obsessed people. Her self-taught hand is providing a pampering and inexpensive service for college students on a budget and time crunch through her underground, amateur business, Face by Fatima.
Sajjad herself is always put together. She always has a “beat” face with the greatest Kylie Jenner lip kits, Stila mascara that she swears by and Too Faced highlighter. She is prim and proper, typically dressed in neutral tones and in minimalistic but fashionable pieces. Her long, flowing hair is always perfectly curled at the tips and she fluffs it up in mirrors whenever she passes by one. Her great care for her own appearance makes trusting her with your own an easy task.
It was Sajjad’s mom who first got her into makeup and beauty. “Ever since I was little I would go up to my mom’s vanity and play with her makeup,” Sajjad said, with her legs crossed and perfect posture. Her mom’s love for looking good spread right into Sajjad and flowed stronger as years carried on and she explored other facets of fashion and beauty. At first she would flip through Vogue and InStyle for inspiration, but eventually Fatima got into YouTube beauty gurus, Michelle Phan and Jessica Harlowe, who helped train her into a self-taught makeup artist.
In fact, long-time friend, Marsha Varghese, reported Sajjad’s love of makeup and beauty starting in grade school. Varghese and Sajjad became friends in fifth grade, but Sajjad moved to Ohio in seventh grade. Despite the distance, the girls would facetime constantly and Varghese watched as Sajjad’s love for beauty and makeup intensified. “She would try and teach me how to do a wing over FaceTime and show swatches of lipsticks before swatches were even a thing,” Varghese shared proudly. Varghese also recalled that all gifts from Sajjad involved makeup or Sephora gift cards. Sajjad excitedly shouted across the room about this with a smile gleaming across her face, “I just love to give the gift of beauty to my friends!”
For Sajjad, makeup and beauty is something she enjoys and credits as a stress reliever. The stress of college and her journalism major call for some down time, which she always fills with using her hands to pamper and beautify. It started just within Sajjad’s suite in Hollis Hall. She exchanged cleaning up her suitemate Amy Roman’s eyebrows for French braids by Roman’s hands. From there, Sajjad would return every night from class and want to destress from the pressures of college by giving her suitemates facemasks, eyebrow treatments and practice makeup looks on them.
Since every suitemate was extremely satisfied by Sajjad’s talent and personality, Face by Fatima was born. She offers eyebrow fillings, reshaping and cleaning up, full face of makeup and face mask facials. All business is done within her common area of her dorm room to make it accessible for on campus students, however, she is willing to travel to another dorm for makeup looks before a night out. The best part however is her prices. A typical eyebrow treatment at a local business is at least $10 and full face of makeup can start at $30. Face by Fatima is maintaining its status as an affordable, student-run business by providing eyebrow services priced at $2, face mask facials at $4 and full face of makeup at $7, with the client just providing their own foundation and eyebrow pencils.
Her first ever client, Roman, still goes to Sajjad and swears by her abilities. “She makes you feel pampered and cared for; it is an overall five-star experience,” Roman boasted with her gorgeous, freshly cleaned up eyebrows after her most recent appointment three weeks from her last.
Sajjad’s beautiful and put together exterior paired with her bubbly and friendly personality makes her pampering experience wonderful for the client. If you are a college student looking for affordable beauty, then don’t be afraid to get a sense of Fatima’s beauty at her Instagram @face_by_fatima. Here is to affordable and great glam, tailored perfectly for the stressed college student.
