As all of us here in the Color My Face beauty community know, YouTube has taken the internet by storm with its open platform to allow beauty "gurus" to share their tips, tricks, advice and so forth with the rest of the world. One such expert is the AMAZING Farah Dhukai. This Toronto based cosmetologist has been nothing less than a success by making her mark in the YouTube universe with her quirky sense of humor, highly insightful tutorials and her desire to keep women looking and feeling their best. Farah's journey on YouTube started 2 1/2 years ago with one simple statement "LET'S BE FRIENDS"! I know I accepted the offer, and trust me after this interview you will to....let's see what the ever so wonderful Farah Dhukai has to say.
CMF: Hi Farah, thank you for taking the time to do this blog interview with Color My Face. For the readers that are not familiar with your background in cosmetology or YouTube, can you please tell us how you began in the beauty industry and where it has led you to date?
FD: Hi darling! Its my pleasure! It made me so happy to know that people would be interested in getting to know more about me! I was interested in beauty from a young age. My sister is a few years older than I am so I would always go play in her make up when I was younger and wear her lipstick ALL wrong.. and by all wrong I mean Id have clown lips haha all throughout my childhood I was known for wearing my make up all wrong but hey.. I was learning and I thought I looked cute! As I was finishing high school I was in the dilemma of "what do I LOVE to do and what do I want to make a career out of" and the only thing that came to mind was make up. I live and breathe make up! So out of high school, I went to the School of Make Up Art in downtown Toronto and graduated with honours in Make up Artistry and then a year down the road, I moved to New York to go school at Aveda for Cosmetology. I found that freelancing just wasn't for me and at the end of the day, all I would do is teach people how I did a certain look.. so one day I was just browsing the internet and found some videos on YouTube and thought HEY I NEEEEED to do this!!! So I grabbed my camera and have been in LOVE with it since then and now here I am!
Clearly you have covered a lot of ground with your work. What is the most rewarding part of being in the beauty industry?
Hands down.. all the positive comments I get from women around the world telling me how I've changed their lives for the better and how I've made them feel better about themselves! Words cannot express how warm my heart feels when I get emails from women saying I've helped boost their self esteem and how I've helped them feel confident in themselves! That has got to be the most rewarding part of it all! A lot of us tend to forget that were all beautiful in our own way!
As a fan, I've noticed you take a more natural approach to beauty treatments you recommend and often give tutorials of how we as viewers can achieve these treatments at home ourselves. What makes this approach more attractive to you as opposed to purchasing the new "it" product to use and/or review?
I have been a sucker to trying the new "it" product and I still am.. but at the end of the day I found all it did was empty my wallet and it did nothing for my hair or skin. After wasting my money on new products, I always found myself going back to the natural treatments that my mom and grandmother taught me and the best part about them is that they're much cheaper! I mean its great that using a natural alternative is much cheaper, but as I've been getting older, its been scaring me all the chemicals that we put in and on our bodies on a daily basis.. ya the product might work great but we don't know what its doing to our bodies in the long run.. so that's why I like a more natural approach to skin and hair care.
I'd like to delve into your personal routine for a moment. What do you do daily and/or weekly to your face to keep it fresh and glowing? And now that we're going through a change in seasons, will your face routine change as well?
My personal routine changes all the time because I get so bored and excited with new things all the time. I get requests all the time for a skincare routine but because I'm constantly reading up on natural ways to treat a certain skin issue, I try a new thing out probably every week! I haven't found anything that I'm in love with as of yet, except for the turmeric mask that I showed in a video. That is my HOLY GRAIL when all else fails for me.. that's my mask right thereeeee!!! No matter what season, I always fall back on that mask!
Sometimes with school or work...life in general, we tend to neglect or bodies and the results are never pretty. Do you ever find yourself so busy that you have to stop and refocus? If so, what steps do you take to balance again?
I do find that sometimes I get so caught up in life that I need to step back and take a look at what's missing and what harm its doing to me! I thank god for my supportive husband and sister who are always there to catch me when I'm slipping! My sister is always there to cheer me up and give me encouragement when I'm feeling worn out and I LOVE her for that! She's my best friend! And at the end of every night, my husband and I always talk before going to bed about our day and what we've been doing so that really helps me vent, clear my thoughts and get my focus back.
Growing up, most little girls have an ideal image of what beautiful is. Whether through dolls, fairy-tales or movies we were often presented rigid views of what a beautiful woman should look like. Who (character wise) did you look to as beautiful growing up?
This is so funny because growing up.. I wasn't your normal little girl! I always hung out with my brother and my dad so I was more of a tom boy and wasn't really into the whole dolls and fairy tale princesses.. but I could tell you the name of every exotic car I saw at the auto show! I can honestly say though, growing up the person I thought that was most beautiful was my grandmother and I always looked up to her and wished I can grow up to be just like her.
Now, setting aside the notion of beauty only being on the outside, what do you truly feel makes a woman beautiful?
Setting the notion of beauty aside however, I think the one thing that can make a woman beautiful is her ability to love and show kindness and humility. I feel like as the days go by, the "world" forgets that at the end of the day, were all human beings, we all have one beating heart, and regardless of looks, race, age etc etc.. it beats the same. I find that its really easy for people to attack and judge each other (I see this all the time from being on YouTube) so when I see a woman show kindness and love and just paying it forward, I think that's the most beautiful thing.
Previously I asked about a character that you looked up to. But, in my experience I've realized the generations of women before me have shaped my appreciation of true beauty. Through your life who have you admired and give thanks to for being an inspiring force in your choice of career?
Haha I didn't even know this question was coming but I answered it in my previous answer… I'll elaborate more on it! Throughout my life I've admired my grandmother (my moms mom). She's one person who has had "the short end of the stick" all throughout her life. I mean the struggles that she has been through, I can't even imagine myself getting past them… and she got through them with a smile and never lost faith or hope. She is the reason for me being me. Throughout my life she has always been there for me, teaching me about life and about love. She always taught me that life isn't about the material things, but about having faith in god and loving one another. Regardless of what I did, she always encouraged me to be myself and to not care about other people's opinions of me, because at the end of the day, life is just about being happy. I felt so lost when she passed away and not a single day goes by that I don't think about her.. I miss her like crazy!
The women in my life were always giving me advice on health and beauty. From practices to products, what has been some of the "old school" advice you've been given that you still practice today?
I could honestly write a book on all the "old school" advice I've been given, and still get to this day! LOL its funny because one of the biggest pieces of advice that I've been given is to drink milk because it just makes everything better. Your skin your hair your body.. milk. Milk is the answer to all!
Now for fun lets talk makeup for a moment. Do you have a favorite approach to your "everyday" look or have you found you're one to push the envelope and always try something new and edgy? Also, what would you say would be your top 5 makeup products at the moment?
I don't really have an everyday make up look.. I get really bored with looking the "same" all the time, so I'm always trying to new things (even if I look ridiculous and get criticized for it). Its funny because I can be such an introvert at times, but then I really like to stand out and look different from the crowd at the same time! I'm really weird like that! Hmmm top 5 make up products.. Its hard to choose.. BUT.. Foundation: Chanel Perfection Lumiere, Highlight: Josie Maran Argan Illuminzer, Mascara: Loreal Voluminous, Lip Balm: Jack Black Lip Balm.. I cannot live with chapped/dry lips I need them to be moisturized 24/7 and last would be my MAC Iridescent Powder in Golden Bronze.. I need to be bronzed and glistening all year round!!!
The readers of Color My Face range from all natural beauties to fierce makeup divas, newbies just testing the waters to experts in the glamorous beauty world. What would your advice and parting words be to them as a whole?
The best advice I can give someone is to never change who you are for anyone or anything! You were made unique so be confident in all that you've been blessed with and face the world with a smile. A smile is the best "beauty" essential!!! I LOVE YOU! Thank you so much for getting to know me a little more!
Well there you have it beauties, isn't she a doll!!! I've included a few links to some of my personal favorite Farah videos throughout the interview--do check them out, you won't be sorry.
I hope you all enjoyed this interview with Farah Dhukai, she really is one BEAUTIFUL woman, inside and out!
I'd like to hear what you all have to say so don't for get to Subscribe and Comment below!
Tell me what you'd like to see for the New Year, let's make 2013 beautiful together <3
*All photos were provided solely for this interview and remain the property of Farah Dhukai
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