@beautybitexo

DEARBORN — The modest history of makeup in America has transformed into a booming industry for cosmetic companies and makeup artists. 

Recently, makeup artistry has become increasingly widespread as social media sites like Instagram and YouTube have enabled individuals to share their talents, generate clientele and post tutorials online so girls and women can get quick tips. 

Well-known artists in Dearborn and surrounding communities have used such sites to market their skills. 

Local resident Nuha Suleiman’s passion for the industry began when she was a young girl. As she watched the women in her family apply makeup, her interest continued to grow. 

In September 2014, she opened her own business, Beautybitexo. 

“I started getting into makeup and fashion when I was 12 years old,” she said. “My aunt was a makeup artist so I would watch her do her makeup.”

Her Instagram page has sparked the interest of roughly 13,300 followers.

Apart from a cosmetology program she participated in during high school, Suleiman is self-taught, mainly by practicing on herself and friends.

Her business strategy and Instagram success caught the attention of several big marketing companies who have hired her to work for them. 

“Today, I work as a marketing influencer with various brands and help them tackle marketing strategies, as well as help them promote their products,” Suleiman said. “Memebox, a beauty-meets-tech kind of company in Korea, brought me on their team to be their brand ambassador in 2015.”

In addition to running her company and marketing, Suleiman’s aspirations for the future include schooling and entrepreneurship. 

“Once I graduate from business school, I plan to start my own brand,” she said.

Her Instagram page and YouTube channel can be found at @beautybitexo.

Other makeup artists didn’t have a passion for the industry until later in life. 

@doaadahoud

Doaa Dahoud has generated a plethora of clients and roughly 23,300 followers on her Instagram page, @doaadahoud. Her tomboy personality took a different turn her junior year of high school, when she interned with a plastic surgeon in Dearborn.

“I loved the aspect of making women feel confident,” she said. “When I attended my program, seeing all these transformations is kind of what lit that little fire of making women feel good, but not necessarily through surgery – through makeup.”

In 2010, Dahoud graduated from Michigan College of Beauty as a licensed and certified cosmetologist.

She has since opened her own company, Doaa Dahoud LLC, and has used Instagram as an online portfolio to advertise her services. 

Dahoud has been featured by several cosmetic brands such as Anastasia Beverly Hills and has been approached by companies, including Maybelline, Make Up For Ever and Pure Cosmetics, to test out and review their products.

“It’s crazy how if I never would have made an Instagram, they never would have found out about me,” Dahoud said. “It’s amazing how social media can change people’s lives.”

Ultimately, she said, it’s about following your dreams.

@lindsey_mattson_makeup

“When you’re in the beauty field, not many people take you seriously,” she said. “They don’t realize how many hours and work you put in to master what you do. Don’t let others affect you. If you have the passion for it, focus on what you do and you will surprise yourself with how far you can go.”

Instagram is even used to bolster the popularity of budding makeup artists.

University of Michigan-Dearborn student Lindsey Mattson works for MAC Cosmetics at Southland Center in Taylor. After graduating in April, Mattson hopes to take her career overseas.

“I want to work in Europe, particularly Spain,” said Mattson, who is majoring in Hispanic Studies and minoring in French. “I am very passionate about the country, the culture and the language, so I want to have that a part of my everyday life.”

Mattson didn’t realize that her passion for makeup could land her a full-time career until her 10th grade American Literature teacher encouraged her to pursue what she truly enjoyed in life. 

Mattson attended Astute Artistry in the summer of 2014 and then started working for MAC Cosmetics, where she received more training and has gone through three certifications. 

Mattson uses her Instagram page, @lindsey_mattson_makeup, as a platform to display the work she does for weddings, homecomings, proms and other events.

Staying on top of schoolwork while at the same time being fully invested in her job is sometimes a balancing act.

“I feel like I live a double life because during the week, I am a student; whereas on the weekends, I am a makeup artist,” Mattson said. “Sometimes they blend together where I have a morning meeting with MAC, then I run to school to tutor Spanish and go to class.”

One day, Mattson aspires to work at red carpet events or in the fashion-runway industry.

“Working at the Victoria’s Secret Fashion show is probably the biggest dream I have as an artist, but it definitely doesn’t stop there,” she said. “I could go on forever.”