Lawyer swapped criminal cases for cosmetics

Glamorous Zaiba Khan has made up celebrities like Faryal Makhdoom, wife of boxer Amir Khan, Bollywood stars Bipasha Basu and Alia Bhatt and actress Laila Rouass, who starred in Footballers’ Wives.

She runs her own training academy and travels the world teaching, working on celebrity faces and making up brides on their big day.

Zaiba grew up in Sheffield and, after studying law at university, came to Bradford for her first job in criminal law.

“I got my training here in Bradford and never left.”

An academic high-flyer, she also loved make up and did a course in beauty therapy while at university.

“I always had an interest in make-up and beauty but because I was clever at school it was just a hobby and law was my career. I never even thought I could have a career in beauty in those days.”

After her legal training, Zaiba worked for the Crown Prosecution Service but continued to take courses in make-up in the evenings.

One weekend she helped out a friend who was a photographer.

“I had trained in avant garde and theatrical make-up and did up a model for a magazine. The shoot went very well and from then I got a lot of word-of-mouth bookings and it just snowballed.

”I wasn’t trained in bridal make-up but I got a lot of jobs which would lead to more work.”

Zaiba found herself getting busier and had to make a decision.

“I decided to open a training school myself. Make up was in its infancy and there were no such places. In two days I had 10 girls signed up.”

Zaiba set up her studio in Bradford and now has seven years’ of training women from all walks of life under her belt.

“I had doctors, lawyers, pharmacists, women from every background and career coming to me wanting to train as make-up artists. I also had a lot of single mums who had lost their way and their confidence who wanted to learn a craft that would help them work around their kids.”

By now Zaiba was delivering training not only around the country but also around Europe and Dubai.

“I got a call saying Bollywood A-lister Bipasha Basu was coming to Bradford for a meet-and-greet with fans and needed a make-up artist so I went over.”

A string of famous faces followed including Pakistani singer Shazia Manzoor and a host of Pakistani drama actresses.

She also made up Faryal Makhdoom in the early years of her marriage to Amir Khan.

“Faryal was lovely and very pretty. I also did Ronnie O’Sullivan’s mother and partner, actress Laila Rouass, when he collected his OBE from Buckingham Palace. They were all lovely.”

Earlier this year Zaiba moved over to Dubai full-time to work.

“Dubai is amazing, I love going over there during the winter months then coming back to the UK for the summer.

“It’s full on glamour there and the lifestyle is very different.”

She said bridal make-up had changed in recent years.

“When I first started it was very garish and heavy but it has thankfully got a lot more natural. You can actually see the bride’s natural beauty now rather than caking on the foundation.”

She also said foundation was the number one issue with women choosing the wrong shade.

“I see a lot of grey looking faces. You need to match the undertone correctly to prevent an ashy look.”

As far as brands are concerned she has no one particular favourite.

“I have about seven or eight different kits and use all the different brands. When I started we were limited to things like Bobbi Brown, MAC and Nars but now there are lots of drugstore lines that cater for all skin tones and they are value for money too.”

Another trend she has noticed is younger girls who are into make-up.

“I would get into trouble by my mum if I dared to even wear eyeliner to school but now girls are going in with false lashes on or they are even going down the surgical route having lip and cheek fillers.”

Celebrities like the Kardashians are fuelling this fashion for over-the-top trout pout and gigantic bottoms.

“I like them but I also dislike them. I think they are beautiful but they are also influencing young girls who copy them. I have seen even 13 -year-olds having chemical enhancements and I would go as far as to say that out of ten girls, six will have had their lips done.”

Zaiba’s advice is to spend more on skincare rather than make-up to ensure the canvas is as beautiful as can be and she also thinks eyebrows are the most important feature of the face.

“If you have good eyebrows you have everything.

“I advise brides to start prepping their skin at least one year in advance. They should use high end products like Elemis, Kiehl’s and Aveda as these brands really do help the skin a lot. With naturally beautiful skin you don’t need to cover it as much and it will look radiant.”

After all, covering up beautiful skin really would be a crime.

Follow Zaiba on Instagram

@zaibakhanMUA