The Saudi Wedding Make-Up Masquerade

My first experience from Saudi wedding make-up was when a colleague of mine showed me her wedding picture album. My jaw dropped! WHOA! Girl literally had painted rainbows on her eyelids and had some sort of crystals plastered around her eyebrows. Gigantic fake eyelashes, bright pink lips and her skin covered with foundation white as the snow. I could not even recognize her!

Strangely enough this girl never wore make-up to work and always seemed to be very modest behind her niqab. She is also a natural beauty. So putting all that paint on her face to me seemed like she was drowning her beauty. Her face looked almost frightening. The below makeup tutorial looks a bit similar but without all the added crystals on the brows:

Of course I told her she looked beautiful, but to this day I have never understood the need for some Saudi and Arab women to smother so much make-up on their faces. Less is more, anyone?

The first time I attended a Saudi wedding I was in shock of the fashion sense (or lack there of) and especially the make-up of some of the attending women. Think Batman, Boy George and Star Trek..Women just go all out and totally over the top. it's more like a carneval or a masquerade.

I usually don't wear a lot of make-up except for special occasions. Apparently my perception of "a lot" does not conform with the Saudis. I had applied extra dark eye shadow and eyeliner for this wedding. Nevertheless, some women came up to me to ask "Don't you have eyeliner and mascara on? Of course I had eyeliner and mascara, duh! But I hadn't smudged my entire eyes with it. Also, blue eyes just never appear as dark with make-up and my eyelashes are really light color. If you put too much make-up on a blonde woman she ends up looking like a working girl IMHO.

So I heard "Tsk, tsk tsk. Unacceptable, she has to put more make-up on!"

"Doesn't your husband want you to wear eyeliner?" was the next question. Ummm..I don't know? What does it have to do with me being here in a all female setting anyways? 

There's a big wedding coming up so I've been searching online to check out some nice Arabic style make-ups to try blend in with the crowd more. And boy the stuff that's out there is just..I have no words. Take a look at some of the looks I found:

 Poison Ivy-look. What is up with the eyebrows, how did they move to the middle of her forehead?? Inspired by Mr. Spock perhaps? 

 Herpes-look. Enough said.

Raccoon-look. What happened to her nose anyway?

 Peacock-look. I wonder if it comes with feathers attached to your butt as well?

 Dear Lord help me-look. Help me look into the mirror and realize I look like a drag queen before I leave the house.

 Mix and match miss-matched colors-look. The more colors you are able to splash on your face, the better.

 Boy George-look. Is he an Arab Idol?

The angry owl-look. Reminds me of this bird we have in Finland called huuhkaja:

Star Trek-look. Beads on your forehead make you look like an alien, period.

The 80's-look. Gotcha! Did you even notice this is not a woman, but in fact Boy George?

 Hypnosis-look. Ok colored contacts can be nice if they're subtle, but this is creepy!..And don't get me started on the lip liner!

 Spider-look. Everything about the look reminds me of spiders, spiderwebs and beehives and other creepy crawlers.

Face painting-look. Ya face paintings were fun when we were like 5 years old.

Measles-look. The only place where studs look good is on your bag. Or shoes. Maybe jeans. But for the love of God, don't put them on your face!

In case you are wondering how these masterpieces are created check out this tutorial:

Ok I think I will pass on the fabulousness. I'm just too modest for these looks :p

I will opt for a more simple look because I don't want to look too outrageously smashing and get the evil eye from jealous women. 

 I like the light pink lips with the smokey eyes-look. I might have to add color to the brows for a more Arab style.

I bet if I do something like this I will be just a wall flower and nobody will fell threatened by my presence.

What do you think? Which Arabic make-up look is your favorite?

P.S. I would like to add there are also very beautiful Arabic make-up styles, Noor has found some nice ones here: http://littlepinkstrawberries.blogspot.com/2010/12/arabic-makeup.html

P.P.S If you liked this post please pretty please vote for Blue Abaya for the Best Asian blog at the 12th Annual Weblog Awards here: http://2012.bloggi.es/ Voting closes Feb 19th. Thanks!

Remember to say mashallah!

Something I learned the hard way in Saudi-Arabia was the importance of saying mashallah. When I had just started working as a nurse I was full of excitement and I was very talkative with my patients. I wouldn't give second thought to complimenting on a Saudi woman's beauty, admiring her pretty dress or beautiful children. Then one day when I was returning to work and was anticipating on having the same patients assigned to me I was in for a surprise. The family had thought I had been "too friendly" and had complained to the head nurse about me. They had mentioned how I didn't say mashallah when I praised their kids, despite them requesting it. They had  instructed me in Arabic to "say mashallah" and I hadn't understood so they had gotten suspicious and requested another nurse. I was devastated, but I took it as a lesson.

So what does mash'Allah mean? The literal English translation is "as God has willed it". It's used for whenever someone or something is being praised or admired. It's supposed to be a reminder that all good things come from God and are blessings from Him. Saudis and other Arabs also strongly believe that saying it prevents the "evil eye". Sometimes Saudis might say mashallah when just looking at something nice.

When lots of children are present and people are talking about them, every other word seems to be mashallah! It can be quite frustrating to always remember to say it, but for Saudis it comes naturally and they expect westerners to know to say it too. The family at the hospital obviously was afraid that I had given them the evil eye. It might sound superstitious to some, but it's dead serious business here.


So be warned, if you're coming to Saudi-Arabia and see a cute baby (they are everywhere) don't forget to say mashallah!

What a cute baby MASHALLAH!