Challenge with Colors

“Challenge with Colors”, the first ever competition for make-up artists in Bangladesh, had its grand finale on Saturday, March 19, 2016. The event was jointly organised by NTV online and Woman's World, and held at The Daily Star Seminar Hall. The winner of the competition was Raiza Nawshin and the first and second runners-up were Eliza Akhter Maliha and Syeda Akshadi Love respectively. 

The winner received a cheque of Tk100,000 and a one-year scholarship to Woman's World. 

 “This is thrilling,” said Raiza Nawshin . “I had no idea that I would win. I just know that I have loved working with colours and makeup since I was nine years old. As I grew older, I started experimenting more and more. Whenever we had any parties in the family, my relatives would come to me for their makeup. That's how I built myself.” 

“After coming to this place, I have learnt a lot and I will treasure these experiences. If you are passionate and if you work towards it, you can definitely reach the peak of your dreams. I could not be thankful enough for this,” she added. 

The competition was difficult, to say the least, with five finalists selected from over 1800 online applicants, who battled it out at the grand finale for the coveted prize. The finalists had to make a model look ready for the red carpet in fifteen minutes. After the chief guests had judged them they were asked to change that red carpet look to an after party look in the next fifteen minutes with just a single product from their makeup box. 

The competition began on November 29, 2015. Interested participants had to initially submit three looks among the given twelve looks.  About 1800 women from all over the country participated and among them, Farnaz Alam and her team selected 40 participants for the next round. 

Through online voting they narrowed it down to ten. They were groomed for two days before the semifinals. The top five were selected on the finale judging on the looks that they presented on the semifinals. 

Kona Alam, managing director of Woman's World said, “I wanted the women from different parts of our country, who have talent in this field, to get a platform. Everyone has become very aware of their looks these days. It's important to look presentable and doing makeup properly plays a big role here.”

And she also added, “In other countries, certified make artists are in demand whereas people in our country don't really look at it as a profession. But one needs to have quite a bit of knowledge about beauty and care. So, I want to make way for this talented bunch so that they can create a field for themselves in this country and others.”

Farnaz Alam, director, Woman's World, has been involved in the industry and has worked for reputed companies like L'Oreal and famous fashion magazines. She said, “I got to learn a lot from my on hand experiences, working with the best makeup designers. I have worked with Vogue's Editor-in–chief and the top models in Malaysia.”

Every country has a lot of fashion enthusiasts and it was Woman's World turn to “give them a platform to show their talent.” 

“I am happy that our country has such talented makeup enthusiasts,” she added. 

By Mormee Mahtab     
Photo courtesy: Woman’s World