We, at The Modern East, love introducing local talent to you all, and for today’s feature, we have none other than 26-year-old Libyan Canadian content creator, Shada Zaroug, or better known by her social media following as BabyVampBeauty! After fleeing Libya during the revolution back in 2011, Shada, along with her family moved to Tunisia is which she was faced with some of the most difficult experiences in her life. Turning to beauty blogs and old school beauty guru videos, Shada quickly realized her gravitation towards makeup and her passion for the art began. Keep reading to learn more about the self-taught MUA and the power of social media.

How it All Began

Credits: Instagram (@babyvampbeauty)

After falling a victim to bullying when transferring to a new high school in Tunesia, Shada found that an outlet for her emotions was through makeup. “After school, I would come home and use my cheap Claire’s palette and film YouTube videos,” she tells us, “And several failed channels later, here I am! Shada describes her style of beauty as “very divided,” with a passion for creating a fantasy of colors and characters for her social media platforms, she also finds herself gravitating towards natural beauty and going bare-faced in her day to day life “Beauty for me is all about whatever you feel most comfortable in, sometimes that involves neon liner and other times just SPF,” she says.

Credits: Instagram (@babyvampbeauty)

Shada draws her inspiration for her makeup from her surroundings. “It can be a flower or even the color of a car,” she explains. The content creator even goes so far as to come up with a full theme, and create a character with a backstory, like her “constellation queen” look as seen above. Just about anything can inspire you!

A Boost in Confidence

Credits: Instagram (@babyvampbeauty)

It is no secret that the power of makeup is infinite and can work wonders for one’s self-image especially when used as a form of self-expression, and Shada is no stranger to this concept! “My makeup artistry definitely boosted my self-confidence because most people don’t expect it from me when they meet me in person,” Shada explains, “My Instagram ‘persona’ is almost like my alter ego, people see my page for the first time and will say “That’s you?!”. So, that in itself is a huge confidence boost, not to mention I’m very lucky to have very positive & lovely followers – social media can be toxic and I’m lucky I’ve never had to deal with that.”

Looking Ahead

Credits: Instagram (@babyvampbeauty)

Shada describes her makeup journey as a continuous learning process. “Makeup is one of those things where new techniques and products come out every day so for me it’s important to evolve with the trends and learn more and more every day!”

Using social media is extremely powerful in this day and age for anyone looking to gain traction and a reputation for their craft. “It’s connected me to so many amazing people over the world! I’ve met some of the best people this way,” Shada says, “For anyone looking to start makeup or their own page but are too scared to do it, definitely go for it! You’ll meet so many new friends and learn so much about yourself in the process!”

Don’t forget to follow Shada along on her makeup journey on both her Instagram and TikTok pages today!