“I spent most of my childhood hearing how unlucky I was because I didn't get blue eyes like my brother. Until I learned that Native Americans tribes are believed to be descendants of Eskimos and further back, Asians, and that my eyes shape is indicative of that. For me my only standard of beauty is me. Consquently, I can never falter too far from that.”

~ Hasnaa At-Tauhidi

By Catzie Vilayphonh  |  Send to Friend

I have this really bad habit of ordering things that aren't on the menu. The first time I saw Hasnaa At-Tauhidi's Birds of Feather jewelry line, I asked her about making a custom earring, if I could get one but add the short feather pieces of Style # 6 with the long feather pieces from Style #9, but I wanted the hoops from Style #20 with the chains from Style #13. Yeah... Rightfully so, she answered me with a "Umm, do you just wanna come over to my place to pick out feathers?" Has eventually made my earrings, adding a few other pieces of her own, calling them the "Frankensteins." Of course, of I was grateful, I had my very own custom BOF earrings. But it wasn't until pictures of my special creations surfaced on her Myspace page where she called them "The Catzies," and then later followed by "The Tinas" and "The Dari's" that I realized I got to be her muse -- if only for a little while.

Has (prounouced like "Oz") is no ordinary jewelry designer and she's made her mark in Philly, the It Girl at the party scene, as last-minute stylist to her friends and now the Lead Color make up specialist at Sephora. Sure, there are a handful of makeup artists who are designers/stylists on the side, but how many of them glamorously juggle a slash-dash side hustle with caring for an 1 1/2 year old son? And a cute one at that. But then again, most of them don't have Amina Wadud, revolutionary and controversial Islamic feminist and scholar, as a mom. Having witnessed her mom publicly challenge gender roles in Muslim traditions, Has similarly seeks to challenge standards beauty rules in the makeup industry. And unlike Halle, Jessica or even Jamie Lynn Spears, Has proves she can be a MILF and have a successful career without the million-dollar bank account and a 24-hour nanny care.

Catz: Please, describe your respective job titles, and your main line of work.

Has: My number one job title, of course, is life giver [to] my golden child, Jibril. Then there's Birds of a Feather, my other baby. I've been collecting feathers for as long as I can remember. I have always been fascinated by birds and their colorful plumage. Not only for their beauty but also for what they symbolize. For me birds are a symbol of the soul, aspiring upwards, flying free of the restraints of the earth. My grandfather who's part BlackFoot used to take us to Native American pow-wows when we were younger and I always loved the jewelry that incorporated feathers. Once I started learning about different birds and how unique certain feathers were, I became more and more interested. My collection grew and eventually I just started making jewelry for myself, family, and friends. I would get stopped all the time because you really didn’t see anyone making fly jewelry with feathers a few years ago. Now it’s the newest trend so the market is saturated. But again, it’s something that resonates deeply for me, its part of my heritage, so I approach it from a slightly different angle.

Catz: So how does it feel to be the "Head Color Person in Charge"? I'm sorry I had to do that.

Has: I'm the Color Lead at Sephora Chestnut Street, I manage all that has to do with makeup or as its referred to in the biz "The Color World." My inspiration for working with Sephora is simply that I love helping people feel empowered and found that appearance plays a huge role in that.

My mom is one of, if not THE most, influential people in her field. She's always making appearances, on television and in the media, so she was always really self-conscious about some discoloration she had on her face -- basically sun spots. She had gotten a few really horrible department store makeovers, so for her birthday a few years ago I took her to Sephora to help her pick out makeup. After I was all done she cried. She said "I never knew that I could do anything about that. I just thought it was something I had to live with for the rest of my life."

There are alot of makeup artists that don't recognize the subtle undertone differences for women of color. I remember going to the Chanel counter and getting "made over," leaving with foundation that was three shades too light, pink lipstick and orangey bronzer. And I actually bought that crap thinking that was what I was supposed to look like. Or artists would say stuff like, since you're so dark this will look good on you", when clearly I have a very medium complexion. It's not always the makeup artist's faults either, the lines themselves have limited options. Like Dior, the deepest foundation they offer is my color. It's crazy and I don't support those lines either.

Sephora has really made a huge difference in making more options available, partnering with companies such as Makeup Forever and Stila. I still give them a hard time though. And as Color Lead I have the ability to be able to make that call. I met the Vice President of Sephora. I came right at her like "What are your plans for offering more options for women of color in regards to foundations?" She was really receptive and we're working on getting more lines into Chestnut Street. Long term I plan on being a buyer for Sephora, so stay tuned.

Catz: Matching skintones is definitely important in makeup but what about playing up different physical features, especially since different cultures have beauty preferences for different body parts? For instance in many Asian cultures we judge each other based on how our eyes are made up, while lips go unnoticed -- quite the opposite of American culture.

Has: Playing up features is obviously important but it's not as rigid as people like to think. Even the words "playing up" are so vague. There are beauty "rules" as far as what looks best for blue eyes vs. brown eyes vs. this eye shape or for smaller lips, etc. But I'm not a big fan of any of that. My rule is that whatever makes you feel beautiful, you should wear. So for me since I have small flat eyes I'm not really supposed to wear dark colors on my lid or dark liner, supposedly it closes them in and makes them look smaller. But I think it looks sultry so I wear a smoky eye all the time. If someone asks for that I can do it -- hey I can make it look like someone had a face lift if thats what they want. But I'm more inclined to try and help someone bring out their inner beauty and place less value on society's expectations of what a woman from a certain culture is supposed to look like.

Catz: Is there really a standard of beauty, i.e. high cheek bones, full lips, etc?

Has: I would have to say there is. The media fuels it and unfortunately there are those that buy into it. Literally. The beauty industry as a whole also subscribes to it, it's money in the bank for them. But just like white privilege (oooh, did I go there?) we have to teach our children, our friends, our co-workers, whomever, that they are not deficient in any stretch of the imagination. I spent most of my childhood hearing how unlucky I was because I didn't get blue eyes like my brother. Until I learned that Native Americans tribes are believed to be descendants of Eskimos and further back, Asians, and that my eyes shape is indicative of that. For me my only standard of beauty is me. Consquently, I can never falter too far from that.

Catz: I remember you told me once that whatever product any women ends up buying, regardless of what she comes in for, make sure it has SPF because it's the most important thing in terms of skin care. But if SPF is so important why don't companies just do away with the non-SPF versions, and just make it standard?

Has: Sephora believes in a holistic approach to beauty, skincare, prevention, maintenance, and even goes as far as to emphasize [vitamin] supplements. But just because we believe that SPF is the most important anyone can do to prevent the onset of premature aging and things such as wrinkles, dehydration of the skin, and loss of elasticity, doesn't mean that every brand we partner with is as passionate about it. Adding an SPF does change the composition of any product so some companies aren't going to be as inclined to do that. Plus, people don't realize that they are also exposed to UV rays from their computer screen and fluorescent lights, it's not all about being out in the sun all day. And realistically in order to be fully protected you need to reapply several times a day. The SPF you get in your moisturizer will dissipate after about two hours.

Catz: Have you incorporated what you've learned at Sephora in terms of mixing colors into your BOF jewelery making?

Has: No, I haven't. What I do at Sephora goes a lot deeper than playing with color combinations. I mean, I do [that] but most women are looking for a good foundation that actually matches, a concealer that hides dark circles and then, lipstick. You'd be surprised how little time people focus on eye shadow.

Catz: So then what's next in the world of BOF?

Has: With BOF, I've been focusing more on custom orders. I've never been about mass producing my designs, rather I've always preferred to design something one of a kind for people. For example I've designed a necklace for DJ Rashida, who is Prince's DJ. I've gotten a lot of referrals from her [through] people she works with -- artists, designers, stylists -- [but] not Prince though. Not yet. Could you imagine? Aside from that I have a photo shoot in the works that incorporates BOF jewelry and some really avant garde makeup, like feathers for lashes.

Catz: What are you looking forward to in '08?

Has: I guess I would have to say the number one thing is for Jibril to start talking. Not like now, I mean he articulates but he just doesn't have words yet [so] I'm so curious like "What does this dude be thinking?" I could sit for hours and watch him manipulate everyday objects. Little things like that make me happy. That and I'm working out the details for a Bi-Coastal move. I need to be closer to my mom and some warmer weather.

Catz: What's it like doing all this and having Jibril?

Has: Oh, it's great. He motivates me to do everything that I do. It's weird, he makes me believe that I can do anything, So I make sure that any time away from him is time well spent. In that mindset I do better than my best. It might would be hard if he was in daycare or with strangers but he's with his dad all day and he's just the best father ever so I'm able to focus on what needs to be done.

Catz: Do you think of yourself as being a MILF?

Has: I never knew what that was until last year. When I was pregnant, on my birthday some guy friends gave me a card and it was like "You're such a MILF." I had no clue and then someone explained. But yeah I guess I am, I mean I'd definitely hit that, wouldn't you?

 

Check out Birds of a Feather's Myspace page.