Part makeup artist, part accessory designer, and entirely a visual storyteller, Umar Aziz is reshaping the boundaries of beauty and fashion. Known for his bold, conceptual editorials and refusal to conform, his work moves beyond aesthetics into authorship, where every face becomes a constructed world. From high-pressure commercial sets to self-directed experimental shoots, he brings precision, provocation, and a distinct point of view to everything he creates.
1. Tell us about your journey into makeup artistry and accessory design. How did these two creative paths come together for you?
I didn’t plan this. I fought my way into it.
I started as a fashion designer and spent seven years running my own brand, but I wasn’t growing. That pushed me to shift my career into makeup artistry.
Makeup became my profession, and over the years I’ve worked across Pakistan with leading fashion brands, TV commercials, video songs, dramas, international short films, and celebrity projects. But the industry had a pattern.
Some photographers would book me for editorials, hand me a reference image, and say, “Copy this.” I’m not a Xerox machine. Copying someone else’s work made me feel invisible. I’m not here to trace someone else’s art.
So I took control of the process. I started shooting my own editorials. In 2020, when the world went quiet and everyone turned the camera on themselves, I stepped away from it. I have never wanted to be the subject. Instead, I picked up wire and built my first headpiece. It was not just an accessory. It was a question. What if the frame could be sculpted too? That was the moment the two paths stopped being separate. I do not just do makeup and accessories. I compose images. Through my self-directed editorials, I could finally bring both disciplines together. What I love most about editorial work is that there is no client brief to follow. Makeup taught me intimacy. Accessory design taught me scale. Together, they allow me to shape the entire portrait, not just the face, but the world around it.
That body of work led to my nomination for Best Makeup Artist at the Lux Style Awards 2024.
I continue to work across both commercial and personal spaces. Commercial sets taught me precision, speed, and how to perform under pressure. At the same time, they clarified what I wanted to explore on my own terms.
2. Both beauty and accessories are forms of storytelling. How do you use each medium to express a point of view or create a signature aesthetic?
Beauty and accessories are my two languages, and I refuse to whisper in either. Skin is my canvas, but I am not painting pretty. I am painting power, rage, fantasy, and control. Accessories are the plot twist. If makeup sets the mood, accessories build the world. That is where I get to sculpt the story around the face.
3. What inspires your designs and makeup looks? Are there particular references, cultures, textures, or emotions you keep returning to?
I do not work with mood boards. I work with contradictions. Metal and silk. Control and chaos. Mughal armor meeting punk. Surgical hardware meeting truck art. I draw from everywhere and nowhere, but I never copy. I transform. I want the work to feel familiar, but not identifiable. That tension has become my signature. I am not interested in recreating a 90s supermodel or a passing trend. I want to build what will be referenced next.
4. How does your work as a makeup artist inform your approach to designing accessories, and vice versa?
They are not two separate jobs. It is one practice expressed in different ways. Makeup taught me how to understand the face, so I design accessories as extensions of bone structure and light. Accessories taught me to approach makeup like construction, using shape, structure, and negative space. They inform each other constantly, but they also challenge each other. The makeup pushes the accessory when it feels excessive, and the accessory pushes the makeup when it feels safe. That tension is where my work exists.
5. Your work often sits at the intersection of beauty and fashion. How do you balance artistry with wearability?
I do not believe in balance. Balance can dilute the idea. If the goal is wearability, there are many places to find that. If the goal is art, then the conversation shifts. My editorial work is where there is no compromise. I experiment freely, whether that means building sculptural headpieces or pushing materials in unexpected ways. That is my laboratory. That is where I develop my visual language. From there, I translate those ideas into a commercial context. So I do not balance art and wearability. I develop the idea fully, then adapt it depending on the space it needs to exist in.
6. How would you describe the evolution of your creative style over the years? Were there defining moments that shaped your visual language?
My visual language developed through experience. During lockdown in 2020, while others went on camera, I stepped back and built my first headpiece. That led me to fund my own editorials, select my teams, direct concepts, and merge beauty with design.
Today, my work reflects both sides of that journey. It carries the precision I developed through years in Pakistan’s fashion industry and the experimentation I explored independently. I see it less as evolution and more as intention. Each phase taught me to take greater ownership of the narrative.
7. In an industry driven by trends, how do you stay authentic while continuing to innovate?
Commercial work requires adaptability, and I approach it with professionalism. But my personal work has to contribute something new. Working across fashion, television, and celebrity projects has shown me how quickly trends move and disappear. I understand trends, but I am more interested in shaping what comes next rather than following what already exists.
8. What does craftsmanship mean to you, whether in creating a makeup look or designing a piece of jewelry or accessory?
To me, craftsmanship is about respect. Respect for the material, the face, and the process. In makeup, craftsmanship lies in preparation, precision, and understanding structure so well that the work enhances rather than masks. In accessories, it is about intention. The piece should feel resolved and complete, regardless of how it was made. It should hold its integrity even without an audience.
9. Is there a project, collection, or look that feels especially personal to you, one that reflects your creative philosophy most fully?
Every experimental look I create is personal, but one project stands apart. That was ARY Digital’s Super Diva editorial episode with HSY. In a single day, I created and styled ten different looks. Seeing all ten models together in the final group shot was the first time I truly paused to appreciate my own work.
That day, HSY, someone I deeply respect as a pioneer of our industry, took a moment to speak with me. He told me that the kind of work I was doing was not something everyone would understand immediately, but that I should continue because once people do understand it, they will follow it. That stayed with me. It reflects how I approach my work. I believe in creating with conviction, even if it takes time for others to catch up to it.
10. If you could create a dream beauty look and accessory set for any icon, past or present, who would it be and why?
There are many icons I would love to work with, but a few stand out for different reasons. From Hollywood, Lady Gaga for her fearlessness, and Julia Roberts for her timeless presence. From Bollywood, Sridevi for her transformative ability, and Rekha for her mastery of self-styling and visual identity. From our own industry, Saba Qamar. She brings both strength and vulnerability to the camera and understands character deeply, which makes her an incredible canvas to work with.
Interview: Safa Adnan
Photos: Courtesy Umar Aziz