Ts and doing it well
would never leave the house without, the MUA had an even tougher time exclaiming at the idea of wearing only two as she loves her makeup. In the end she went with a black liquid eyeliner and a matte red liquid lip colour. She added that both items combined can brighten up any day when in a rush noting that it creates a total boost of confidence.
Sharing makeup tips, Melicia said that when dealing with glitter on the eyes one can reduce the messy cleanup of fallout on the face by choosing to do the eyes before foundation. If one still prefers to do eyes after putting on foundation, then it is best to place setting powder under the eyes which can easily help to brush off the fallout. There is also the option of using scotch tape to pick up the glitter.
Recalling a time of design catastrophe Mel shared, “I can recall one time when the infinity zip of an outfit refused to go up as the model was about to go onstage. Absolute terror could have put me in a state of shock, but the mind started to work, and safety pins came to the rescue. Since then, I always walk with tons of pins.”
Mel and Hashim’s wedding had created a huge buzz because of their bold decisions to wear black. In planning their big day, the couple wanted something unique that made a statement. They decided to use a colour that was never used before and knowing that wearing black to a wedding, specifically theirs, was taboo, they decided to do just that. Because they knew how highly opinionated persons would be had they known beforehand, they kept it a secret until their big reveal on their wedding day. The designer to take on such a project was Jason Shurland known for his out-of-the-box designs. Being satisfied with Jason’s designs the couple decided to have him do the white wedding gown as well. “I am so happy that we made that decision because on the big day with the grand reveal of our outfits, persons were astonished by the absolute beauty of it all. There are definitely no regrets on that. I have not received any negative feedback about our outfits even until today. It has become such an iconic event for our lives just because we decided not to be afraid to be ourselves and be different,” Mel enthused.
Both makeup and design Melicia said have led her to visiting many places in Guyana especially Berbice. She has also travelled outside the country to Trinidad and Tobago, Suriname, Jamaica, the Dominican Republic, Curacao and the United States.
“In ten years or less I will be having my own studio for all things glitz and glam, inclusive of a training centre for pageantry. I should by then have our second child and we all will be settling nicely into our new home. Now this is only part of my goals, but I am very well set to achieve these and much more in the near future. Keep in mind that in order to achieve it all, one must stay focused on the goals and on the time. If life was easy or didn’t have challenges then we wouldn’t know how much to be grateful for everything we currently have, and also to have that mindset to go after greatness,” Mel said about the look of her future.
She encourages up and coming MUAs and designers to not be afraid to fail, as failure is part of success and not to expect the cheers of everyone. Gradually, she continued, one knows who their cheerleaders are and who the genuine ones are. Mel added that if in everything you do, you give 110% of love and sweat, the rewards will be bountiful.
Speaking of the franchises, Melicia said that they took on the Miss Global International Guyana in 2014. Their representative that year, Onesha Hutson, finished in the top ten internationally, placing top five in talent and walking away with the Best Smile Award. In 2015, Alicia Bess, their current pageant coach brought home the 2 nd runnerup position at the international leg, then in 2016 songbird Poonam Singh was awarded
six special prizes along with copping the 1st runner-up place. The year that followed saw Cynthia Dookie bringing back the Miss Global International crown. In 2018, Melicia and Hashim were offered the franchises of the Miss India Worldwide Guyana and Mrs India Worldwide Guyana pageants. Their representatives were Shoshanna Ramdeen who copped the Best Smile Award at the Miss India Worldwide pageant and Shivanie LatchmanPersaud who finished in the top five at the Mrs India Worldwide. They are aiming for bigger successes this year for all three franchises. Currently they are recruiting for the three pageants. All national pageants will be held between May to June 2019. The Miss and Mrs India Worldwide pageants will be held in India, while the Miss Global International pageant is slated for Jamaica.
Asked how she spends her free time, Mel replied, “Free time? What is that exactly? In my downtime I enjoy time with my family and cooking scrumptious Guyanese cuisines. I would have said I try to replenish my sleep deprivation bank with some extra hours of rest but currently that’s not possible with an active 16+ months old child.”
Her hobbies include listening to music and dancing, watching Netflix, hanging out with close friends, learning with Zayid and cooking with Hashim.
Among her favourite dishes are: baigan choka and roti, curried – duck, beef, chicken, crab, shrimp and pachunie; baked custard, cheesecake, sweet rice, barbecue, a good steak, pasta, pizza, KFC and seven curry.
While Mel has many colours that she likes, she wears a lot of pink, yellow, red, blue, green, florals and generally anything with sparkles.
She has a pet dog, Jessie, a birthday present in 2013 from Hashim.
Being born on April 21, 1988 means that Mel’s astrological