New Delhi: It is believed that motherhood makes a woman stronger. A mother would go to any lengths to protect her child and provide him/her all the love and care. This is the story of Riya Vashist, a single mother and an international makeup artist who has devoted her life in helping underprivileged children. But the journey to become a leading makeup artist and starting her own makeup academy, RVMUA International Makeup Academy was not easy.
Vashist got married at the tender age of 19 but it was not a fruitful union. After some time, she came to know about her husband’s infidelity. At this young age, she was not mature enough to take any big step. Rather, she waited for her husband and thought everything would get better after welcoming their child.
However, things got worse as her husband started dating other women after their second child. But this time, she was not ready for any compromise and became keen on getting a divorce. Vashist said, “When you have children, your relationship is not just between two people but beyond that. I knew this relationship wouldn’t work now and will have a bad impact on my children. As a mother, I couldn't let this happen.”
She got divorced but that was not the end of her struggles. However, she was stronger now. She alone needed to take care of two children and herself. At this point of her life, she decided to take a huge step by leaving her children with her mother to fly to the United States with all her savings where she started doing a part-time job in a restaurant. Vashist recalled, “Life in the United States was pretty difficult for me to manage. I am a vegetarian, some days I had to survive on two slices of bread for a whole day.”
Somehow, Vashist managed to complete her graduation in SFX Prosthetic Makeup from Los Angeles in the USA. Since then, Vashisht has worked intensely to get to the point where she is now. With an experience of 16 years in the makeup industry, today, she not only runs her own makeup academy but also provides free beauty training to underprivileged girls and also single women to support them. Till now, she has worked with many celebrities like Shahrukh Khan, Saroj Khan, Neeti Mohan, Mona Singh, Neha Dubey, and many more.
When we asked Vashist what piece of advice she wanted to give to other women, she said, “Practice self-love and self-care. Women have always been giving and sacrificing so much but guess it's time they start loving themselves.”
