Rana Good is the founder of Naïra NYC. A writer for publications such as Forbes, Travel + Leisure, Coveteur, Mens Journal and others, she created her own platform celebrating women of color.
There’s nothing beauty blogger Omehabiba Khan loves more than transparency, and in our interview about her favorite beauty products she doesn’t hold back on keeping it real. Whereas most of our Great 8 features are about skincare, makeup, and facials, Khan goes beneath the surface, speaking about lasers and injectables and how they’ve turned her appearance around.
Khan started doing beauty videos while in college in Chicago before getting recognition in publications like Allure and Cosmopolitan and subsequently moving to Los Angeles to pursue a fulltime-career in the industry. The hard work has paid off — most recently Khan was in an ad for Milani Cosmetics, a full-circle moment for her. “I never thought someone who looked like would be in an ad,” says Khan. “I look ethnic and there’s not a lot of South Asian representation in the media so it felt amazing to see myself in a store.”
Here she shares with us her most beloved treatments and products. “These are products I swear by,” says Khan.
1. Laser Away – Clear + Brilliant
I had really bad adult acne, so I started eating clean, working out, and drinking a lot more water. It helped me tremendously with my skin, however, I’m of Pakistani descent, and generally, our skin pigments a lot more which left me with adult acne scarring. I always had to wear makeup and I felt like people were always staring at my face. Then I moved to L.A. as a beauty blogger which made me even more aware of my skin. Prior to that I never really realized that to make beautiful “art” on your skin needs to have a nice canvas.
I was working with Laser Away separately on marketing and they suggested I try Clear and Brilliant laser. They said I would need six sessions and a little downtime to get increased elasticity and remove pigmentation. After the first session, I noticed a difference right away, then I had the second one and my skin looked way better, after the third one I’m walking around with no makeup on! Now that I’ve had my fourth one my acne is completely gone, it’s like I have new skin.
2. Botox
Genetically I have wrinkles on my forehead, it runs in my family. My brother has them too and he’s 26. Culturally, Pakistani women don’t really talk about any invasive procedures which I think is odd and is why I want to talk about it. I love Botox, the moment I got it my skin was completely smoothed. I get it on my forehead and I also get an eyebrow lift. I don’t think it looks fake at all. My foundation is way smoother, prevents denting, and I have no creasing with my foundation. I like having more eyelid space on the tail of my eyebrows, my brow is straighter through the Botox. Some people get threads in their eyebrows which gives a super lifted look but I’m not there yet. It’s crazy how much of a difference Botox makes, I just never look tired and it lasts for six months.
3. Filler
Once again, this is something people don’t talk about but I believe in transparency in the beauty world. I get filler in my top and bottom lip and it really boosted my confidence. Before, I always overlined my lips and hated my side profile. After getting filler my face was more harmonized. Also, my lips feel hydrated and the filler removes the creases in my lips so I look like I have Chapstick on.
4. Huda Beauty Yo Glow Enzyme Scrub
So, at this point, I feel like my skin looks bomb — I have the clean canvas I want that makes my products look good.
This scrub reminds me of a hammam, it’s like the body scrubs you can get there where they rub your skin and dead skin just falls off. With this, you apply a little on dry skin and it removes any dead skin, and improves dullness and brightens skin.
5. Arilan Hyaluronic Hyaluronic Serum
I use this hyaluronic acid after washing my face — when I apply this it’s like a jelly consistency which leaves my skin plump and has a sheen. It’s not greasy but glowy. I like it more than a moisturizer which can leave a film or oiliness.
6. Laura Mercier Tinted Moisturizer
If I’m doing a basic makeup look but want to look like I almost have no makeup on, then I use the Laura Mercier Tinted Moisturizer with a flat brush. It has the perfect combination of coverage to hide flaws and moisturizer to make it look natural. I love it when people are like “is she wearing makeup or not?” I use shade 4C1 Almond which has SPF 30 which is great, especially here in LA with the sun.
7. Tinted Eye Brow Gel
I think almost any tinted eyebrow gel is good. I haven’t seen a huge difference in brands, although I like Wander Beauty and Tarte Cosmetics. I always recommend going one shade darker with your eyebrow gel since it dries dark and you don’t want to be ashy.
8. Tatcha KissuLip Mask
I use this in two ways – as a lip topper or as a nighttime lip mask. I love how it looks just like a hypergloss. It’s not sticky so I’m obsessed with how it feels, more like a lip oil than a mask. Try it with a little lip liner – you’re going to be like “okay wow.”