CoverGirl’s Nura Afia Is ‘Honored’ to Represent Muslim Women

CoverGirl recently named Nura Afia a brand ambassador, making her the first Muslim woman to be given that role. Afia, a beauty vlogger who has amassed hundreds of thousands of followers on Instagram and YouTube, is continuing to take the makeup world by storm. In an interview with Elle, Afia opens up about how surreal the experience feels and offers some of her best makeup tips.

Afia explains that makeup has served as a means of self-discovery when she was growing up. “I felt like it helped me gain my confidence,” she said. “It’s just another version of expressing ourselves. I can play up or play down or express myself using makeup.”

Being proud of her identity and sense of self didn’t stop with makeup. Afia feels “honored” to represent Muslims and women who wear hijab. “There really aren’t words to describe the feeling,” she said. Afia almost didn’t believe the request from CoverGirl to star in her own campaign: “I thought it was a scam!” In a CoverGirl Instagram video, Afia explained why she feels so “ecstatic” to be a part of the company: “I never thought I’d see women like me represented in such a global brand, so it means to world to me and for me to be that woman representing women like me is unimaginable.”

In October, CoverGirl also named its first male brand ambassador, James Charles. Afia told Elle how much she loved working with Charles and being “part of such an awesome campaign that represents diversity and equality for all. Especially at this time.”

[Elle]