Zuleikha Stevens travels around Australia on award-winning sports series ‘Supercars’
As a hair and makeup artist, Zuleikha Stevens’ canvass is the human face. She uses color, shape, and texture to create a stunning work of art. Her work is seen by millions, similar to that of a painter, but has to withstand a variety of conditions while still remaining beautiful. Her work can be seen across televisions, films, red carpets, fashion events, advertising and editorial features across Australia, with an innate talent that makes it seem effortless.
Throughout her esteemed career, Stevens has become an industry leader in her country, working on countless prolific shows and events and on Australia’s biggest stars. Her work on the nation’s biggest networks, including MTV and Network 7 has impressed the masses and is vital to many shows’ continued success. Most importantly, for Stevens however, is that she gets to live her dream.
“I get to go to work every day excited and loving what I do, getting paid to live my passion. I get to be creative every day, and every day offers something and someone new. I get to make people look and feel good and be part of a wonderful, creative bunch of people working together to make the magic of TV. Everyone deserves to look and feel beautiful and confident and being a makeup artist allows me to do this,” she said.
Stevens never limits herself to one medium, and is extremely versatile. This is evident with her work with Supercars, a touring car racing category based in Australia. She travels around the country for every race of the live broadcasts, doing hair and makeup, and even wardrobe, utilizing her fashion skills.
“I wanted to be part of Supercars as live TV is exciting and anything can happen on a race track, and the hosts are great talent. Live sport is an exciting thing to be a part of as anything can happen; the outcome can change at the drop of a hat and it’s nice to be part of a team that brings that to people’s TVs,” said Stevens.
Supercars is extremely popular in Australia, consistently bringing in hundreds of thousands of viewers and smashing ratings amongst its competitors. Network Ten Broadcast, which airs Supercars, also won a Logie last year and is up for a Logie this year for Most Outstanding Sports Coverage, the equivalent to an Emmy in Australia.
“It is so nice to be part of a successful show. A lot of hard work goes into bringing these live broadcasts to people from various parts of Australia and it’s nice to get the recognition. Bringing a race into people’s lounge rooms, making it feel like they are actually on the track is a nice feeling.”
Stevens’ work is pivotal to the success of the show, as she beautifies hosts Matt White, Kate Peck, Aaron Noonan and Scott McKinnon, as well as any featured celebrities and the drivers themselves. Anyone that hits the screen, she works on.
With the constant travelling involved to Australia’s most remote locations, Stevens always needs to be organized. She has to ensure she has everything she needs at any given time as she often can’t simply run and grab something from a store. In such conditions, she needs to always be prepared for anything and everything, from sudden changes of weather, to sudden changes of hosts position (e.g. from studio to track). Communication is paramount, and she always knows where everyone is and needs to be so she can be on hand when required for touch ups and checks and to make sure they look and feel good at all times.
“I like working on this project as it is a big job having to relocate our studio to different race tracks around Australia. The cast and crew are wonderful, and I get to see so many parts of my country. When you work with people regularly and remotely you get to know each other really well which is a wonderful experience. It is a fast-paced, non-stop broadcast and that is exciting,” she said.
Stevens always has a lot on the go, from Supercars to Big Bash, Australia’s cricket league programming. Without her work ethic, extraordinary talent, and passion for her work, she wouldn’t be where she is today, and she encourages those looking to pursue a career in makeup/hair to never give up.
“My advice to anyone looking to pursue a career in makeup would be to make sure you like hard work and to constantly want to learn, as these two things never stop. You must also be flexible, versatile and love people. It’s not always glamorous, like the end result looks; it can be weird hours, long shifts, and different climates. However, if you are happy with that and have that drive and passion then go for it. You never stop working hard or learning, but it is so fulfilling to make people look and feel good,” she advised.
By Annabelle Lee
July 3rd, 2019
