Reem Alswaidi Returns to Makeup After 10 Years This Time, With a Decade More to Share

Ten years after hosting her last masterclass, Saudi entrepreneur and beauty expert Reem Alswaidi is returning to where her professional journey first began: makeup. But this time, she is coming back with much more than beauty.

On September 25–26, 2026, Alswaidi will host a special two day masterclass in Doha, Qatar the city she now calls home at M7.

The return marks a full circle moment for a career that began behind a makeup chair and evolved over more than a decade across beauty, fashion, branding, marketing, communications and entrepreneurship.

Where It All Started

Long before the beauty industry in Saudi Arabia became the thriving ecosystem it is today, Reem Alswaidi was travelling across the Kingdom teaching women the art and business of makeup.

Between 2014 and 2016, she delivered more than 19 courses and masterclasses across Saudi Arabia, reaching Riyadh, Jeddah, Makkah, Madinah, Abha, Taif, Jazan, Tabuk, Al Khobar, Dammam, Jubail, Hail and many other cities.

Over that period, she trained more than 2,500 women.

But the purpose was never simply to teach makeup.

At the heart of the initiative was a bigger ambition: to give Saudi women a practical skill they could use to create opportunities for themselves.

At a time when professional beauty services were far less accessible than they are today and when the number of salons and independent beauty professionals was considerably smaller Alswaidi saw an opportunity.

Saudi Arabia has always had a vibrant culture of weddings, celebrations and social occasions. Yet in 2014, the beauty landscape looked very different.
Her goal was therefore twofold: to teach women how to confidently do their own makeup and, for those who wanted more, to give them a skill they could turn into a profession or a business from home.

Accessibility was equally important.

Her courses were intentionally priced at approximately SAR 1,000, allowing university students and young women at the beginning of their careers to participate.

For many, what began as a beauty skill became something much bigger.

A number of the women she trained went on to work professionally, build independent businesses and eventually open their own beauty ventures.

For Alswaidi, that remains one of the most meaningful parts of that chapter.

A Saudi Makeup Artist at a Different Time

Alswaidi entered the industry during a very different era of Saudi social media.

In 2014, she became one of the early Saudi makeup artists to publicly work and appear under her own full name and face a decision she credits in large part to the encouragement and support of her family.

At the time, she was also studying Interior Design in Riyadh, balancing university life with a rapidly growing career in beauty.

What started as a passion quickly became a profession.

Her education in beauty extended far beyond social media.
Alswaidi pursued professional makeup training internationally, including studies at Make Up For Ever Academy in New York and Formula France School of Makeup, alongside further education in skincare and beauty in New York and training and courses across Bahrain, Dubai and Beirut.

Throughout her early career, she continued learning from leading Arab and international makeup artists, developing experience across beauty, skincare and professional makeup techniques.

Her expertise also expanded into men’s grooming and cinematic makeup, an area that would later lead to one of the more unusual moments of her beauty career.

When John Travolta visited Saudi Arabia during the Kingdom’s early cinema era, Alswaidi was the makeup artist who worked with him for his appearance an experience that reflected how far her work had already expanded beyond traditional beauty makeup.

Before Digital Beauty Content Became What It Is Today

In 2015, Alswaidi also entered digital broadcasting through a beauty programme produced for MBC’s digital platform, mbc.net years before streaming and social-first programming reached their current scale.

The programme became a significant digital success for its time, with episodes and content generating viewership that reached and surpassed the one million view mark.

This was during an era when the regional creator economy was still in its infancy and social media had nowhere near the reach, infrastructure or commercial power it holds today.

Alongside her courses and media work, Alswaidi continued working directly with private clients, building a career that combined technical beauty expertise with an increasingly strong understanding of image, communication and audience.

Then, in 2016, she stepped away from teaching masterclasses.

Not because she left the creative world but because her world became much bigger.

The Decade That Changed Everything

Over the following ten years, Alswaidi’s career expanded beyond makeup into fashion, luxury, branding, marketing, communications, creative direction and entrepreneurship.

She moved from understanding how an individual presents herself to understanding how a brand presents itself.

From creating a look to creating an image.

From working with clients to working across businesses, brands, campaigns and international markets.

That evolution is precisely what makes her 2026 return different.

This is not a recreation of the masterclasses she delivered ten years ago.

It is the culmination of everything that came after them.

More Than a Makeup Masterclass

On September 25 and 26, 2026, Reem Alswaidi returns to education with a two day experience in Doha, Qatar, bringing together the different worlds that have shaped her career.

Beauty remains part of the story, but it is no longer the entire story.

The programme will bring together makeup, skincare preparation, fashion and styling, personal image and presence, branding, marketing, growth and the realities of building a career and evolving professionally.

Rather than teaching beauty as an isolated skill, Alswaidi wants to share the broader perspective she has gained over the past decade: how presentation, confidence, positioning, communication, personal branding and business thinking intersect.

The second day will also create space for more personal interaction, including individual consultations with Alswaidi, allowing participants to discuss their own direction, ambitions and next steps.

From Saudi Arabia to Doha

There is another significance to this return.

The first chapter took Reem across Saudi Arabia.

The new chapter begins in Doha.

Qatar has become Alswaidi’s new home and an important part of her professional journey, making it a natural place to mark her return to education after a decade away.

Hosting the experience with M7, Qatar’s creative hub for innovation, fashion and design, also places the masterclass within the wider creative ecosystem that now defines much of her work.

For Alswaidi, however, the philosophy remains remarkably close to what it was in 2014.

The tools may have changed.
The industry has changed.
Social media has changed.
And her own career has changed dramatically.

But the purpose remains: to share knowledge that someone else can take and turn into something of their own.

Ten years ago, that knowledge started with makeup.

Today, it comes with a decade of experience behind it.

Reem Alswaidi returns to the masterclass stage on September 25–26, 2026, in Doha ten years later, and with much more than beauty to share.