Another City, Not My Own.

MAYA HANNOUCHE, MONTREAL AND BEIRUT

MAKEUP AND MICROBLADING ARTIST

Obsessed with brows and the way they can change a person’s face, Maya Hannouche specialized as a certified PhiBrows microblading artist following a fine arts degree from Concordia University in Montreal and a stint as a makeup artist at the Annie Young Institute. Currently based between her hometown Beirut and Montreal, Hannouche approaches makeup from a fine arts perspective. “Skin is my canvas, brows are my frame, contouring and color-correcting my palette,” she says. She doesn’t believe in covering or changing, but instead focuses on enhancing and balancing. With microblading, her aim is to steer women toward a more natural-looking option. In fact, the most challenging thing about her job is “convincing my Lebanese clients to tone it down a bit and encouraging my Canadian clients to dial it up when it comes to makeup.”

Q: What’s your favorite thing about Montreal?

A: Being able to walk practically everywhere. That and the fall season in Montreal. Nothing beats the fall leaves, the crisp October air and the pumpkins at the Jean-Talon farmer’s market.

A: Who’s your favorite Lebanese celebrity and why?

A: Amal Clooney. She is such a strong and admirable woman. Intelligent, outspoken, educated, committed to righting the world’s injustices, all while looking drop-dead gorgeous! My kind of woman.

Q: What do you miss most about Beirut?

A: The spontaneity! When I wake up in the morning, I have no idea where I’m going to be by the end of the day. There are always a ton of things going on in Beirut. Never a dull moment.

Q: What’s your favorite spot in Beirut?

A: Café Younes in Hamra; an authentic landmark, a timeless backdrop for the exchange of ideas. I love the mix of AUB students, foreigners and jeddos playing tawlé. And the original tiles are just so charming.

Q: Would you ever move back to Beirut? Why?

A: I’m grateful to be able to go back and forth between Montreal and Beirut but can’t really see myself in either place full-time. Beirut is free from the punishing cold, but the pace, fun as it is, can get pretty intense, and I find myself needing a break from time to time.

PHOTOGRAPHY TONY ELIEH

Words Rayane Abou Jaoude