With just hours to go before the big night, Amira Elswify gently sweeps eye shadow around her friend’s eyes and bronzer across her cheekbones.

With a little dash of mascara and a small smear of eyeliner, the young girl is ready, thanks to Elswify, who has given her friend a boost of confidence right before her big date.

In that moment, 14-year-old Elswify knew that her calling was to change the lives of others by adding a touch of style and flair that was not just skin deep.

“It’s like a transformation. I like doing makeovers and enhancing someone’s natural beauty,” Elswify, now 20, cosmetology major, said. “I’ve always liked doing hair and makeup and decided to make it into a career back in two thousand eleven.”

Elswify was 9 years old when she first discovered her love for doing hair and makeup and has been practicing the art of cosmetology ever since, she said.

“I started doing makeup in high school for my friends for proms and homecomings,” Elswify said. “Now I do makeup whenever someone needs it.”

While being in the cosmetology program, Elswify said she has learned not only how to perfect the art of transforming people with makeup, but skills such as cutting hair and doing nails as well.

“I like cutting hair but I like doing makeup the best,” she said. “I’m really good at eye shadows or blush or contouring the face.”

She said one of her favorite parts about doing someone’s makeup is the positive change she sees in her clients and the way it makes them feel afterward.

“I like the fact that people come to a salon to relax and you get to see them at what they think is their worst and they feel comfortable around you,” Elswify said. “When they leave they always look so happy because they look their best.”

Patricia Geber, cosmetology professor, said she believes that Elswify is capable of being successful in any field of cosmetology and is impressed by her positive and compassionate attitude in class.

“Elswify is a friendly person who is a great team player,” Geber said. “She is really good with customers. Customers do request her and she has already built up a list of clients.”

Even when she is unable to take another customer and other stylists are available, Elswify’s clients are faithful to the aspiring cosmetologist and have waited half an hour for her to do their hair and makeup, Geber said

Elswify said she hopes to have her own salon someday and continue changing the lives of others, one smoky eye at a time.

“I want to freelance for a while and be someone’s personal stylist or hairdresser and eventually open my own shop,” Elswify said.

Geber said she is confident that Elswify will be successful in the cosmetology field based on her charming personality and enhanced skills.

“If I get a call today from a salon I would tell them that they would have to hire Amira,” Geber said.