These Women Are Voicing Out For Themselves (And So Can You!)

Strong on our own and stronger together—this International Women’s Day, we partnered up with VDIVOV, a Korean professional makeup brand that supports women empowerment, to encourage four strong and beautiful female figures to lend their voices and take a stand to fight for the rights of all women

- Alisha Azuddin

Yaya Zahir

For Yaya Zahir, the words ‘rise up’ are dear to her heart and have an emotional meaning behind them. “My father passed away when I was very young. Since then, I’ve only seen my mum rise up. She was so strong and I knew that I had to rise up with her too.” Passionate about women’s empowerment and encouraging of women who wish to stand up for themselves, she expresses that “we only have one body and it’s up to us to take care of it and not let anyone bring us down.”

Having previously been looked down on because of her gender, Yaya wishes to eradicate gender stereotypes and hopes women will be able to pursue their passions without feeling belittled by men and society. “At an interview, I disclosed that I studied architecture and the person interviewing me (who happened to be male) was shocked that I – a woman – would study architecture. I felt judged and looked down upon; it definitely hurt. For a split second, I wondered if I actually deserved to study it, but it was something that I was passionate about and loved to do, so I just brushed it off. For all the women out there, who says you can’t do it?”

When in need of a confidence boost, there’s nothing a bold red lip can’t fix. “My confidence level just goes up as soon as I wear red lipstick. It makes me feel different and bold,” Yaya adds.

Yaya Zahir’s pick is the VDIVOV Lip Cut Rouge in Filter Red (RD303)

One swipe is all you need with the Lip Cut Rouge, which delivers a compact, glossy finish with maximum hydration. It promises super high definition pouts with pigments twice as concentrated as the average lipstick.

Thanuja Ananthan