Meet me Mondays with Azra – @themakeuptreasury

Hello everyone!

Welcome to May and to a new interview! This month I’m interviewing the lovely Azra of @themakeuptreasury I have been following her since sometime last year I believe and recently she hit a whopping 25k followers on her account! Keep reading to find out more 🙂

Tell us a bit about yourself

Hi, my name is Azra. I’m 23 years old but my 24th birthday is coming up in just over 2 months. I was born and raised in Melbourne, Victoria and have lived here my whole life. I really can’t imagine myself living anywhere else, I really love this city!

I don’t have a large amount of hobbies, but the ones I do have take up a decent amount of time. I love beauty of course, and spend a lot of time on IG, taking photos and writing mini reviews for my page. I also spend a decent amount of my free time browsing through hundreds of products, always on the lookout for what to try next. I’m also an avid reader and collector of books (I have hundreds of them)! I have a “bookstagram” called @brokewithabagfullofbooks, which used to be a lot more active but I find it difficult to run two pages at once. I post whenever I feel inspired to on my book page.

You’re always showing your hauls on your story, what was your latest purchase and have you had time to try it out yet? 

One of the most recent things I bought is the Charlotte Tilbury Instant Eye Look in a Palette in Pillow Talk. It’s a beautiful palette, but us poor Aussies have to pay a shocking $120 for it.

In all honesty, it’s not as amazing as I expected it to be — but it’s still a decent palette. It’s very wearable for both day and night looks. It’s also perfect for cute date night looks. I can also see myself using this for work appropriate eye looks as well. The mattes blend beautifully, but you have to go in with a light hand. The shimmery shades are what I’d describe as a creamy glow. It’s a little different to what I’d normally go for. I absolutely love glitter! It’s a nice palette overall and you can create so many looks with it, but I feel like it could be easily duped with more affordable eyeshadows.

So you’re a psychologist by day and a beauty lover by night, how did you know that was your true calling?

I was fortunate enough to know what I wanted to do when I was 15. I was sitting in my Year 9 Science class learning about the brain, and heard about a psychologist for the very first time. I didn’t even know what that was, but when it was explained I felt like I had a light-bulb moment. It’s a feeling I’ll never forget. I thought this is it; this is what I want to be.

I follow my gut instinct 99% of the time, and I don’t regret this one. If you find something that you love so passionately and fiercely, follow your heart. I always encourage people to do that. I haven’t doubted for a second since that moment that it’s what I wanted to do. I’m a stereotypical INFJ, which is a personality type that is best suited for a career in psychology. It’s a very emotionally and mentally draining job, but I can’t see myself doing anything else because weirdly enough this is what I feel like I was made for.

#1 working from home tip? 

I’m fortunate enough to work from home at the moment one day per week, but I’ve learnt a lot in that time. I have several tips:

1. make sure you separate your work space from your home/living space. It’s really good to make that distinction between the two so your brain doesn’t get distracted while doing work
2. create a routine, and stick to it. You’ll be more productive. Habits are incredibly powerful and become ingrained in our memory, so many tasks can become like automatic processes 
3. use a To Do list and tick off each item as you complete it
4. set boundaries. If you work 9am to 5pm, then stop your work at 5pm (unless something is extremely urgent of course). Get everything that needs to be done during those work hours. At the end of the work day, do something you enjoy because self-care is extremely important. How can we expect to do things for others if we don’t take care of ourselves first?
5. reach out for support if you’re struggling with working from home — this can be to a colleague, manager, family, friends, partner or mental health professional. Humans are social creatures so it’s important to stay connected! Reaching out for help is one of the best forms of self-care and self-love 

What’s something your followers might not know about you?

I have a special place in my heart for teddy bears. I’m obsessed with them and always have been! I don’t have a massive collection, but I do have more than you’d expect an almost 24 year old to have haha

Are you team Mecca or team Sephora? 

Team Mecca! I’ve been shopping there since I was 13. Can’t stand that they rarely have sales (c’mon Mecca, wouldn’t hurt to have a 20% off sale once in a while)… but I’m a sucker for those beauty loop boxes. I also find that the brands offered at Mecca appeal to me more than the brands at Sephora. I still definitely shop at both, but I shop at Mecca a whole lot more.

Are you into any books/movies/TV shows/etc lately? 

I’ve been watching The Office (US version) lately. I think it’s my 5th time watching it. I’m rewatching it with my boyfriend, who is watching it for the first time. It’s given me a fresh perspective on the show by watching it with someone else. I have a thing for rewatching shows and movies a hundred times without getting sick of it! My favourite show of all time is Parks and Recreation, which I’ve watched to completion over 25 times (I’ve lost count now). I can’t watch anything horror related — I get spooked very easily!
My favourite Young Adult Fantasy series is Throne of Glass by Sarah J Maas (seriously so good!). I also love reading a lot of classic books (they’re just so unique)!

What’s one thing you’re looking forward to this year? 

My standard response would be a holiday, but since we’re all going through this pandemic that doesn’t seem too likely at the moment. I also don’t get any time off from work, and it can be difficult to get time off if I do need it. So at the moment I’m looking forward to planning all of the holidays that I’ll go on once everything returns to normal. 

Where do you see yourself in five years? 

I’d love to return to further study once I finish my Masters in Psychology. I have been studying for 6 years without any breaks and jumped into uni right out of high school, so I’d love to spend some time working before I go back to uni part time to do my phd in clinical neuropsychology. Having done 4 degrees in 6 years has also been pretty overwhelming, so I’d love to be a more experienced psychologist before I jump back into an even higher level degree. I probably will move out within the next 5 years, but we all know how difficult it is to save for a house deposit these days I also really want a puppy (or several… I’m in the process of convincing my boyfriend that we need at least 12 dogs because it seems like a good amount to have haha)

Where can we find you on social media? 

You can find me on IG: @themakeuptreasury or @brokewithabagfullofbooks (if you’re a book worm like me). I’m also in the process of creating a beauty blog, but since work has been hectic, that might be delayed for a bit longer!

That’s it for this week, please check out Azra’s page and see you back here next week!

With love,