You’ve probably never heard of paramedical scar camouflage before, but it’s changes people’s lives in Canada. Basma Hameed knows what its like to have scars. When she was two years old and still living in her home country, Iraq, she was burned by hot oil in an accident.
Like many burn victims, she went through plastic surgery and other treatments, but couldn’t get rid of the red scars that covered half her face. At a certain point, people with such scars give up and learn to live with them, but Hameed persisted.
Basma Hameed before and after tattoing herself
She learned to tattoo, and experimented on herself for over three years to see if she could make scars look like regular skin. She could, and did just that. But such a revolutionary treatment would be wasted on just one person, so she set up the Basma Hameed Clinic in Toronto and Beverly Hills.
Hameed’s ability to turn a childhood tragedy into a positive catalyst for change is remarkable, but she takes it a step further. She donates procedures to cancer survivors and people who have gotten scars from tragic accidents.
After her experience, she’s probably the most qualified person for the job – you’d have to really know what you were doing to tattoo your own face with confidence. Still, for those unable (or unwilling) to get paramedical tattoos, Hameed has designed makeup that works as a scar concealer (which she also tested on herself).
Her clinic won the Young Entrepreneur Of The Year Award, and it offers other procedures, like dealing with acne scars, vitiligo and reconstruction after a mastectomy.
Natalie Halcro, of WAGS LA, went to Hameed’s clinic to cover up a scar of hers, and says on the clinic website that “she was able to cover up my scar completely. Her work is unbelievable!”
