News With Sonia Royy: Boyfriend talk with Shalom Blac

Burn survivor Shalom Nchom is popularly known as Shalom Blac, a Nigerian-born make-up artist, who is no doubt one of the most talented make-up artists you will meet. She recently posted a remarkable video via her YouTube channel called "Power of Makeup" which instantly went viral and since then her Instagram followers have increased and continues to increase. She is very inspiring and her success is seen on countless make-up pages and media out lets such as Buzzfeed, Teen Vogue and Glamour magazine (the list goes on). Shalom has not let her past get her down, instead she fought all odds and has made a name for herself in the make-up industry, demonstrating remarkable talent. The other day, I had the opportunity to do a short interview with the beautiful Shalom Blac and I asked her a few questions.

Sonia Royy: Hey Shalom, how are you?

ShalomBlac: I am good. Thanks for allowing me to be part of your Blog today.

Sonia Royy: Not at all, I really appreciate that you made some time for me to have a chat about boys and relationships. Is it ok if I just jump straight into it?

Shalom Blac: Go ahead.

Sonia Royy: Ok, so my first question is: Have you ever been in a relationship?

Shalom Blac: Yes, I have.

Sonia Royy: When was your first relationship and where did you meet him?

Shalom Blac: We met on Facebook, where we had mutual friends. He added me back in school, because we went to the same 9th grade and then we started talking. He was Caucasian.

Sonia Royy: Oh wow, interesting. So you know from all you have gone through and with your scars, did you ever find it difficult to have a boyfriend?

Shalom Blac: Yes, a couple of times. I just didn't want it to seem like I’m catfishing anyone, obviously my scars are not that visible especially when I have make-up on and when I do my pictures. I have a way I take my pictures so that they are not that visible. Guys online are not really able to see my scars, so I think is so much easier for me to talk to someone in person and then later on they follow me on Instagram. When they go on my Instagram, they can see me with no wig and no makeup so that way they can make the decision if they still want to talk to me or not. I had people that did not have a problem with it and some people that did have problems with it and they will stop talking to me because of it. So yep, sometimes it can be difficult, but I never hide anything and I'm not trying to catfish anyone. (laughs)

Sonia Royy: Have you ever been in a position where you like a guy in school or somewhere else but you were nervous to tell the person because you were worried they might not accept you?

Shalom Blac: Yes, I was very shy in high school. There was this one guy that I really liked and we were really good; there was a good vibe between us. But I think he knew that I liked him, and his sister knew that too because she kind of told me that he wanted to go to prom with me. However, he never asked me in the end and he was not even going to prom. Anyways, I did really like him but I never told him that I had feelings for him. We still talked, laughed and messed around a lot, but yep that was the most awkward experience.

Sonia Royy: Over the past few weeks, you have had a growing number of followers to your social media and you are more known now, so is it different now when it comes to relationships? Do you think people want you more than before? Do you get approached more?

Shalom Blac: Yes, there are some people I talk to. For example, my ex-boyfriend randomly followed me on Instagram and started liking my pictures, and I'm like what are you doing? (laughs). There was this one photographer; he was meant to be a friend and we were meant to be working together on make-up projects, but he never took it seriously, he never texted me to see how I was getting on etc. until all of this happened. All of a sudden, he now texts me to see how I'm doing, and I'm just like good and he reopened back. I was just thinking to myself, since when have you started texting me and just to find out how I'm doing, you never did that before. So yes, people are acting a little different now, but I don't think any different at all; it's just numbers that went up.

Sonia Royy: You are so confident to put yourself out there saying "I'm not perfect but I'm happy", which I think is very remarkable. But what advice would you give to someone in a situation similar to yours or anyone who has a low self-esteem?

Shalom Blac: I got to a point where I really do not care anymore. I cared so much for so long and that kind of kept me in a cage. I was not able to spread my wings and fly. I do whatever I want to do because I'm not busy trying to please someone else. When you realise that you stop wasting time pleasing others and spend more time being happy with yourself and being happy with what you do. I think that's how I get my confidence, by not caring about what anyone thinks of me.

I'm also a dedicated Christian; I believe that there is someone out there for me no matter how long it takes. I know God has someone special for me, and I just have to wait for the right time and so should everyone else – we all have that one special person and when the right time comes, that person is will to come to you and they will love you, regardless of any scares or other insecurities one might have. I'd say, do what you love to do, make yourself happy before you try making anyone else happy.

Sonia Royy: Your story has inspired a lot of people, I mean even myself. Sometimes we all have little things we don't like about ourselves and that might make us feel some type of way, but from what I can see, you have so much confidence, which is amazing!

Shalom Blac: Thank you. (laughs)

Sonia Royy: I'm actually serious, you know.

Shalom Blac: Thank you very much, it means a lot.

Sonia Royy: Are you looking for a practical kind of guy? Like what kind of guy do you normally go for?

Shalom Blac:I'm not looking for anyone in particular. I'm just looking forward to someone nice. I have not been in a relationship for a long time now so I really don't care. I like guys that are funny, smart and guys that are serious with their work. I especially like guys who are very serious in life, who know what they want, and he has to be tall too. (laughs)

Sonia Royy: So that means you don't care about what colour or race – you just want someone that loves you and cares about you?

Shalom Blac: Well, you don't even have to be tall. I chat to a couple of Asians, who were not that tall, but it's all good. Importantly, I would say is someone's personality, that comes first. As long as his personality is great, everything else just doesn't matter.

Sonia Royy: So, what last message would you like to share with anyone that is reading this now? What would you like to tell them?

Shalom Blac: Just be yourself. People are accepting me because I'm being myself and I'm not trying to be someone else – I'm not trying to be like Beyoncé. People can tell when you are not been yourself and that can make you unattractive. If someone does not like you because you are being yourself, they just don't need to be in your life. Take me as I am or leave me.

Sonia Royy: Just one more question, when are you coming to the UK? You got a lot of fans out here.

Shalom Blac: I will come to the UK when I hit 100k followers on my Instagram and YouTube channel I'm very serious about that; once I hit that I'm packing my bags and coming to the UK to Sonia's place.

Sonia Royy: Yahhh, I can't wait! You are welcome to come to my place anytime. It's going to be fun. Ok Shalom, I would say we end the interview here. Thank you so much for being such a great sport! It was such a pleasure interviewing you. And GUYS, let's make this happen so she can come over to LONDON!

Shalom Blac: Thank you so much for having me.