Tons of people that are new to my channel have been asking me, what the heck are you doing in Kuwait?! I thought it would be great to re-introduce the newbies to why I am here and what I do!

So many of you know when I started doing YouTube videos I had just began to explore makeup professionally, I had been living in Hawaii and was working for MAC Cosmetics. Shortly after I moved back to Los Angeles, I began freelancing as a makeup artist on my own and continued my duty as a US Army Reservist. And then a friend of mine got a job here in Kuwait and I sent in my resume and got the job! The company I work for is an American aviation company and we work WITH the US military. That’s all that needs to be said about what I do, no disclosing the company name or my salary, so please do not ask!

I was so excited! My job here is not a military deploment, it’s just like any other job except I live here in Kuwait. We work FOR the US goverment but we’re not actually here as servicemembers. So I put my military career on hold to except the job here. Which is great, since it’s not a deployment I have the luxury of living within the city versus on a military base, I have the freedom to travel on my free time if I’d like.

Some of the other places I’ve been blessed to visit while I’m here: Paris, Germany, Bahrain, Dubai, Qatar, and hopefully many more in the future.

I wanted to talk to you guys a bit about the culture here and show you guys what a typical mall here in Kuwait looked like. First of all they are VERY accepting of American culture and lifestyle, for the most part. NO as a woman I don’t have to be fully covered. We just have to be mindful and respectful. So sure I can wear a skirt or a short dress and they really cannot do much to punish you, but you just have to be willing to deal with the awkward stares lol but it’s really not as strict here as you may think it is.

Alcohol is illegal in Kuwait, which doesn’t really effect me since I don’t drink much

The men here when it comes to approaching women can be quite aggressive! When they ask you for your number and you tell them no, it’s like they don’t take “no” for an answer lol it’s quite funny actually. But do I worry about my safety here? Yes and no. There is danger ALL over the world, even in the US!

The cost of living here is quite expensive, the Kuwaiti dinar is almost 3 and a half times more than 1 US Dollar. The Kuwaiti Dinair also beats the Euro, so Kuwait is FAR from third world living, contrary to what most might believe.

The religion here is Muslim, there is actually a mosque behind my apartment! They pray all throughout the day and the prayer is played over a loud speaker during certain times of the day. We also observe Ramadan here, which basically means for a whole month in the summer, mandatory fasting until sunset, not even gum chewing! But this really doesn’t effect me since I sleep during the day, because I work over night, thank God lol

As for the demographics here, Kuwaiti’s are surprisingly more like the minority here. There are tons of Filipinos, Ethiopians, Somali’s, Egyptians, Nigerians, Brits, Americans, Indians, Pakistani, and other races here as well. It really is quite a nice mixture of people

Did I tell you how much American culture is accepted here?! They have everything we have and much more: Krispy Kreme, Chili’s, PF Changs, Applebee’s, Buffalo’s, McDonald’s (of course) and ALL of them deliver.

I also love how the culture here is so beauty obsessed. Makeup artistry, plastic surgery and all things beauty are all the rave here. People are always looking for the next best thing, we have everything state of the art with beauty and cosmetics. Which makes the makeup artist like me fit right in

People have asked do I get homesick, OF COURSE! I have a man and a family as home! My boyfriend has visited here for Christmas and he spent a few days here with me and we spent Christmas in Dubai which was amazing. But fortunately I have been blessed to have made some friends with locals here, I have a photographer and have met a few models and even done makeup and photoshoot. Luckily for me and the freetime I have I am also able to still do makeup (and videos) with my freetime, which is awesome.

Thank you guys for allowing me to share this experience! You will see more videos like this in the future, and I will try to take you some place else next time For now here’s some footage of me at my favorite mall, the Avenues Mall here in Kuwait.

Toodles, love you all!
Jackie O