Nallah B. Sangaré: Becoming a global makeup artist and beauty brand
Nallah B. Sangaré is a self-taught makeup artist and beauty expert who doesn’t shy away from any bold coloured or textured fabric, accessory or makeup look. Though born and raised in France, she is a deeply rooted Motherland Mogul with her father originally from Ivory Coast and her mother from Mali. For six years, she was the International Trainer for MAC Cosmetics sub-Saharan Africa initially based in Lagos, Nigeria and then Nairobi, Kenya travelling across the region from Ghana, Ivory Coast, Zambia, Zimbabwe and South Africa recruiting and training African makeup artists. Nallah has also become a stylist, a creative director and has also evolved into an entrepreneur. She explores other industry segments including managing African models through her pan-African company Papillon. What motivated you to join the beauty industry and how did you get started? I have had an unusual journey. My background is in science and international business. After my bachelor’s in Business in the UK, I didn’t know what I wanted so I decided to shift to the business of Beauty and Luxury. My goal was to explore the beauty field in its entirety while maintaining my background. I started in department stores for Givenchy so I could learn about skin fragrances and that experience revealed my makeup skills. Then I worked for several skincare brands, in wellness and trained in hairstyling. I learnt mostly on the job. Afterwards, I was recruited by MAC cosmetics and went from a makeup artist at the counter to one of the very few black managers at their biggest store in the world on the Champs Elysées. When MAC launched in the African market, I applied to be the International Trainer for the sub-Saharan region. I always had a love for beauty but never knew I could have a career in it as I wasn’t girly despite my sense of style. You started off as a makeup artist but have grown into a fully-fledged creative in the beauty industry. What motivated you to diversify and why would you say the growth was vital? I wanted a full understanding of the field. I also realized that I wasn’t limited to one aspect and I could express my full vision in a project which has been important in bringing out exactly what I have in mind. What is the highlight of your career so far? As self-taught, it would be my role as International Trainer where I shared my knowledge and inspired African talents and worked on Mercedes Benz Fashion weeks. I also took part in projects to extend foundation and skincare lines for darker skin. What has been your most challenging professional experience? I would say working with Givenchy. I struggled with their idea of oppressing my sense of style and their idea of polishing me to their western standards of slick and straight hair & no accessories. Do you have mentors in the industry? Many people, cultures and landscapes inspire me. But if I have to pick one I would say makeup artist and beauty entrepreneur Danessa Myricks. Tell us about the available work opportunities for makeup artists. From cinema to entertainment, they are so vast. You can be a makeup artist at the counter of a department store or like I have been, an artist at a photoshoot in the middle of the Serengeti with a Kenyan Victoria’s Secret model or designing the look for a Kenyan musical play that played on Broadway. The magical part is that with your hands and your kit this job has no boundaries. Do you have a signature look? Yes, because I’ve gathered knowledge on skin and styling, I can say my craft has a 360-degree vision. I love beautiful glowy skin with freckles which brings out more realness. I also have a special love for colour and boldness. Working on the African continent, I have developed the use of Afropointilism and Afrobohemian concepts. Afropointilism points to the use of tribal makeup from sub-Saharan tribes. The name is coined from pointillism, due to its similarity with the painting technique using dots discovered through Vincent Van Gogh. It is a great mark of our heritage in different African cultures. In Afrobohemian, I fuse different traditional beauty ornaments from scarifications to body painting to show the paradox of similarity while expressing singularity. I also paint the African map on the eye to express my vision of the Motherland. As a Beauty Educator, what influence does your work have on today’s African woman? The makeup classes I give include knowledge about skin, hair and styling that enable professional makeup-artists and women to work on their image individually or in a group. I incorporate self-love and self-confidence coaching as well as modules for African women to understand the history of our beauty and the specifics of our cultures. What are your top 3 tips for young African women aspiring to be makeup artists? Be passionate and dedicated to your craft by practising. Maximise the opportunity to learn from mentors. Be patient when it comes to developing your personal artistic style. Love what you do.
Evita Joseph Asare: Being a mechanical engineer gave me the confidence to start a makeup business
[bctt tweet=”The story of Evita Joseph Beauty Store begins with the story of Evita a mechanical engineer” via=”no”] Having received two awards as a pacesetter in online retailing of makeup products, the Evita Joseph Beauty Store continues to gain recognition in the Ghanaian beauty industry. The story of the brand begins with the story of Evita Joseph Asare, an erstwhile mechanical engineer whose one visit to Paris changed the course of her life. Starting from an engineering class of only 4 women in a class size of 126, Evita has channeled her passion for designing and building machinery to designing and producing makeup products to enhance the modern woman. SLA contributor, Emma Kwenu Smith, caught up with the CEO of EJ Makeup, Evita Joseph Asare, to share her business journey and some of the significant milestones all SLAyers can learn from. Mixing Mechanical Engineering and Makeup – how did the journey begin? As an active member of Women in Engineering (WINE), I got the opportunity to attend a 6 weeks course in France. There, I got indoctrinated into the world of beauty and makeup. My first experience with makeup was in a MAC Store where I was told I needed a concealer. Upon arrival to Ghana, I jokingly told all my colleagues in the office they needed concealers too. That trip gave me access to products and since, I have always been complimented on how I wear my makeup. Gradually, it dawned on me that this was a good opportunity to challenge myself to create a sustainable business in the beauty industry. I got some books from Bobbi Brown and Kevin Aucoin and I enrolled in a beauty school during my maternity leave. Right after, EJ Makeup was born. Additionally, what would you say is the innovative idea behind Evita Joseph Makeup? Our vision is to provide world-class beauty and makeup product that flatters the women of color, boosting their confidence to stand up and stand out. I started a blog to share my looks, products review and others. Through my blog, I was able to establish trust among my readers. Many people asked for product recommendation and these products were difficult to find locally, so I started my online beauty store – EJ Beauty Store. We focus on products that flatter skin tones and yet, are basic to work with. Most of the products are made for professionals, so we make sure that our products are easily available, are of good quality and also are competitively priced. [bctt tweet=”In 2014 and in 2016, we won the Best Beauty Retail Store in Ghana- Evita Joseph Asare” username=”SheLeadsAfrica”] How has your engineering background played a part in managing the Evita Joseph business? Engineering has dared me to be stronger– it gave me the confidence to try new things outside my scope. Looking at our past, engineering was not the forte of women. Gradually, we are bridging that disparity, but for a woman like me who found herself then in a male dominated industry, I was inspired and challenged to do more. And that has not changed. Through engineering, I have learnt to take up the daunting duties and I’m able to contextualize the tools of my profession. From conceptual product development stages to the production stage, I now understand the process of building and re-engineering concepts to meet customer needs. What skills do you draw from your background as useful in managing the EJ business? Critical thinking and analysis are the bedrock of every engineer. Since starting EJ Makeup, it has proved to be a very relevant skill. Also, contrary to popular opinion, engineers are also tasked with marketing their design ideas to stakeholders. With this background, my marketing, communication and networking skills have been honed since I have to convince others that EJ Store is the go-to place for all your makeup needs. How has the makeup space transformed over the years and what is the future of makeup and the beauty industry in Ghana and also globally? Globally, makeup is booming and Ghana is no exception. Every day, I wake up to a new social media page for a makeup artist in Ghana. The industry is growing and getting more competitive. MUAs of today are highly educated individuals -some having BSc and Masters degrees. The industry is no more for the less educated as it used to be. The future of makeup in Ghana is both promising and threatening. It provides a market for beauty brands like Evita Joseph who retail original local brands globally and strategically research, design and manufacture suitable products. Conversely, the challenge that we face is in controlling the influx of fake beauty products on the market aimed at taking advantage of vulnerable and unsuspecting users. The beauty industry is thriving, and many are being enticed to jump in and make money off this trend. What pointers will you give anyone who also wants to enter the industry? Well, start by having a mission and vision– it gives you a direction. Also, too many of us jump into a business without doing due diligence, so do your market research and do it well. This can be as simple as knowing your targeted clients or as complicated as understanding the very ingredients that are not suitable for specific skin types- the last thing you would want on your hands is using ingredients that are damaging to people’s faces. Remember to always leave room for feedback, this is how you will grow. [bctt tweet=”Finally, do not worry about starting small- good things take time- Evita Joseph Asare” username=”SheLeadsAfrica”] If you’d like to share your story with She Leads Africa, let us know more about you and your story here.
Maureen Isikaku: I find a lot more joy and fulfillment when I’m painting faces
[bctt tweet=”@radiantbyreena: I’d really love to give Ini Edo a facebeat. I hope she reads this & calls me up” via=”no”] Maureen Isikaku is a part-time freelance beauty artist with intent to go full time pretty soon, she is also a school administrator. Maureen caters to beauty, bridal and editorial makeup and is working on expanding her artistry into bridal hair styling and organic skincare. She started her freelancing makeup career in October 2015 and has grown in leaps and bounds since then. She had her makeup training done with Zaron Cosmetics, Ikoyi. She has worked on celebrities such as Victoria Kimani, Arese Ugwu, Kayla Oniwo, Uche Elendu and a couple others and backstage at high-profile events (Miss Nigeria and The Headies) and enjoyed every bit of it Maureen Isikaku lives in Lagos, Nigeria and is available to travel worldwide. You run radiantbyreena and also have a 9-5 job, how do you manage both successfully? Yes, I do. It has not been easy managing both but I have learnt to put structures in place and allocate specific amounts of time towards each job. My makeup appointments are majorly for now, during the weekends or in the evening, that allows me to juggle both effectively. Luckily, so far out of town jobs have been during the school holidays. Eventually, if you have to choose between the two jobs, what will it be and why? It would definitely be makeup artistry, the reason being that I find a lot more joy and fulfillment when I’m painting faces. I am very passionate about what the outcome will be on a job that I can think of nothing else. The number of makeup artists in Nigeria have gone off the roof, how do you deal with the tough competition and gain customers? Dealing with competition can be emotionally draining, as you have to constantly observe and try to offer better than your competitor. So I focus more on developing my craft and business than I focus on my competition and this has really helped. I attach value and quality to my services. When I accept a job, I always strive to give the best regardless of anything. I continually invest in my craft and in myself. When I am with a client, I make sure that she is satisfied and happy. All these lead to referrals that go on to become repeat clients and my client base keeps growing. What are some of the common mistakes done by makeup artists during a face beat? I would say forgetting to prime and mismatch of foundation shade (a very common mistake). What do you love about makeup artistry? I love the opportunity to get creative, the satisfaction for both the client & I after a job well done, the travel and getting to meet new people. Also the fact that I have a lot of makeup to play with. I just love the beauty of makeup artistry. Which celebrity would you like to face beat? I would really love to give Ini Edo a facebeat. I hope she reads this and calls me up. If you’d like to share your story with She Leads Africa, let us know more about you and your story here.
Patience Nkosi: I’m obsessed with making women look extraordinary
[bctt tweet=”In business, one needs to do thorough research and have a plan before executing their idea – Patience Nkosi” via=”no”] Patience Nkosi, makeup artist and founder of PashyN, affectionately known as Pashy, is a small town girl with an unstoppable passion for transforming and enhancing how women look and feel through makeup. Pashy is obsessed with making woman look extraordinary by eliminating self-consciousness in young women one brush stroke at a time. She believes that if you look good, ultimately, you do better. After completing her BSc in Computer Science, Pashy found that her true calling was in makeup. SLA contributor Jeanette Nkwana talked all things beauty, business, and PashyN with her. Have you always wanted to go into the beauty industry? It is true when they say that certain situations only happen because they are all part of the process of leading you to your true path. Being in the beauty industry was never really my plan. I somewhat “stumbled” upon an opportunity which led me to my destiny, a founder of a beauty brand & makeup artist at PashyN. What challenges did you face going into a market (that you have previously worked in) as an entrepreneur? Starting a company isn’t as easy as it may seem. One needs to do thorough research and have a good plan before they execute. One major challenge I came across amongst many others was acquiring startup capital, a setback which delayed my progress. Who do you look up to in the industry and how do you identify with him/her? I’m such a groupie of so many of international makeup artists. I follow them on Instagram, some have worked with famous international celebrities. Makeup artists like Jack Emory, Alexandra Annele, Sonja Deluxe to name but a few inspire me. I draw my inspiration from them and try to incorporate that in my own craft. Literally, I’d spend hours and hours on YouTube checking out their stuff. They pretty amazing. What is the biggest misconception people have about what you do and how do you address it? [bctt tweet=”Beauty is NOT standard, it moves, transforms and differs from person to person -Patience Nkosi (PashyN)” via=”no”] Society has placed us with the burden of enormous expectations of what beauty seemingly is or should be. The popular phrase, “true beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder” speaks to me in volumes. To my understanding, this implies that beauty is NOT standard. It moves, transforms and differs from person to person. Therefore no woman needs to be validated by society norms. Makeup is not a way to hide a woman’s beauty but rather to enhance the beauty that already lies in her. Many women that had never had a single touch of makeup applied on their faces today wear makeup simply because I had taught and made them understand this phrase. You are now an official ambassador for Elizabeth Arden, how did this come about? My first ever job was in retail where I found myself working as a cosmetics generic. Five months in the field, I worked for one of the world’s leading prestigious brands, Elizabeth Arden. Today I am proud to say, in a period of just over a year, I became an award winning Elizabeth Arden Brand Ambassador. This was after long hours of hard work and determination. I set goals and I achieved them, being a go-getter worked in my favour. In our field of work, we are given sales targets which we are expected to meet on a monthly basis. Targets set according to how the counter would’ve performed in the previous year ultimately rounding off to a yearly target. In my first year of being with Elizabeth Arden, my sales performance skyrocketed and I had grown the counter just over and above 60% from the previous year. My performance led me to where I currently am, an Elizabeth Arden Ambassador. What did you do to become a makeup artist? I’ve been trained under Elizabeth Arden as a beauty advisor with the right skills set for a clear understanding of skincare and makeup. However, most of the advanced makeup I practice was self-taught. I believe one can never stop learning therefore, I do dream of someday enrolling in an international makeup institution where I can further my skills. [bctt tweet=”I believe one can never stop learning. – Patience Nkosi (PashyN)” via=”no”] What is the most fulfilling aspect of what you do? Too often we find that we women tend to have a low self-esteem. This may be due to events from their past or present that make us forget to look after the one thing that speaks volumes when we walk through the door, our canvas, the face. A person buys your face before they buy you. It is the reaction a woman shows when she finally get to realises how beautiful she is through my art that’s most fulfilling when it comes to my work. Knowing that I’ve changed one’s perspective about themselves and giving them a dose of confidence in their looks makes my heart complete. It drives me to reach my absolute potential with each client. If you had a time machine and could travel back in time, what would you do differently and what would you do the same? If I had a time machine and could travel back I’d probably believe in and trust myself a little more. I’d use my God-given talents to my advantage as opposed to shying away from them. My teen years were probably the best times of my life and I wouldn’t exchange that for anything, I would relive that time of my life any day. What can we expect from PashyN three years from now? Expect the unexpected. Our ultimate goal at PashyN is to be amongst one of the best leading brands, and with time we can only believe that shall come to pass. Three years, I believe, gives us enough time to build a solid
How I got 10,000 real and engaged followers on Instagram
With a reported 300 million users and 70 million photos shared each day, Instagram has become a key marketing and social engagement tool for businesses. It is also a great platform for testing out new business ideas. To leverage Instagram as a marketing tool, some marketers have resorted to buying followers and using automated liking or commenting programs to increase their reach. Buying followers might make your page and product look popular. However, you will have no real insight as to who is actually interested in your brand or who will buy your products or services. What’s more, you risk getting banned by Instagram for violating its Terms of Service. In this quick guide, I’ll show you how to gain real followers by walking you through the steps I used to grow my Instagram page @MakeupforMelaninGirls to 17,000+ in just two months. Here are some tips for engaging your target audience: 1. Upload Quality Photos Instagram is a photo-sharing app after all, and people want to be inspired by the photos you share. Think of a colour scheme and/or theme for your photos. White is a popular background colour and for good reason. It helps keep focus on your image and is less distracting. If your products are in fashion or beauty, consider showcasing your products with the flat-lay style. Flat lay photo on Instagram by Beauty Blogger @thatigbochick 2. Use Web Apps that make managing your account a breeze Since Instagram is primarily an app for mobile phones, it can be tricky managing all your tasks on a small screen. Crowdfire is a social media management desktop & mobile app that grows your Instagram following by letting you copy followers of accounts in a similar niche as you. You can also see who follows or unfollows you. You can perform following and unfollowing tasks very quickly via desktop without violating Instagram’s terms of service. Crowdfire is free to use for one account but costs $9.99 per month for more than account. Another great web app is Iconosquare, which allows you manage your Instagram page on the web (comment, like photos, view feed etc). And though its popular optimization feature (shows you the best time to interact with your followers) is now a paid feature, you can see several other statistics about your page, including most commented posts. Crowdfire Homepage 3. Use hashtags relevant to your target audience Most people are already aware that using hashtags attracts more likes and interest. However, using popular hashtags that are searched by your target audience is the difference between getting engaged followers and just getting likes. For example, if your brand focuses on African fashion, use Websta (an Instagram Web Viewer) to look up related tags in order of popularity. Secondly, create a list of 30 hashtags and save it to any Notes app you use. Looking up #Africanfashion not only helped me find other popular hashtags within that niche, but it also helped me find similar accounts. Using the Crowdfire app in step 2, can also be used to follow people on those similar accounts you just found. There is no guarantee that these people will follow you back, but if you are uploading quality and interesting photos relevant to your target audience, you increase your chances of them liking in your page. When we looked up #Africanfashion, 260,000 posts is the highest number of uploads related to this niche. #Fashion also has a lot of visibility of Instagram, so adding it to your list of hashtags is a good strategy. The audience in your niche are those most likely to engage with your page. Create your list of hashtags by combining very popular hashtags with those most related to your niche. To create a list of hashtags for our #AfricanFashion example, Instagram has a limit of 30 hashtags so we can divide it into 15 popular #Africanfashion and 15 popular #fashion hashtags. 4. Post at the Right Times and Days Putting some thought into the days of the week and times of the week will also help your follower base and visibility. Iconosquare’s popular Optimization feature displays a graph of the best times for you to post is now a paid feature, but don’t despair. I’ve got you covered. Lunch time and 5 pm when people are getting off work are examples of optimal times to post. Keep in mind that these work better if your audience is in the same timezone as you. A view of the Iconosquare Optimization section 5. Engage with your audience Completing the steps above, should build a group of connected followers. Do not forget to have fun with your followers by liking and commenting on their photos, sending them messages if necessary, and answering their questions. Instagram is a social media page, so connect with your followers! They want to know that there are real people behind the brand and that you care about the same things they care about. Many people log onto Instagram to take a break or pass the time so make sure browsing your page is an enjoyable experience. Finally, below are some extra tips below did not make the cut because they cost money. However, if you have the money, they are great tools to use to grow your follower base. Host an Instagram contest or Promotion Negotiate with an Instagram Influencer or personality for a promotional shout out of your product. (Caveat: Some Influencers are known to receive products but do not promote it. Research influencers before finalizing any payments.) Pay a Popular shoutout page in your niche to promote your page (This could be risky as some of this pages buy followers. Browse their page to see if they have users that comment and engage with the page). Find a friend or hire someone with an aesthetic eye that will showcase your page in the best light
Louisa Kinoshi: Be OK with failure, that’s how you learn
Louisa Kinoshi created BeautyRevNg to celebrate the diverse beauty of African women. The Nigeria-based company, which officially launched in April 2014, aims to revolutionize the beauty shopping experience in Africa. It seeks to put brands that cater to the needs of African women in its clients’ hands at the click of a button. BeautyRevNg also provides an online space for African beauty enthusiasts to gather and learn from each other. “It is more than just selling makeup,” said Louisa, who is also a fashion and beauty blogger, and has written for various online publications. Before relocating to Nigeria to work on BeautyRevNG full-time, she worked for Clean Line Energy in Houston. Prior to that, she worked in corporate public relations and marketing for seven years. Her clients included Starbucks, Pepsico and Pfizer, among others. I caught up with her to talk about her entrepreneurial journey so far. Light-bulb moment The idea to start a beauty business came about when Louisa was at Carnegie Mellon University. As a student, she often travelled to Nigeria for holidays. During one of her trips, she lost her makeup bag. “It was a surprise that there was nowhere I could go to replace its contents at an affordable price,” she said. The few places that she did find sold the makeup that she wanted at exorbitant prices. She realized then that there was a need in the market for reasonably priced beauty products that compliment African women’s skin. “I also heard from family, friends and blog followers that this was something African women want to see,” she added. As a blogger, Louisa spend time figuring out what was missing in Africa’s beauty and fashion industry. She talked to people on the ground who shared their beauty wants and needs with her. She also cultivated relationships with beauty influencers, who included celebrity makeup artists and bloggers, in Nigeria. It is through this research that she was able to find out the type of products that her company would initially feature. The relationships she had built came in handy when the business started. It was easy to get people to join the beauty revolution because they had heard about it from these influencers. Louisa wanted to start small. This approach would give her leeway to make mistakes as she worked out the kinks of her business and tested to see if it was something that people really wanted. Armed with personal savings and a little bit of investment from family and friends, she embarked on turning the idea into reality. The first order of business was getting inventory. “We live in a society where there is scarcity of product so whoever has the most inventory is queen,”she said. “If you don’t have anything to sell then that’s a problem.” She then had to develop a website for the company. “I didn’t have to spend too much money on this,” she said. “I have web and graphic design experience so I did a lot of the web development myself.” Louisa had also fostered relationships with photographers and designers who agreed to work with her at a reduced cost. Growing the brand Louisa and her team, which consists of herself, a creative director and logistics manager, identify beauty companies to partner with through research and crowdsourcing. They first find out the brands that African women like, want and respect. “Respect is a really big factor,” Louisa said. “Then we ask, ‘Do these brands have products that cater to us?’” They then reach out to the brands to find out if they are willing to work with BeautyRevNG and have a foot in Africa. Louisa also travels to Los Angeles and attends trade shows where she can meet with the brand representatives in person. She lets them know about her company and her mission and vision. “Once we have an agreement with them, we bring the brands to our site and market them to our customers,” she said. Fostering these business partnerships has not been without its challenges. Some of the brands that customers desire don’t understand the opportunity in Africa yet. Others aren’t quite ready to have a presence in the continent. As such, they are not willing to form a wholesale relationship with BeautyRevNG. “There are also some popular indie brands that are owned by small businesses, but they are struggling to provide inventory for America so they can’t quite expand,” Louisa said. “It’s not their priority.” This doesn’t deter her because the beauty industry has so many options. “If one brand says no, it definitely doesn’t kill your business,” she said.“There are also new players coming in.” “If one doesn’t work there is always the next one,” she added. The company has also dealt with logistics challenges. Initially, it was tough to get the product from the website to the customers hands. “It would take almost three days in the same city,” said Louisa. She worked closely with her delivery partners in order to tackle this. “Now we are at a point where it takes 24 hours for most deliveries within the city.” Her goal is to cut down the product delivery time to 3 to 4 hours. “That would be the sweet spot,” she said. Powering the beauty revolution The startup sets itself apart from its competition by actively engaging with its clients. “From day one we have focused on building a community,” said Louisa. “So our brand voice has always been very inclusive.” Customers participate in the company’s story. They share pictures of products they have purchased from the store as well as beauty finds they are interested in. Through this online community, clients can also access tutorials and get beauty advice. “We are their friends,” said Louisa. “We are who they go to when they want to have conversations about beauty.” “Even if you aren’t purchasing at the time, we still want to engage you.” she added. This online community keeps Louisa going in the face of challenges. “People are always encouraging me