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Olufunmi Irantiola Olurinola, CEO, Abeke Makeovers

Beautification and bridal make-up is on the rise as a career among young women with entrepreneurial acumen. Though an old art, the business savvy have taken it a notch higher globally. In Nigeria, several brand names abound. Among the highly rated beauty companies, we bring you Abeke Makeovers, a brand created by the delectable Funmilola Irantiola Olurinola. She delves into the history of her brand in this interview with Connect Nigeria. Excerpts; CN: What inspired your idea to launch an outfit that caters to the beauty of a woman? Funmi: The inspiration behind my outfit; let’s just say it was my life at a point in time. When I was young, I had a lot of self-esteem issues. You know how when you’re growing you have acne and spots on your skin and for someone who never really considered herself to be pretty in the first place, I had it bad. I also had weight issues so I wasn’t very comfortable or confident in myself and as such, I was always looking for something to do to make me look better. In my quest for beauty I started spending a lot of time in salons indirectly picking up skills as time went. So it wasn’t like I initially went for a deliberate training, I just used to read up on stuff and experiment with it and before I knew it, people started gravitating towards me and asking me for tips on how to do beauty stuff. Then I had a light bulb moment and decided this is something I really wanted to do and I did it with God’s help. I started from my room in school. In time, people started suggesting that I get a shop; so I took that advice and opened one and that was how I took off. In that studio, I was doing hair, pedicure, manicure and Nails. I wasn’t yet doing make-up at least for the initial half of the time I was there. People started noticing that I always had my hair and nails well done and I always looked well-groomed but then someone suggested that I should try to wear makeup, so that spurred me to doing more research. I’d look through magazines at pictures and try to copy the looks that I liked. I became very good at it and people encouraged me. So I knew this was the Job for me. Also as I already knew I wasn’t cut out for a 9 to 5 kind of job I delved into it with all I had. So by the time I finished from the university, I had amassed some experience and with it I did a six-month stint with a makeup company before I began my own outfit.

Funmi: No, it’s not. As a matter of fact, men that are into their looks are called metro sexual men. They care about the way they look. There are make-up lines geared towards men now. Like tinted moisturizers instead of foundation, coloured lip balms and all. I think nowadays, because cameras have become more sophisticated and the resolutions are sharper, it makes every detail on one’s face visible. The megapixels in cameras are increasing and as such they can capture even finer details than ever before. So because of that men tend to consider what they can do to make their faces look nicer besides merely cutting their hair and shaving their beards. Everyone wants to look outstanding. So besides spending money on nice clothes and acessories, you want that little extra thing that makes you look well put together. Especially for light-skinned guys or those whose faces break out easily. There are products specially made for men that when you’re using it, you don’t feel funny like you’re using makeup. And then, because more men are in front of the cameras either in magazine pages or on TV. By the way I think makeup was created for cameras. You know, the way the naked eyes see is different from the way a cameras does. When the camera lights are on, a normal looking face begins to look oily. That’s the reason why you find out that actors have to wear makeup, especially foundation and powder. It depends on what you need though. And in this world now, beauty is very key; beauty is what sells. If you’re someone like Wizkid or Iyanya or D ‘banj whose images are sold on sex appeal, you’ll discover you can’t do without it. CN: Do you have any particular job you consider most challenging? Explain what makes it more challenging than the average, if any. Funmi: I take between 30/45 minutes to two hours to work…okay, let me not say 30/45 minutes because that is what it takes for regular make-up. But when I want to do what stands me out, which is what I call ‘surgery without needles’, I need like two hours so that when the person comes out, all you’ll see is a stunningly perfect looking face. I expect you to see a face that looks like it was created flawless. I don’t like you to be able to see the makeup sitting or standing (in some cases) on the persons face as most people wear it. When I’m done you can definitely see that there is a major transformation. But if you don’t have a ‘before picture’, I expect you to believe that my client was born perfect and that’s what I have in mind when I’m working. In fact my unedited work looks like a perfectly airbrushed picture. And the pressure is always there because each time I go in to do a job people are waiting to see the “miracle” . It’s usually an intense two hours for me. Artists paint on canvass and they can take as long as they like. In my own case the person is probably going to go out or is about to do a photo shoot; people need to see the result in less than 2 hours. When the person comes out they have to look stunningly beautiful and if I don’t get that, I can’t leave. Its my mandate. CN: Without a doubt, there must be some advantage from your academic background to what you currently do. How has your academic training been of advantage? Funmi: I studied Mass Communication in Olabisi Onabanjo University, Ago Iwoye, Ogun State and I’m a make-up artist, so you’ll be thinking where is the correlation. I think, basically, what it just does for me is that my academic background has helped in terms of communicating effectively and selling my business to different clients from different backgrounds. Besides the degree I got in communication, I also got a scholarship from Goldman Sachs to undergo CEM program in Lagos Business School. This, I’ll say, has had a direct impact on the growth of my business. Generally though, I think education really does help to put one ahead of the pack in one way or the other. CN: What are the challenges you experience as a business owner? Funmi: I don’t think there’s any special challenge besides the fact that our business is seasonal because most times the bulk of work that brings in major revenue comes from weddings and there are specific periods in the year that people usually get married. There are some low periods during the year like the rainy season when people do not really want to have their weddings, Lent period, etc. The busy period is around the ember months. Besides the inconsistency in frequency of jobs, and the usual challenges we as business owners face in Nigeria, there’s really not more to complain about. CN: The economic landscape is changing, particularly as it concerns business operations and payment for services. In what ways has ICT shaped/impacted on your business? Funmi: I’m one of those people that would say that what has helped me majorly is ICT, especially social media. When I first started, I got my friends to model my makeup and I’d upload pictures of my work on Facebook. Then people would drop several comments beneath the pictures, soon, word got around as a result of my pictures online. I’ve had people calling me from outside Nigeria as a result of finding me online. This shows how much ICT has impacted my business. Also, we moved from our former office and for now, I’m doing most of my business online. People don’t necessarily have to come and see me, all they do is send me an email, we discuss and finalise on phone and online and when it’s time I go over to their place and get the work done. So ICT has played a huge role in this regard.

CN: Where do you see your organisation in the next ten years? Funmi: [laughs] Realistically, I can’t predict what would happen in the next ten years. I’m a bootstrapper so when opportunity arrives, I jump on it. Whatever God brings my way is what I’ll take. Even if I knew where we would be in the next ten years, it’d be telling if I revealed it here.