Business of Beauty 2.1

 Following on from last week, we’re talking make up brands available in Nigeria, some of the biggest cosmetics brands including international giants Maybelline and Sleek,  Zaron, Black|Up, MUD (Make Up Designatory), regional and home grown brands such as House of Tara International, make up guru owned brands including BMPro by renowned artist Banke-Meshida Lawal, Zaron Cosmetics, MUD (Make Up Designatory) are all available nationwide.

 

You cannot complain about lack of choice or quality in the Nigerian make up marketplace.

 

 

 

 

 

There is a new crop of smaller brands with luxury and vitamin infused offerings from Khuraira cosmetics, Trim & Prissy to “high street” including, Lise, Elsas pro, Dabota Cosmetics, Blot Cosmetics by the beauty supply chain, Giftys Daughter are also in the Nigerian marketplace to offer more choices.

 

Phew! So yes the make up business is booming. Where do you come in?

Many of the brands named offer international standard make up training available nationwide, details of these can be found on their websites, if you’re clever in your research some of them also offer “scholarships” to train.

 

So, if you’ve had interest enough to get professionally trained as a make up artist,  your next step is to equip yourself with brushes, primers, foundations of every shade, powders, lip stick, liners etc.

 

 

 

I bet you’re thinking Wow! All of this to be a makeup artist? Yes. Which is why internship, apprenticeship and professional training is recommended.

To be a good make up artist, a basic knowledge of good skin care is an advantage, wonderful people and marketing skills can propel you to the next level.

Then you need to make sure you make a decent profit, again doable if you access brands that are distributed and available within the country (see above). Whether you’re going high end (expensive) or high street (affordable) depends on who you target- that is who is your market?  Fot general events most artists would blend a variety of brands to attain the look they want. Bridals tend to attract more money as better quality products tend to be used because d’uh, it’s the most important day of most people’s lives.

Image credit: @Mekkyajfandy

For most artists there is a flexibility in remaining mobile, it’s also more cost-effective. As fashionable as it is to “own a store/salon” don’t jump into it without testing the waters.

Location becomes important if you’re not a mobile practitioner, or if you want to step it up a notch.

 

You’ve been a successful make up artist for a while, you want to grow, you feel you’re business savvy. What else can you do?

Now we talk distribution, you can become a distributor for any of the brands most of who offer discounts and incentives to those trained in their academies.

To begin with, you’re best off building your clientele before getting a physical location. This is where your skills as a makeup artist and people skills can help.

What is a distributor? A middle man who sells brands of cosmetics direct to the client. Avon an international cosmetics company founded in America in 1886 grew out of the need for women to gain some financial independence. They would go house to house selling and that’s how a billion dollar business was built.

 

In our culture especially in the north most women trade at home, this is no different, if you have had some training in the field (remember getting into the industry by being an intern and building up?) you would have good knowledge of what is popular, on trend, and what works for your clients in real life, no need to doll up a house wife going for a family naming ceremony as a bride.

Taking the step to being a distributor should not be done lightly. you want to set up an independent store, that should mean you are a great business person with excellent record keeping skills, that has lots experience in the field and can consistently maintain a satisfied clientele. Believe me, it’s not as easy as it sounds

What are brands looking for in a good distributor?

There are challenges faced by Nigerian beauty brands. Much as copyright issues plague Nollywood, the same can be argued by beauty manufacturers or brands in Nigeria.

It takes a truly discerning customer to go for quality over low cost, keeping prices affordable also helps.

Legal intervention can be costly and time consuming, so discourages manufacturing locally and depending on the economy means you have to import these materials needed.

All these are considerations mean brands are constantly on the look out for good distributors.

To be a makeup distributor:

[Insert Blot Cosmetics lower face of woman]

Know about beauty
1. Someone that understands and knows the Nigerian beauty industry and more specifically, their own local area.

Network
2. All those friends and bikis you attend? That’s your network, make it work for you.

Location
3. Having a location may be an advantage to some brands but a lot are looking to penetrate tight knit communities, so working from home or being a mobile reseller is NOT a disadvantage.

Online
4. Get online. Selling online or through your social media contacts is where it’s at, so get to building.

Walk around
5. Visit your local beauty spots, salons, give samples and free/ discounted makeovers and rake in that dough! Go in pairs or groups to make it more fun.

[Insert Sleek makeup products with rock star chain jpeg]

Get to it!
We all have dreams and aspirations. For many of us it remains just that, if you can identify with this article, be like nike and Just. Do. It.

Make up brands in Nigeria: Black|Up, Blot Cosmetics, BMPro, Dabota cosmetics, Elise, Elsaspro, House of Tara International, KayCe Taos, Khuraira cosmetics, Maybelline, Sleek makeup, Zaron Cosmetics.

Next: I will be profiling a number of influencers already in the industry asking their fave beauty products, their take on challenges they face and how they overcome them and FREE GIVEAWAYS from Blot Cosmetics! Tune in

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All images are copyrighted to their respective owners. This article is copyrighted to HappyDevas, skin, hair and fragrance ©2016

 

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