Make-up is every woman’s secret weapon, says Awoteju

Makeup Artist Bukola Awoteju is the owner of the eponymous cosmetics line, Maradarah, that was recently launched in Lagos. With a Diploma in Beauty Therapy and Cosmetology from the United Kingdom, and having worked with cosmetic giants such as Fashion fair and Blackup both in the UK, she had enough experience to create her own beauty line.

Awoteju took up make-up artistry hobby 10 years ago. In 2014 she ventured into her makeup line, which is a range of beauty products from eye shadows to brushes and matte liquid lip colours.

According to her, the brand name is a combination of four Yoruba words, “Mu ara da raî” which means beautify the body. “Makeup is a transformative experience and a defining one. It changed the way others see you and the way you see yourself too.

“Makeup is powerful, it is every woman’s secret weapon. Makeup can give you the confidence to get that husband you’ve always wanted, change your job, move abroad, get a pay rise – it literally can make-up your destiny. For young girls, I think they shouldn’t be wearing makeup too.”

Bukola noted that a fresh and natural look is perfect for young women and girls under 16. “It’s all about a natural flush of colour on the cheeks, lips, lush with well-groomed brows.”

She also explained that the current trend in make-up is the vamp lip-dark lips, which a lot of people are crazy about, “the chocolate colour, brown cocoa are really in vogue.”

Speaking on how the application of makeup should change as age sets in, the Maradara boss said, “as one gets older, the colour drains, your skin shrinks from your face and you need to put this back by using a soft, natural and pretty blusher. Natural colour lipsticks, which mimic the natural colour of lips, should be often used. Stick concealers acts like a natural healing plaster to disguise age-spots, wrinkles and dark circles – use it anywhere for a flawless finish. Stay away from chalky pastels and harsh blacks, which can age you 10 years. Instead, give yourself a virtual eyelift by using a soft, powder pencil in a chocolatey brown shade – it lifts, elongates and lengthens the eye for a youth-boosting effect.

“Beauty is not an exclusive club – there are no unattractive women, just some that don’t know or understand the power of makeup. I was shocked to find out that 50 per cent of women do not engage in makeup and the reasons they give are they don’t know how to use it, they don’t know what suits them and don’t have the time to. My brand is all about ease to choose and use my products.

“The artistry is in the products themselves. What makeup does is to enhance your natural features. There is something called the corrective makeup. You can have a flat nose and then you do a corrective work, you make it pointed and then you contour, and then highlight the centre. What makeup does is to enhance your natural beauty, every woman is beautiful, so makeup creates an illusion of what you don’t have and for some people, enhances what they already have,” she informed.

On her advise to aspiring makeup artists she said, “you need to be professional, dedicated and hard-working, most of all you need to have fun – to be successful you need to love what you do.”