She is a big Makeup artist in London. Although her name is Ayokunnu Niniola, everyone calls her CMB, the initials of her business name ColourMe Beautiful Makeover. She is one of the very best Makeup gurus in London and that is why many celebrity ladies rush to her for their Make-Up.
Despite the fact that shops have not been re-opened in London, all her clients invite her to their house to do their Make-Up for their birthday shoots.
Let me start by asking you how feel being one of the leading make-up artists in London?
Let me just say it’s been God. It’s not easy, a lot of hard work was put into it. We faced a lot of challenges but we thank God.
How were you been able to become the most sought after make-up artist in the UK? How did you build your brand to that point?
Yes, being the most sought after make-up artist, we thank God for that. Truth is, I have dozens of people that I look up to. I must tell you that it’s not been easy, but my clients have been amazing. They’ve been supportive, encouraging me to keep ongoing.
So, how have you been able to get your clients to keep coming back to you?
Ah, it’s been tough because there’s a lot of competition in this business. I am not the only one doing the business here in London. The thing is that we have learnt to be more friendly in the course of doing our job. We have to be courteous in the way we relate to our customers. I always strive to make my customers come back and make them realize certain things they didn’t know about themselves. For instance, I have had ladies come to me to say, ‘I don’t like red lipstick’, and I ask them, why? They say because they have not been comfortable with it and I tell them, okay, let’s try this one or try that one. And at the end of the day, they’ll be like, oh, this is nice, so red actually fits me. And I tell them its all about getting the right person to give you the right application of it. That encourages them to come back. I think my approach to people, my sincerity, has really helped me in my business.
How would you say the pandemic has affected your business?
The pandemic has really affected the business. It affected it a lot but it’s not just me but every business as well. But, right now, I have realized that the important thing is to protect ourselves from the virus first and foremost before any other thing can follow. It is when we stay alive and stay healthy that we can think of doing business. After the pandemic is over, things hopefully will return back to normal. Thank God they are easing the lockdown now, so things will begin to pick up soon again. When we’re doing the make-up, we need to be protected. As for me, while I’m working and making up clients, I wear my face mask. I ensure my clients wash their hands, use hand sanitizers and wear their face masks.
When the virus first broke out, what did you make of it? Did you think it was going to be this serious?
I actually thought the virus would’ve been curbed long before now. I was confident that there are top-notch health care facilities here in Britain and that the government will do everything to stop it from coming into the country, but that was not to be. For a couple of months, I couldn’t do any job until around May. Since then, a lot of photoshoots have been coming.
What sort of lessons would you say you have learnt from this pandemic?
A lot of lessons. First is that in life we just have to start taking a lot of things seriously, as the issue of saving. We need to start learning to save money. There were a lot of things I had a nonchalant attitude to. Like some courses that I was just taking for granted, I now had time to do them. I learnt more about Gele, I learnt about photo editing, learnt more about online make-up. The situation afforded me the opportunity to really pay attention to these things. But the most important one is saving, the pandemic really taught me a big lesson.
Everyone is talking about the new normal, what’s the new normal for the make-up business in London?
Well, the thing is, we have not really resumed business fully. Like for me, I have not opened my studio yet. I have not even been to the studio yet so I don’t know what the new normal will be for our business right now. I have a baby and I don’t want to expose my baby to the virus. And the ban on parties is still very much effective here. The social distancing rule is taken very seriously.
Let’s talk about make-up, why do you think it’s important for ladies to pay attention to their make- up?
Well, the thing is that, before, many ladies were not taking their make-up seriously. But things have changed. For instance, here in London, people work really hard. Ladies work very hard here in London. Some do ten hours shift, others do twelve, so by weekend, if there’s a party to attend, I don’t think it’s too much to take out a token to make yourself look really beautiful. These days, if you go to a party and you don’t have make-up on, people will be like, what’s wrong with her, is she okay? Having a beautiful make-up on your face will make you feel happy about yourself and give you that glamorous look. It’s the way you look that you will be addressed. Having make-up increases your self-esteem as a woman.
Let’s talk about the major mistakes women make with their make-up, what would you say those mistakes are?
When it comes to makeup, where the whole thing goes wrong is the eyebrow. And the eyebrow is the most important thing when it comes to make-up. Once the eyebrow is off, there’s no amount of powder that will remedy the situation. The whole make-up is messed up once the eyebrow has been messed up. So, the eyebrow is important, the eye shadow is important, the powder blending is important.
It’s only make-up you do, you don’t do skincare, am I right?
No, I don’t do skincare. But I have someone who does skincare that I work closely with. She is very good, her creams are very effective. She’s got really nice products.
Let’s talk about your nine years in the business when you look back, how does it make you feel?
I feel happy. Make –up has been something that I love doing ever since when I was in secondary school. Back then in secondary, I would take off my eyebrow, use blade to take it off and try to make the eyebrow look good. I’ve been in love with make-up for a long time. Many people were not surprised I ended up doing make-up. My sisters, my mum, my friends, they were not surprised to see me become what I am today. My sisters were so supportive, even my dad, everyone was just telling me to go for it. I didn’t see myself doing any other thing except make-up. I really love the job.
Did you start the business here in Nigeria or you started when you got to London?
I started in Nigeria actually. I think I’d done the business for just about a year before moving down to London. I did my make-up training back in Nigeria. I used to travel down to London, return to Nigeria, travel back to London and then decided to settle down here and it’s been great so far.
Where were you born and raised, was it in Lagos?
Lagos? No, I can’t live in Lagos o, I was born and raised in Ibadan (laughs). Ibadan is a very peaceful environment. Ibadan is part of me. I had my primary, secondary and University education in Ibadan. I attended Lead City University. What course did you study while at Lead City?
I did International Relations and later I changed to Office Technology and Management.
But you knew all along that you were going to go into make-up?
Yes, I knew it. I knew that was where I would end up. In fact, not even make-up, it was fashion. I knew I was going to end up doing fashion and make-up. That’s one other thing my customers like about me because I also style them and tell them what to wear and what suits them. I have always had a passion for fashion as well. One thing about make-up is that you must keep learning new things with it.
What is that single thing you would say has helped you succeed in what you’re doing?
I think its God and passion but let me put God first. It is the passion that has kept me going. My passion for the job is so strong that if someone wakes me up around 2 am and tells me to make her up, I am ready to do it even if the person does not pay me. It’s the joy and satisfaction that I get that keeps me going. Its moments like when a customer looks through the mirror and says, oh, I love this, it’s really nice, that what gives me satisfaction. Some even give me extra money for a job well done.
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