AGNES RAPHAEL SHARES HER STORY: CELEBRATING BEAUTY,MAKEUP AND SELF-WORTH
Agnes Raphael is a make up artist and an environmentalist. She studied environmental engineering at Ardhi University, make up lessons and entrepreneurship at Manjano foundation. She quit her day time job to be a full time entrepreneur, the idea of being self employed appealed to her more than being employed. And this was initiated by the short entrepreneurship initiated by the Manjano Foundation dubbed ‘Manjano Dream Makers’ where she was getting her make up lessons on financial literacy, entrepreneurship and make-up application. She offers environment consultations to clients when they need it. Ever since she was a kid she used to love beauty products and making herself beautiful. So it did not come as a surprise when she joined the Manjano Foundation Women Economic Empowerment program offering beauty course immediately after she finished college. The offer was everything she needed to turn things around.
What does your typical day look like?
I wake up in the morning and do routine chores at home, my schedule starts at 7 am and it depends on what I want to do that day. Either I go to work on my projects as an environmentalist, since I studied environmental science or I have clients to give a make over to, in that case I will go to the location that we have agreed upon. So my day revolves around those two responsibilities that am working on.
What does beauty mean to you?
Beauty is confidence. I feel it’s a must for us women to look good, because that makes us feel good which in return makes us confident. And when a woman is confident in what she does, that’s beauty. It’s true that we all have a natural beauty but it’s essential to do things that will enhance our beauty. In the beauty industry, we have make up, soap, perfume, powder, lipstick and bathing too so that we can look good throughout the day.
How do you feel about make up and the controversy behind it?
People associate make up with being under confidence because they do not know the differences in make up. In a normal day, people opt for a day make up, which is light and natural even when a person sees you, they compliment on your face as fresh, dry, and nice. And on top of that, your lipstick does not get a lot of attention. This adds your confidence in front of people because you will not be feeling awkward. People will also judge you as a smart person. Paradoxically, there is evening make up which most people are not aware of, a lot of people use evening make up during the day. In normal circumstances, evening make up has eye shadow, light lipsticks, eye liner, and the colour of the powder and foundation they use is light too. So people go for this look during the day, which makes them look weird and unprofessional resulting in bad judgment.
Is there a link between those in the beauty industry and those who did not attain higher education qualifications?
They just don’t make it a priority. Most peoples mindsets are fixed in believing that those who busy themselves with beauty and make up are models, artists, etc. and when you have an office job its a serious business. But at the end of the day, these people in offices still want to look and feel beautiful so they still pamper themselves once in a while. And these days, men are booming in this industry too. Everyone wants to look good.
If you where given a chance to use LuvTouch Manjano products, which ones would you use and why?
I am proud to say I use all the product range of luv touch Manjano products; foundation, powder, lipstick, soap, conditioner, shampoo. And as a make up artist, I use them on my clients as well. I ma seeing the goodness of the products, because initially before I started using LuvTouch Manjano, I was struggling to get good products. As you know as Africans we have a Manjano background, so luv touch has tried to incorporate the Manjano in its products and it has succeeded. This means when you apply, you get to retain your natural look. For example, I am black and most black people fail to get the shades of powder and foundation that matches with the black skin tone. But luv touch has them, they have 10 shades of black skin and everyone has a match. So I am happy, my customers are happy, business is good. People are afraid of the price but I can say it’s fair because the product lasts for a while once you buy. It can take you to 2 months or more.
What Advice do you have for girls and young women?
Young girls should not fear wearing makeup, looking good, it will add to their confidence level, even during interviews. But you need to do your homework about which products are good, fake and which ones are better for you so that you can apply the right make up. Also I advice them to use LuvTouch Manjano products, even my customers recommend it. They should seek knowledge about cosmetology because beauty is not only about applying make up; you have to know your skin types and how to take care of your skin.
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