Spotlight- Meet Oluchi, Creative Makeup Artist

“Spotlight” is a series that focuses on young Nigerian creatives and the amazing things that they’re doing in their various fields. It was started because we wanted to share stories of these young creatives and their individual journies on the path to greatness.

This week, we’re featuring creative makeup artist, Oluchi Ahamefule. Oluchi is a makeup artist that we discovered on Twitter when she went viral for posting some of the most creative/VFX make-up looks we had ever seen.

We interviewed Oluchi because we had to know how she comes up with these crazy drawings she draws on her face and we also wanted to know why she decided to go into this type of make-up.

Here’s how the interview went:

What did you study in school?

Well, I’m currently in my final year of medical school

How’s that going?

It’s going okay actually. This last phase is a lot though because we were supposed to write our last Medical Board exams and be done by September. But COVID-19 came to change plans

So that’s the one major thing in your life that Covid-19 has affected?

Yes that’s the one major thing. I Was supposed to induct as a doctor in September, but it will have to be moved to a later date due to this whole issue.

So how do you have time for makeup and at the same time go to medical school and read for board exams?

I’m actually constantly learning this thing. It’s really hard to balance both so I just try to make use of my free time when it comes. There are actually a lot of activities in school, both medical and non-medical-related, so free time is quite precious. I majorly make use of my nights for makeup before I sleep, or wake up later at night. Then editing the looks will have to come during the day. Since I’m a night person, I am also a night reader, so I read after makeup or try to switch nights to do each and try to read during the day although day reading can be a struggle for me

What would you call your type of makeup?

Hmmn. I would simply say its a form of creative makeup. When I decided to officially start doing makeup, I knew I wanted to bring something different to the table because it seemed like everyone was going into makeup. So I decided to try drawing on my face and it turned out okay. So I do that in addition to normal glam makeup I do on my clients mostly in school.

Did you always know you wanted to do makeup?

Yeah I’ve always loved makeup. I had an interest in it from a young age. So I used to practice on my face. In fact, the first time my brows were trimmed, I was the one that trimmed them and it ended up a disaster by the way, and my mom was horrified. So I taught myself, practiced what I saw in pictures on my face, and anyone willing to allow me to learn on them. And by the time I got into my first year in university, I did makeup for a few friends for our departmental dinner, and after that I started doing for other people. For the creative makeup side, I like drawing and painting. I saw a certain influencer on Instagram draw on her face and it was so cool! So I tried it out and the feedback was great

What are some of the challenges you faced when you started makeup?

Ah a lot! first of all my parents aren’t really fans of makeup like that, so convincing them was an issue. Most of all they didn’t want it to interfere with my academics. Next, my phone camera was quite bad so I had to borrow my friend’s phone to take pictures, and I hated feeling like a bother. Another issue was having light to use. During the day I would be in class or in the clinic, and the only time I had was night time and I had no ring light so it was pretty hard until I was able to save up and get one later. Those were the major issues

Do you just do your creative makeup for fun or do you plan to make a career out of it?

I actually want to make a career out of it. Maybe work with the movie industry once in a while, do painting jobs, get paid to create content for brands, and as a beauty influencer by God’s grace.

What inspires your artwork?

It’s God mehnn. He gives me ideas on how to go about stuff, and ideas on cool things to do. And as much as some of the things I’ve painted were inspired by really amazing MUAs online, God gives me ways to go about it easily

Who are some creative makeup artists that you admire?

Abby Roberts, Gabrielle Alexis, Mimi Choi, and Katie Butt. They are mind-blowingly good!

What’s the most challenging drawing you’ve ever done?

I would have to say the Jackpot one. That took me about 4 hours or so

If I wanted to become a creative makeup artist, what would you advise me to do?

Well just start from somewhere, don’t overthink it. Everyone started small and grew along the way, so no need to be in a rush. The world is looking for something different, don’t limit yourself. If you put in the work, practice and pray, slowly and surely your work will begin to speak for you.

If you’d like to follow Oluchi, you can find her on Instagram and Twitter

By: Dammy Eneli