Turning art into beauty

Wouldn’t a pang of jealous surge through your body, make your bile rise and feel like you want to beat the daylights out of the man who is touching her face with such tenderness meant for you, and you alone?

Although young make-up artist Kudzai Chakaingesu of Vault Cosmetics based in Avondale, Harare, denies ever encountering such a sticky scenario, it is not easy for one to imagine him going through his job which involves working up-close with women on a daily basis.

“I am a make-up artist because I just love the job, it is an art and I am an artist to the bone. I ventured into the business of make-up because I was jobless and saw an opportunity in beauty. If you have noticed before, whenever everything is failing, including all the industries, women always strive to look good despite the prevailing circumstances and since I was also into modelling and fashion designing, I said to myself, why not give it a try?” he explained.

Kudzai said he was driven by his passion for beauty therapy.
“When I got into it I was driven by a passion to make women look even better than they did because when they apply make-up, they do it to please men. So I know how they should look like since I am one of those men who when I look at a woman, I appreciate the beauty,” he said.

But still, there is this stereotype that is attached to his work.
Being a man in female-dominated domain, doesn’t he therefore feel like a square peg in a round hole, a fish out of water or rather, the odd one out? Isn’t there a feeling of embarrassment that always hounds him and at the same time doesn’t he feel that people regard him as a sissy — an effeminate man or boy?

“Yes, the stereotype is always there because I am doing a job that is considered to be a domain for women. While the response from the women on whom I apply the make-up has been astonishing, since they love it, other people have greeted it with a homophobic feeling. But this does not deter me because people can say what they want but their negative comments and sentiments do not bring bread on to my table,” he said.

The 20-year-old model-cum make-up artist said most Zimbabwean youths who were unemployed were naïve to look around for opportunities.
“In any industry, make a plan by looking at opportunities that can sustain livelihoods,” he proudly said.

But what does his family members and friends feel about his profession?
“Actually my friends and family are very supportive. They are happy with me and love the fact that I am doing something for myself and making money out of it,” said the cheerful lanky lad.

“My mother Hazel Saisai, a hairstylist, is the most supportive of all people and she is the one who gave me all the links into modelling, fashion and make-up industries. I have something to show for my job, for instance, I recently moved out of the family house and am now living on my own, bought my own furniture and I also buy my own groceries, among other things,” he explained.

Kudzai said his association with women everyday as he does make-up has helped him in a very big way to understand the world better, saying it has opened up new avenues for him and changed his perception on how he views things in life.

He said he has a soft spot for women, whom he said despite their tenderness, are strong underneath.
“I believe women are stronger than men, and this is one characteristic I noticed while working with them. I have met a lot of different women and they tell me a lot about life. I have used their tips to approach life from an informed angle, and this has helped and shaped me in a big way,” said Kudzai. Apart from the women he has worked with, he says he has also encountered some of the movers and shakers not only in Zimbabwe but from various parts of the world.

“I have also met a lot of interesting people, power players in Zimbabwe and abroad. These are the people who are searching for that image that represents them. For example, I met Jackie Mgido, the Zimbabwean-born Hollywood make-up artist who is based in Los Angeles, United States, who not only trained me as a make-up artist under her Vault Cosmetics company, but also became one of my mentors.

“Another big influence in my career is Judith Williams of Model Management Zimbabwe, who groomed me as a model and whose company is also my mother agency. I salute her for being behind me every step of my career and she is also the one who linked me up with Mgido,” said the multi-talented artist, who is still single.

Kudzai said for eyelashes he charges something from US$15 up to US$50 depending on the type of make-up, which ranges from being simple eyelashes, full make-up, bridal make-up, dramatic eyelashes (which he says are for the stage or artistes), eyelash extensions as well as natural make-up for the average woman.

“I believe the eye is the window to the soul and therefore it should always be visible” is his guiding philosophy. But how does he link make-up art with modelling and fashion designing, which were the forerunners of his current occupation as a make-up artist?

“In make-up, they call me ‘The Lash King’ and it is a great honour to have such a title considering that I only started end of February this year. It was easy for me to venture into it (make-up) because I started off as fashion designer at the age of 16 before diversifying into modelling a year later. “I grew up with a passion for fashion, although I major mostly in men’s wear because I feel that when it comes to women, there is a lot of attention to detail and a lot of fabrics go into it, unlike men’s fashion which is not too demanding.

But this does not mean that I don’t have potential to design for women.
“Last year, I designed for the Zimbabwe Youth Festival, and the response was great. I have also designed for Gilmore, who is the owner of Deck Magazine in Bulawayo,” he said. Kudzai added that his inspiration behind fashion was the societal setting in any community.

“I design what I don’t see in this everyday world of fashion. It’s like you draw a piece of canvas and then you see it transformed into reality, this feeling is just out of this world. I intend to register my fashion label, which I call Griffinz Fashion, soon,” he noted. The make-up artist said he got the money to kick-start his projects from fashion and modelling shows as well as from photo shoots.

“A lot of people in Zimbabwe don’t respect the arts industry and no one is really interested in investing into it. So I had to go out of the way and raise the capital on my own in order to get the ball rolling,” Kudzai said.

Coming back to his relationship with the women on whom he applies make-up, Kudzai said he has made it his working policy to keep things between them and him professional, saying he is always cautious to keep it that way -no strings attached.

“There are no personal feelings between the women I work with and myself. I like to be professional and I don’t like to mix personal feelings with business because this can end up messing things,” he said.

A shocking revelation from the young artist: “Although I have never thought about it before, but I would love to apply make-up on my mum and sister, it would feel different and really nice!”

Born on February 3, 1993 in Highfield, Harare, Kudzai did his Ordinary Levels at ILSA College in Harare before venturing into modelling three years ago. When he is not doing make-up, modelling and fashion designing, he enjoys travelling, swimming, going to the gym as well as taking pictures ‘since I am an aspiring photographer’.