Modern make-up has evolved and been embraced by Africans in different ways. Rwanda has not been left out of this African makeup renaissance that has made men stand out as top make-up artists.

Rwanda’s has such a duo in Ivan Mugemanyi of Tamiim Beauty and Kenneth Ojok of Trendy Shadow.

The two are working together for a fashion show dubbed Collective Rwanda.

Mugemanyi, 30, started his make-up journey 10 years ago by helping friends. “I always liked doing makeup but five years ago my business partner Diane Ndamukunda and I decided to get professional training for one year in Brussels.”

The Brussels-raised Rwandan later went on to work for MAC cosmetics for two years. He trained and conducted pop-up shops with Diane during holidays for quick makeup fixes to their clients until they opened Tamiim Beauty in 2014. Their arrival in Rwanda last year brought in clients mostly during the holiday seasons.

Meanwhile Ojok, 24, who happened to be settling in Rwanda from Uganda was dabbling in finding his forte. Having started his love for fashion back in the day, he mainly focused on hair until his cousin asked him to try makeup. After high school through the advice from his cousin he started watching YouTube videos on makeup and other social media forums that provide tutorials then started to try out before coming to Rwanda in August last year.

“I came to work for Kwetu Film Institute and as I would do makeup for friends who liked my work during my free time,” said the self-taught makeup artist who has been in the business for the past 10 months.

On teaming up with Ivan for the upcoming fashion show Collective Rwanda that will take place on October 14, Ojok says “I first contacted Ivan on social media where he is active and we talked then he invited me to help out during the fashion show.”

Seated in Tamiim’s office where the sketches of the girls were sprawled on the workbench, Kenneth chose some of the makeup sketches he seemed to like while Ivan gave the descriptions of the makeup choices.

“The event will be gruesome as there will be many models and I needed a helping hand since my partner is in Brussels running our other beauty shop there,” said Mugemanyi, who invited Kenneth to showcase his talent on the event that will draw top fashion houses based in Kigali where they will be working on close to 50 models for about 20 minutes per individual.

Mugemanyi has been representing Tamiim here until January due to a growing need of customers who loved their service while Diane stayed to handle their studio back in Brussels, “We came here for a short time but this time I am staying here for longer to see how our brand can grow.”

Response for both of them has been positive moreover by word of mouth. “Rwandans are generally not drawn to flashy makeup due to their good skin but so far many are trying out our products. Our mission is a revelation but not a transformation, so we don’t do makeup that over powers their look but complements their outfit,” quipped Mugemanyi.

These two are the most sought after make-up artists in Kigali because that they take professional make-up seriously. They echo the same thing when asked why they charge a bit higher; their products are quality and most of it is imported from Brussels.

Ivan charges from Rwf30,000 ($37) depending on the services offered while Ojok charges Rwf25,000 ($31) onwards. They each work on a face for approximately 30 minutes to an hour depending on the complexity and needs of their clients.
They hope more young men who have the passion will not fear but embrace it.

Ojok hopes to one day do the make-up of the first daughter Ange Kagame as he expands his portfolio to a stable studio while Mugemanyi. hopes to open up shops across the world alongside his partner Diane and wouldn’t mind doing Beyoncé’s face because he is a big fan.