By March, businesses had begun to feel the sting of the Coronavirus, which only hurt more as globally enforced lockdowns forced a lot of them to close down physical structures. In fact, quite a number of these businesses would not survive, the closed sign on their doors giving way to empty buildings devoid of anything suggesting that they once occupied that space. Yet, in the midst of what seemed like an economic drought, new businesses began to spring forth, flourishing in spite of the blistering ‘Coronavirus-effect.’

Mohini is one of such brands.

“The Lockdown was a blessing in disguise because I did a couple of marketing courses and I did a few things that helped me set my feet,” says Omoehi Ighodalo, founder of the Mohini brand which comprises of Mohini Hair, Mohini Experience and Mohini Beauty. She definitely is not exaggerating about COVID being a blessing in disguise for her business. In June, she launched a wig sale that sold out before the end of the month, and in August, she launched a makeup capsule collection consisting of lipgloss, eyebrow gel, eyebrow pencil, and lip liner. Excluding the brow pencil and gel, every product sold out almost immediately after the launch.

“It was shocking to see that people actually bought and I was getting reviews of like ‘oh this is actually lovely, I really like this’” Omoehi tells us. But beneath this lovely story of success is a lot of hard work and a bit of failure.

“I was selling hair and wigs throughout my time in university and I built a small clientele. And then, about 2 or 3 years ago, I started thinking about starting a beauty line. I made glitter eyeliner, and I thought, ‘ok, why don’t I sell it?’ You know how you see all these people on Instagram; they drop a product and then it sells out, and I was like, wow, that is what would happen to me. But, the response wasn’t as great as I had Imagined: literally maybe only 2 people bought it.”

After this experience, Omoehi felt she was done with makeup and focused on her hair business, moving back to Nigeria and opening a salon in Lagos last year after her mandatory service year. “ I was devastated… but I wrote [my plans about a makeup brand] down so that whenever it comes up again, I’ll think about it.”

And then, a few months after, she began to notice a certain trend among her friends and acquaintances. They were shopping Nigerian makeup brands but were also buying a lot of foreign brands, either within the country or on international sites and shipping them to Nigeria. However, she was wary of delving into the Nigerian beauty market: her experience with glitter eyeliner was still very fresh in her memory.

“But the thought of starting a makeup brand kept coming up and I was just like, ‘maybe I actually should just give it a try.’” This time though, she was going to do things differently.

The immediate thing Omoehi noticed was that almost all Nigerian makeup brands were owned by makeup artists, and as such, quite a number of people were not confident about using their products. “When a makeup artist does your makeup, and you end up buying the same product they used to recreate the result yourself and it does not always have the same effect. And I was thinking that there was a probability that the average Nigerian does not shop a lot with Nigerian makeup brands because of a lack of trust”

To eliminate this seeming lack of trust, Omoehi created an Instagram account where she talks exclusively about skincare and makeup. “I love both and I feel like they go hand in hand. For good makeup, you need good skin, and when you take off your makeup, you need to care for your skin, So they are pretty much the same thing.” As her followers grew, she started to ask what they would want in their make up purses. What colours would they want in a basic eyeshadow palette? What would they want their makeup to do for their skin beyond making it pretty? The answers from these surveys formed the foundation of Mohini beauty.

“I want my brand to be relatable. Instead of me selling things to people; instead of saying ‘oh, buy this’, I’m telling my target audience you can buy this because this is what you like. You wanted this, here it is.”

Omoehi has come a long way from her university days in England when she was selling wigs and hair from her dorm room and experimenting with different makeup formulations. Riding on the success of her capsule collection, Mohini Beauty will be launching an eyeshadow palette next month and eyeliner later on in the year that does more than make your eyes pop.

So what are her thoughts on the Nigerian beauty industry? “I actually think the Nigerian beauty industry is more awesome than people think, but I think its major problem is its current marketing strategy. If I didn’t love makeup so much, I wouldn’t know about all the Nigerian brands that I know.”

“Abroad, you can walk into beauty stores like Sephora and buy things off the shelf. But in Nigeria, apart from the big makeup brands that have their own studios, you can’t just walk into a store to shop indigenous makeup and hair care brands. There are stores that offer these products, but we do not have enough of them and we definitely do not have exclusive beauty stores that sell indigenous products all over the country.”

Omoehi is hoping Mohini Beauty will change this narrative, in addition to being everyone’s go-to makeup brand. “My makeup can be used by anybody -my mum uses my makeup and she’s 60. I want to create products that have healing effects and not just beautify your skin. I don’t want to ever compromise on its quality and I don’t want one-off customers either”.

Five fun facts about Omoehi Ighodalo

OI: My typical day is wake up, pray, exercise, eat half a grapefruit and then head to work. After work, I head home, eat dinner and watch one of my favourite shows (either Girlfriends or  Law and Order SVU)

OI: My favourite skincare product? I can’t decide between the COSRX  Snail Essence and the Good Molecules Niacinamide toner. These are my top two right now.

OI: If I did not have the Mohini brand, I’d definitely be doing interior design full time or I’d be in PR and marketing.

OI: I cannot leave the house without a mask! And my lipgloss and phone (both are very important)

OI: On something people do not know about me: I am quite shy and very reserved, and, I hate talking about myself!