HOME AFFAIRS: ‘Advocate against skin bleaching and making positive impact on people’s lives’

Maimuna Dibba, a young talented and determined lady, is advocating against skin bleaching and communicates the beauty of women that create flawless faces which enhance their pride and elegance.

Ms Dibba is a professional freelance makeup artist and the proprietor of Dija’s Makeup Studio, who is working to be Gambia’s finest makeup artist.

“I am passionate about entrepreneurship as a tool to empower women,” she said.

In April 2014, she was hired as an intern for nine months and served as an administrative and finance assistant at the American Chamber Of Commerce (AMCHAM Gambia), and tasked to network with close to 300 SMSE in The Gambia. 

In March 2015, Ms Dibba worked at Global Education Center as an administrative assistant and on customer care. As part of her duties, she helps students to get admitted to schools and scholarships.

In October 2015, she also worked at the American Corner in Banjul, where she hosted a series of seminars and training activities. One of them was the Global Entrepreneurship Week 2015.

The young lady is currently working as a professional, trail-blazing makeup artist of Dija’s Make-up Studio to supply services and products that enhance clients’ physical appearance by using mediums applied to the skin to transform and enhance looks.

She developed a passion for makeup when she was a little girl.

“I would go through fashion magazines and copy the looks I liked,” she opined. 

With the help of start-up incubator Gambia she was able to utilize her talents in a venture, and she wants to combine her love of art with her love of people, she stated.

“This is my passion; something I want to do for the rest of my life. I want to push myself to be one of the top makeup artists in the industry,” she emphasised.

She explained that after having passion for makeup since childhood, she decided to embark on the journey to become a business owner of Dija’s Make-up Studio.

“Makeup was always an addiction and a passion of mine”.

Ms Dibba disclosed that she has a mentor that she follows in makeup tutorials, adding: “I am motivated by greatness. I love listening to other motivational speakers, when I feel down I turn on and listen”.

To her, she gets inspiration from different corners, follows many blogs and loves colours.

She reads tons of magazines to know the trends in fashion.

“I am inspired by personal styles and different personalities, and what I want to play up in that person’s face which makes me creative”.

She further expressed that career as a makeup artist could be exciting and different every day. The satisfaction and achievement comes from using makeup to help people look their best, or become characters far different from their usual self and receiving the positive emotion and responses from clients, she added.

“Building an impressive portfolio with clients is the biggest achievement,” she said.

She called on institutions and individuals to support her, as she is using her house and offers home services.

She also pointed out that there are challenges she encountered during the process, adding that everybody experiences them somehow.

“What separates people is whether they can overcome them or allow them to consume them. I used challenges as a means to fuel success, not to let it overtake or defeat me,” she stressed.

“My main challenge as at now is cash flow and a strategic location,” she lamented.

“Make a brand of yourself, this is the time to think fast and think about the things you do really well. Most importantly, find something that will identify you as a brand. Let the beauty we love be what we do,” she concluded.