The beauty and personal care industry is one of the biggest and most profitable in the world today. A 2017 report put the worth of the African market alone at $9.2 billion and it was projected to reach $12 billion this 2020.
Before social media and its many numerous platforms that have blown a new life in this industry, the western brands controlled the market and treated it as just one block. The products were made mostly for white skin and the other markets, Africa in particular, basically had little or no products catered specifically for black skin.
With the rise of social media, it might be an understatement to say that things have changed TREMENDOUSLY over the last ten years. A rise in black pride, and in the affirmation of black beauty, as well as the increased clamour for representation of people of colour in pop culture and global media channels has birthed the many beauty brands that are built for all the shades and idiosyncrasies of black skin.
And the market is quite huge. When one considers that out of the $12 billion of the beauty market that the African continent is worth today, that South Africa alone accounts for $4.5 billion and Nigeria $3.2 billion, one sees that there is still a HUGE space for growth and a lot of money to be made. Especially since by comparison, this same market in Asia is worth $130 billion today.
This truth did not need to be laid twice on Ritha Kelly Nengi; a 30 year old beauty-preneur with a Bachelor’s degree in marketing, and a diploma in cosmetology. Ruth started her brand after the lack of a permanent employment after her graduation led her into a string of entrepreneurial undertakings that finally culminated in the opening of a small cosmetic shop. Ritha got immersed in the business and took a keen interest in the cosmetic industry and began to do lots of research in the area.
As she researched beauty blogs, YouTube channels, documentaries and articles every day, Ritha quickly noticed the large amount of women trying out the skin adjustment or treatment recipes dished out to them,and noticed that as much as 90% of women are not comfortable in their skin colour or texture and thus need safe, cost effective and sustainable solutions.
She also got a better grasp of how women go through all sorts of expensive and dangerous processes like chemical peelings and injections just to have a uniform skin colour, or good skin texture. She noticed that they just want to feel comfortable and confident, sometimes at all cost.
Armed with the knowledge from her research, her experience selling cosmetic products and her passion for skincare, Ritha started taking courses on skincare products formulation. She started practical training in 2017. After five training sessions with different skincare experts and a year and a half of test marketing, and with a firm confidence in her own formula and in her knowledge of black skin, her brand, Glowrays Cosmetics was born.
In Ritha’s own words: “When the word glow is mentioned, every woman wants to identify herself with it and as such, the insatiable search for products or activities that will aid them fall in the limelight. Glow is often confused for bleaching or only related to light skinned persons which is actually not the case. Every skin colour can glow and attain perfection while leaving no trace of the prior skin problems. Dark knuckles, knees, elbows and feet are one of the most dreaded and uncomfortable skin problems faced by 90% of black women these days which is caused by excessive washing with harsh chemicals, exposure to hot water and sunlight without protection and dry skin as well.”
Ritha warns that her brand is only here to give a uniform complexion by providing solutions to a certain range of skin problems. It is not a bleaching lotion and it only provides solutions for a certain range of cutaneous problems via the natural herbs and powders in the lotion’s formula. She is not a substitute for a dermatologist.
Ritha is open for business and you can reach her brand via the addresses below. Go patronise!
Contact 674772058 / 658269345 Facebook: Glowrays Cosmetics Instagram: glowrays_cosmetics Email: glowraysbyritha@gmail.com
Wandji Wilfred
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