•Reveals Why She Quit Banking
Bunmi Odumosu was one of the young entrepreneurs recently honored by City People at the maiden edition of Ibadan Young Enterpreneurs’Awards 2021. She is the CEO of a popular fashion and beauty store called Slayers Corner. She is a big player in the industry. Her store is very conspicuous on Ring Road, Ibadan. And this is where most hot babes and top celebrities get their pedicures and manicure, and face and body massage is done in the city. Her store is also a one-stop-shop for all kinds of skincare and beauty products too. Bunmi Odumosu is very hot and sassy. She is beautiful and highly intelligent too. She is a strong young lady who has brought her banking experience to bear on her business. That, clearly, explained why she’s been able to build what could be described as a business empire within a short period of time. So daring is Bunmi that she wasn’t afraid to start all over even when her previous store was razed by fire. In this interview with City People’s Correspondent, DARE ADENIRAN, Bunmi Odumosu shared the story of her very beginning, her pains and gains in business. She also spoke extensively on the major mistakes most ladies make when it comes to the maintenance of their skin and several other issues pertaining to beauty tips. It’s quite revealing and educating. You can’t afford to miss the excerpts. Read on.
It’s such a beautiful place you have here, tell us what Slayers Corner is all about?
Slayers Corner is all about fashion, looking good. My keyword
then was affordability. While I was a banker, there were a series of issues and
one of them was the unavailability of women's kinds of stuff. I preferred to go to Lagos to
buy Fair & White because everybody believes whatever you are buying in
Ibadan is going to be fake. It was that bad some years back. We had few stores
selling cosmetics, except the people at Aleshinloye market. So we had that
problem and I just sat back and looked at the general problem that we had and I
decided to address the issue head-on. I was like if we all need cosmetics,
clothings, good hair, etc and we all go to Lagos or have to ask somebody to get
them for us from outside of Ibadan, why can’t I start something? So, it all
started in the office as a banker. On my annual leave that year, I went to Trade
Fair, I trained for like two months then. By the time I was coming back I
bought stocks (fast-selling kinds of stuff) that I knew people were familiar with. The
business actually started in my friends' circle. After I did that for about
three months, I had to go and learn more about cosmetics, promix and all of
that. It was then I realized the secret of beauty tips, especially all these
organic mixings and all. That even made me more interested in the business.
Because I realized that a lot were actually wrong in the cosmetics business.
That was when I took it up myself to make some positive changes. I resigned and
started my business fully in 2019. Since then, it’s been a wonderful
experience.
Why the name, Slayers Corner?
The name really came out of fear of not wanting to be boxed in
a corner, probably skincare or fashion or hair. I wanted a name that would be
a cover for overall beauty. A slay queen does not necessarily have to be about
skin, make-up etc. It has to be everything as a whole. And I didn’t want it to
be just slayers. So the corner came from the fact you can be a slayer with a
very low budget. Take for instance the recently held City People Ibadan Young
Enterpreneurs’ Awards that I happened to be an awardee, as stunning as my
outfit was, it was less than 20,000 naira in total. So what we preach is, yes,
look good but you don’t have to go broke before you can achieve that glamorous
look.
Tell us about the services you render at Slayers Corner?
We do cosmetics, our cosmetics include creams and soaps. We
produce to suit your skin type and we also sell branded products that I have
been able to certify healthily. You can’t just find products in my store. Once
you see a product in my store it means I am comfortable with the product. We
also do oils, scrubs and soaps, both body and face soaps. Another thing is that
most people don’t understand that there is a difference between body soap and
face soap. There are actually some rules and tricks to all these. Part of our
services also include human hair, attachments, and makeup products. I am a
distributor for Zikel Cosmetics, Classic, Milani, Expression and Bismid
products. We also have a nail lounge, where we do a pedicure, manicure, nail
fixing and designing, and bridal nails and all. We do facial and body massages,
and we do have a boutique where we do affordable classic clothes for all
occasions. Be it casual, corporate or party wear just name it. We try as much
as possible to cut across fashion as a whole.
How lucrative would you say is the business?
In all honesty, every business has its ups and downs. There are
peak periods and low periods. But in all, I can say it’s been a wonderful
experience. You just need a lot of hard work, adverts and consistency. Trust
me, the support has been really encouraging.
With your experience in the fashion and beauty business, why
do you think some ladies find it difficult to maintain their skin?
The major issue I have and I try to enlighten my clients about
all the time is, all ladies or women can’t be fair or yellow. All colors are
beautiful. I can afford to make you white in two weeks but I would rather
retain a color that I find healthy and easy. I can be very lazy when it comes
to my skincare routine, personally. So I don’t go for stuff that will require every day or every minute application. The major problem I have with most ladies
is that they want fast results. They want to apply a product today and see the result in one week. Fine, there are products that will give you results in a
week but the end result after one week, can you really handle it? If you are
careful enough with your routine, yes you may get away with it. But if you are
careless. Most of these products that can give you fast results are chemicals.
If you make a single mistake, it may boomerang in ways you can’t explain. I
also tell then to give their skin a break when on a particular product. You
don’t apply products months in, mouths out. Even if it’s a healthy product,
always take a break from these products. Because the skin also needs to
breathe. So most of the time when they want fast results and they start jumping
from product to product, it creates a lot of damage on their skin. Another
thing is, in this part of the world we find ourselves, we usually don’t do
so much of a balanced diet. Even basic water, some of us don’t take enough water.
We have nutrients that our skin lacks. There are also some supplements that can
actually help, that can cover up for those lapses in our meals, in our
nutrition and all of that. Most people don’t even know or believe supplements
are easier shortcuts to healthy skin. Me, I so much believe in supplements. I
believe in what you take, what you eat. What you consume in your body tells
so much on your skin. So other than applying creams, and chemicals, we should also
take note of what we eat and how to treat them. Honestly, that actually goes a
long way.
What are your recommendations for ladies on skincare?
The first thing I will advise is, let’s try and be comfortable
with our skin color. That is the most important thing. Yes, everybody wants a
glowing skin. Having a glowing doesn’t mean you want to bleach, it doesn’t mean
you have to damage your skin. A glow comes easy, with the right food, right
nutrients, right supplements and right body cream, you will naturally glow. But
when a dark woman wants to be very fair or yellow, that is where the problem
comes in. Having a particular skin shade is not impossible. The question is,
can you maintain the skin shade? If the answer is no, stay in your safe zone.
Yes, some people have gone dark due to pigmentation, and exposure
to the sun. Some even have issues with childbirth. After childbirth, some women lose
their color, and their skin becomes very stubborn, darker, with dead skin cells. In that
situation, instead of applying so much cream and all that, they could actually
follow a healthy skincare routine or processes. Like regular exfoliation. In
fact, I do tell my customers to go and exfoliate for some period before giving
them any product. There is no way you will do that and whatever cream am giving
you won’t work. You can’t be carrying dead skin. Your skin has gone through a
process, childbirth is a rigorous process. Allow your skin to breathe.
Exfoliate, open your pulse, let the dead skin cells go off and then you can
start applying the cream. Otherwise, you will only be compounding the problem.
0 Comments