By Grant Moyo
Make-up artist and lifestyle content creator, Brilliant Thembelihle Bimhah is directing her efforts towards cultivating a culture of goodwill that brings self peace and fulfillment among Zimbabwean girls and women. Bimhah is doing this through beautifying and sharing her acquired knowledge on beauty as well as her experience in different facets of life.
Being part of a continued affirmation of beauty that happens during and after the process of make-up, she seeks to show females that they are free to embrace their outer beauty without feeling guilty about it.
Particularly exploring societal norms, taboos and limitations that girls have been taught to adhere to, Bimhah’s YouTube series Period Talk is a platform created to make it safer for girls and women to freely talk about their menses and relationships with their bodies.
Bimhah is a self taught make-up artist who has developed her passion for beauty into a blossoming career. Having realised her potential in make-up artistry in 2017 when she entered the Black Opal Face of Zimbabwe competition, she is inspired by her involvement in the self care journey of women she gets to work with on a regular basis.
Driven by her desire to inspire positivity in vulnerable girls and women, Bimhah’s work as a lifestyle content creator was put to test in 2018 when she created a YouTube channel and uploaded a video addressing gender-based violence.
After completing her studies at Minda High School in Maphisa, Bimhah acquired a National Certificate in Science Technology from Bulawayo Polytechnic. She is working towards a Bachelor of Business Administration Degree in Marketing Management at the IMM Graduate School.
“2016 was quite a developmental year for me because that’s when I had a firsthand experience with make-up before fully pursuing my interest the following year as I started learning how to do my own make-up,” Bimhah said.
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“The most defining moment for me as a creative was in high school when I won a regional letter writing competition hosted by Potraz in 2010.
“It was this moment that later inspired my attempt at blogging in 2016 after discovering that there was more to me than the smart science tech student.
“When I joined the debate and public speaking society at Bulawayo Polytechnic I started to become conscious of my passion for women empowerment, menstrual health management and other social issues which later influenced my digital content pillars.”
Bimhah established her make-up artistry and skincare brand, Brilliance Beauty, in 2019. In the same year, she got a gig to do make-up for Creative Pot Africa in their film production Gold Diggers, broadcast on Zambezi Magic, DStv Channel 162.
This year Brilliance Beauty was selected by internationally recognised Zimbabwean cosmetics firm, Jacque Mgido Cosmetics, as one of the most promising make-up brands. The Bulawayo-based brand received a once off make-up starter kit with foundation, brow kit, loose powder and shimmer.
With a line of work only two years now, Bimhah said her vision is to grow her business into a wholesome beauty brand catering for all skin types and providing professional make-up services.
She aims to make Brilliance Beauty a hub for authentic make-up products readily available in Bulawayo, and a globally acknowledged natural organic skincare brand. Through her make-up tutorials Bimhah encourages girls and women to take care of both their inner and outer selves.
“When I did my first make-up tutorial on Instagram and Facebook the feedback was exalting. Tutorials help girls and women identify the best make-up appropriate for their skin type, occasion and dress code,” she said.
“For instance, for someone with dry skin who’s a wedding guest at a wedding with gold and black theme colours, on a warm day wearing a gold shimmery dress, first off, I do skin prep starting with a hydrating moisturiser, which may be oil based with a moisturising oil such as olive oil.
“It is important to preserve the moisture in her skin since she has dry skin. I then add a hydrating primer, such as the Revlon rose glow hydrating and illuminating primer before applying a dewy foundation followed by highlighting and contouring with my favourite LA Girl PRO concealer.”
Giving an insight on her YouTube series, Period Talk, Bimhah said menstrual health management was an issue that she finds least talked about in a lot of spaces, hence her content mainly borders on the social issues that speak to norms and the socialisation around menstrual health.
She is certain that her platform is creating more open conversations benefiting loads of girls and women.
“Period poverty is experienced by multitudes of women and girls in both urban and rural areas. It is mainly the lack of access to sanitary products and is mostly hand in hand with period shame or stigma,” she said.
“I believe that society can actively take part in ending period poverty by crafting sustainable solutions such as encouraging the use of reusable pads, but only in areas where access to water is not limited so that hygiene is upheld.
“I believe CSOs may also petition the subsidisation of all sanitary wear so that it may become available for free and contribute towards the subsidisation as it may take too long to achieve if only the government is expected to offer a full subsidy.”
Staying true to being positive and always pursuing true connections with her audience, feedback is one of the most important elements of Bimhah’s work which has encouraged her to do more vlogs to heighten her personality.
In the near future, Bimhah looks forward to launching her make-up studio and starting to put her organic skincare products to the test as she continues to develop the merchandise with the help of her team.
- Follow Grant Moyo on Twitter: @TotemGrant
