BANGUI, Central African Republic: Djibril Gueye Marvin has been passionate about being a makeup artist since childhood.
However, this was not an easy task in the Central African Republic, which is notoriously unpredictable, and he was teased for working in a “girl’s job.”
The makeup videos that have flooded YouTube over the past ten years have been a surprising source of assistance, helping to establish influencers worldwide and generate billions of dollars in beauty sales.
23-year-old, nicknamed Djibou, who lives in the country’s capital, said, “There is no makeup school in Bangui; without YouTube tutorials, I would not be where I am now.”
Today, his services at a small Bangui beauty salon are highly sought after, and his TikTok account has more than 36,000 followers. Djibou is all smiles, but life has not been easy in what the United Nations says is the world’s second-least developed country, gripped by armed rebellion and daily violence.
As he works on the face of a client in the cloying heat, the electricity cuts out, as it does several times a day, halting a whirling fan and cutting out the lights.
Unphased, he moves his client towards the entrance to continue applying the foundation in natural light. “I do what I can with what I have, but I always manage,” said Djibou. His client agrees: “He is the best!”
Djibou charges a minimum of 10,000 CFA francs (15 euros), admitting it is “not within everyone’s reach” in a country where the minimum wage is only 44 euros a month.
Getting the makeup brushes, foundations, and eye shadows he needs is also a struggle. “I bring my products in from France or Nigeria; you can’t do good work without good products,” he said.
After growing up amid a brutal civil war, which broke out in 2013 when he was 13 years old, Djibou fell in love with the idea of “people being transformed, beautiful and chic.”
The mineral-rich Central African Republic has known little peace, with decades of coups and rebellions since independence from France in 1960.
But the 2013 coup, by primarily Muslim rebels, led to the bloodiest sectarian violence in the country’s history as mainly Christian militias sought revenge against their Muslim foes. One day, my little brother, little sister, and I were almost killed by a rebel on our way to school, so we fled to Cameroon,” said Djibou.
Despite numerous peace agreements, armed groups and government forces backed by the Russian mercenary group Wagner continue to clash.
Prejudice
Djibou also had to battle prejudice from a traditional society to become a makeup artist, hearing a thousand times: “It is a girl’s job.” But he did not give up and hid his makeup at his friends’ houses when he was younger.
“If my parents found it, they would destroy it, but I just kept buying more,” he said. “I had to study for an international business license and prove myself as a makeup artist for them to accept my job,” he added. Now, when he is criticized, he brushes it off. “I know they are a little jealous.”
Djibou shares his work, inspiration, and stories about his daily life on his TikTok channel. With his face smeared in greenish-blue powder and gold glitter, Djibou poses in a dilapidated photo studio to show off his artistic makeup skills.” For my fans,” he said.
Later, he talks about the future in the modest room he shares with one of his sisters, where a statue of the Virgin Mary, a Bible, and a rosary lie among the cosmetics scattered on his night table. “I want to go to a makeup school abroad, but I don’t have the means,” he said sadly. —AFP/APP
