Where does your passion for make-up come from? Was it a big part of your childhood?

My mum was very fashion conscious and experimental. I grew up in Nigeria, where we didn’t have a TV and magazines, but she’d take us all to see Bollywood movies at an open air theatre. She was a very young mother – by the time she was 23 she had three kids – and she was a housewife. But my father and her would entertain friends in the evening, and when she came into my bedroom to kiss us goodnight all glammed up, I thought she looked like a Bollywood star. I was inspired by that power of transformation.   

You moved from Nigeria to London when you were 12. How did that impact your relationship with beauty?

In Nigeria we weren’t allowed make-up – maybe a tiny black line on the tops of our eyes if it was Eid. But when we moved to the UK, I went to a comprehensive school where we could wear it, so I started experimenting. At 16, I got a job at Harrods, which really fed my passion for beauty. I’d spend my lunch breaks flicking through Vogue and use my staff discount to buy products from Biba and Stagelight. I also lived in Putney and on my bus route would see all the punk rockers at The World’s End. I didn’t like the music, but the make-up was so inspiring.

Can you tell us about your first big break?

My biggest break came from Karena Callen when she was the beauty director at British ELLE. I was doing a reader event at The Sanctuary at Covent Garden, with the skincare brand Prescriptives, and afterwards Karena came up and told me she was doing a shoot in St Lucia and asked if I’d like to be the make-up artist on the job. My little girl had started school so I jumped at the opportunity. That was my first trip on location and it led to me doing lots of editorial, which in turn led to TV shows like The Clothes Show. This was in the ’90s and everything has evolved organically ever since.

Speaking of TV, you were one of the first make-up artists of colour to be on British television. Can you tell us what that experience was like? 

I didn’t really think about it at the time. We’ve got so many different artists now, but it wasn’t like that back then. In those days, as someone Asian, you’d be an accountant, a doctor or work in a shop. I was on television and in magazines, not only as a women of colour, but as a young working mother. I was, unwittingly, a role model. 

On the subject of your own brand, you launched Ruby Hammer Beauty in 2019. What prompted you to develop the range? 

Ruby & Millie was such a success and when it was over there was a hollow feeling in my stomach. Around that time, my mum was diagnosed with cancer. When she passed away, I was grieving and I didn’t have the oomph to do anything. I was 50 and had lost my dad, too, and that grief threw me into menopause. My hair went grey overnight and my period stopped. A few years later I got the itch to do something again and I started asking myself: what would I do? Social media had launched, there were lots of new brands around, so the market was very saturated. I didn’t want to repeat what was out there already, so I thought about what I could give as a professional make-up artist. I started with the magnetic brushes and it’s grown from there. 

The brand is sustainable and vegan – can you tell us a little more about how a conscious ethos informs the business? 

When you launch a brand now, you have to think about how it can be made sustainable and cruelty-free. The beauty industry is evolving and there’s so much more information and opportunity to create consciously. It’s expensive to do so, but it’s right and it feels good. 

You have to be thoughtful at every step. For example, when I was formulating my Lip Serum Balm, I wanted it to be easy to use, not tacky and give a hint of colour. I had to push to get that with a vegan formula, but I did, and I’m always going to make that choice. 

The last few years have seen the beauty industry go through a huge evolution in terms of technology, social media, the wellness boom etc. Where do you see it going in the next five years? 

I think the next five years will be about lasting the course. We are at a tip of recession and that’s throwing businesses into potential difficulties: shipping costs, transportation costs, raw materials costs. Brands are going to have to hold their ground and not fall off the precipice. 

Experimentation within beauty will continue. We saw it during Covid when we all reached for skincare. In tough times, these things bring us joy and that’s why beauty is so important. It’s not frivolous – it’s there to empower and give confidence. How you look impacts how you feel and that’s very powerful when used the right way. You can’t quantify emotional wellbeing. If beauty allows you to get through difficult moments, it can only be a good thing. 

Over the past three decades, you’ve worked with the biggest names in the industry. If you had to pick a career highlight so far, what would it be?

My career isn’t over yet, so I’m still hoping there are some more to come! Getting an MBE for my contribution to the beauty industry from the late Queen in 2007 was a huge career highlight. The day itself was fantastic and a little petrifying, but it was such a proud moment. I’ll never forget it, it still makes me emotional. I’m an immigrant, so to receive an accolade in my adoptive home is an amazing thing. 

Can you talk us through your everyday beauty routine?

I like to use light products in the morning and always hydrate and protect. I start with an effective cleanse, then if my skin needs it, I’ll do an exfoliant, a serum, a cream and a mask. If I’m short on time, I’ll cleanse and be done.

I haven’t got many lines but I am prone to pigmentation, so I’ll use a vitamin C serum in the morning. As I get older I don’t want to fight the process, but I do want to make the best of myself, so I use a retinoid to give me plumpness. It’s not a laborious process. My philosophy is to really know yourself and work out what’s good for you.