Funmilola Abeke Olurinola is a Mass Communication graduate of Olabisi Onabanjo University, Ogun State where her natural talent and genuine love for all things beauty-related led to her starting her salon business while still an undergraduate without any formal training. She is also a Goldman Sachs Scholar of EDS. Pan African University Lagos.

Popularly known by her traditional name: Abeke, Funmi is an Inventor and well-rounded Celebrity makeup artist with over thirteen years of experience in the beauty industry who has revolutionized the world of beauty with her solutions-based approach to her work. This is evident in her creation of autogele; a solution to the age-long challenge of Gele tying in the African beauty terrain, thereby making her the inventor of the now popular Autogele.

Abeke views her work as an art form and it’s this principle that drives a signature style that is Feminine and looks effortlessly natural while still staying in line with modern styles. She gives the most enlightening beauty consultations and creates timeless looks gorgeous enough to be framed for clients from all walks of life.

An award-winning makeup artist, an astute teacher, and a beauty professional in the truest sense of the word, Abeke is a seasoned expert in the areas of providing all makeup and hairstyling services for Bridal Events, Tv, commercials, and photography purposes, while still maintaining her position as the head of the first and best autogele production company.

In her interview with Kemi Mobuse for Onigele blog, Abeke walked us through her journey in the industry, her craft, and how it came to be.... excerpts from the interview are below........

I met Echa when I had to do a bridal shoot in collaboration with some amazing and talented ladies and I badly needed a photographer because the shoot had to happen before independence day.

I was not very happy with the way I looked on my wedding day and I wanted a do over😆 and thankfully, I had beautiful souls who wanted to help me look my very best. I sent her a Dm after going through her profile and we clicked immediately. She was very approachable and was willing to listen to all my crazy ideas 😃...... trust me,I had so many of them, hehe!.

She offered us the use of her studio for free for the day and on our first meeting, she hugged me like she had known me for years, and the shoot?????? It went sooooo well that I even managed to convince myself, I'll make an excellent model.😀😀😀.

Echa is an extremely talented photographer and my interview with her makes for an interesting read. Excerpts below........

Although pounded yam is a staple Nigerian meal, the stress of making it can sometimes act as an obstacle but thanks to Nigerians and their creativity you can easily eat your pounded yam as often as you eat semo.😁😁

Getting a silky smooth skin may seem impossible but Bisi Ogunwale, the CEO of Osedudu Special Skincare is here to help. Her product works for everyone irrespective of whatever skin issues they may have, she's seen it all and proffers readily available solutions with her unique made in Nigeria skincare products.

The award-winning brand has a pretty simple story behind its creation: founder Bisi Ogunwale suffered from acne teenage hood and after failing to find the right skincare to cure it, she decided to take matters into her own hands.

KMB had a quick chat with this beauty entrepreneur about her brand…Read below to know all she shared with us:

YES! YOU CAN BE DIFFERENT! That difference is your selling point!Embrace it!

I've always hated walking into made in Nigeria businesses and being handed a list of 101 services they offer. Listen, if your business is offering more than five services and you’re calling yourselves experts on all of them, you’re lying through your teeth. Funmi Coconuts kept her business model simple. She sold coconuts, and that was it. She didn’t try to get into the Food/events business. She didn’t attempt to sell seafood. She sold coconuts because that’s what she does best.

Funmi is more passionate about coconuts than most parents are about their kids. She knows every single fact, statistic and use a coconut could provide. She ate coconuts and studied coconuts. She used them as a conditioner and body lotion, to rehydrate her skin and made several unique by products from them. When KMB interviewed her, I didn’t feel Funmi was selling coconuts to me. I felt as though she was allowing me the privilege to share in her passion.

Excerpts from her interview below:

I love cake so much it’s become a running joke between my husband and I. He’ll tease me by offering me cake if I do him a favour, trust me to run around and do it of course! . That’s because Cake is definitely my favourite dessert (with the exception of ice-cream of course) but there’s just something about cake — the rich, dense and intensely frosting-y kind — that other popular desserts just can’t stand up to.

Cake, when done right, has layers and to me More layers = more fun. And then, there’s the experience of eating the cake itself. If ever the sugary frosting is too much (usually never the case for me), you can count on the interior to balance things out. I love this juxtaposition more than anything. Just picture yourself digging your spoon into a slice of that. It’s good, isn’t it? Hehe! My blood sugar is rising just thinking of it.

So coming across the yummy cakes made by Made in Nigeria brand tastycraft is a wonderful reminder of my amazing love for cake and how special they make me feel…..

KMB interviewed the CEO (Tinna Okiy-Idahosa) who decorated her first cake back in secondary school and below are excerpts from the interview…. 

Nigerian Fried Rice! Hmmm!

I have this great love for flat ballet pumps. I fell in love during my childhood watching kids practicing ballet dance on the TV and I couldn’t wait to travel out and join them. HEHE!
Unfortunately, my dream of becoming a prima ballerina was not achieved, but the love for ballet and ballet shoes remained.

I own several pairs of ballet pumps, and among was one green one I bought on H&M exactly six years ago. It’s now very old and extremely worn out. I love that shoe, but it's obvious that it had definitely seen better days.😣
Even though it no longer looked particularly great and had been worn into submission, but it’s so comfortable that I felt I had to save it and turn it into something gorgeous – probably a shiny silver flats.

Every one of us has a favorite shoe that makes us sad when they no longer look great and wished they could revamp it. Thankfully, all that will be made possible thanks to Made in Nigeria Shoe Revamp brand. Yayyy!!!!!

KMB had an interesting interview with Austin Okpagu, the Creative Director and he shed more light on the brand and the services rendered. Read below:

I got to read Twice a Bride after having a chat with the talented AUTHOR. It was as if Tope knew how much of a Novel nerd I was. I dropped everything and sat down with it and within hours I was done. At the end, I was confused as to why the book had to end so soon, hian! 😒😒😒Bet why are you authors like this now?......

The first time I heard about hustler square was four(4) months ago.  A friend of mine tagged me on a post called 'Transmission of followers" or 'Follow for follow" where you will follow pages you are interested via the comment section of Jagaban's page and they will also return the favour.

It was a way for Nigerian entrepreneurs to boost their followers fast and make sales as well as get a chance to collaborate with interested vendors, all in a bid to be successful business owners and entrepreneurs.

It was a welcome change for Instagram business owners  who has struggled for years to grow their customer base and for others who haven't made a single sale on Instagram since they opened shop.
A lot of entrepreneurs wholeheartedly embraced this change from the norm as all involved recorded sudden increase in their number of followers.

Jagaban's  sole mission is to help entrepreneurs grow and help them make double/triple income in a short time frame. To this end, she teaches them several do's and don'ts of the business world in relatable ways and show them ways to implement steps that will boost their pages.

To show how powerful and relatable she is, I have watched her page grow from 1500 to over 31,000 just in the space of three months. To make it in the business world, I will advice you to get your tent and pitch it in the Hustler Square....Trust me, you will thank me later 😁😁😁.

KMB interviewed this phenomenal lady and by the time we were done I was totally bowled over....why don't you read on below?

  

Getting Made in Nigeria jollof recipe down can be very tricky, but the great thing is that once you have it down, you are golden.

Those who know me well know that I don’t play with my Jollof. Even though I like to say that no two pots of Jollof are the same, there are some basic principles for the absolute best jollof rice. Here they are:

If you are out there believing that dreams don’t come true, let the story of the five-year-old boy named Taju inspire you today.

Taju became a viral sensation on the internet when an unknown family member of his posted a video of the young boy on Instagram.

Gokada is an on-demand motorbike hailing service, just like an Uber for Bikes.

We all know the struggle that one has to go through using public transportation in Lagos, Gokada is here to make life easier! Move around Lagos smartly by requesting a ride on the Gokada app at an affordable cost without having to alternate at bus stops.

The Federal Government has declared Friday, June 15 and Monday, June 18 as public holidays to celebrate the 2018 Id-el Fitr.

Minister of Interior, Lt. Gen. Abdulrahman Dambazau made the declaration on behalf of the Federal Government in a statement by the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Interior, Dr. M. Umar in Abuja on Monday.

You don’t have to spend hours in front of a mirror to get your makeup perfect. There are all kinds of little tricks you can use that will make applying cosmetics much easier and ensure that you always have the look you are going for. Here are the top 17 makeup hacks that will change your life:

1. Turn a pencil eyeliner into a gel formula with the help of a match or lighter.

Flats, heels, boots, ballets, sandals, clogs, platforms, wedges, scrappy, buckled, lace-ups, peep-toes, it’s a known fact that I love shoes. Infact, truth be told, if I didn’t have kids, I would have travelled just so I could get me some more amazing pairs of shoes. Hehe!😜

Lagos Bridal Fashion Week (LBFW) was held at the Federal Palace Hotel, Victoria Island Lagos from the 4th of May, 2018 till the 6th of May, 2018.

The event featured Master classes by professionals in the wedding industry and also had a bridal boutique for both local and international vendors from other African countries, UK, USA and Dubai.

Showcasing their 2018 collections on Day 3 were fashion brands – Magnetic Elegance, Valerie Davids, Toju Foyeh, Kosibah, Elle, Ese Azenabor, Taryor Gabriels, Hudayya. Their collections are all made in NIGERIA.

See runway collection from Toju Foyeh.

Jumoke, a working class mum had an event to attend out of town. 
Dress code :- Owanbe with a touch of sexy. 
So she decided she had to slay and as such she was going to make that jumpsuit style she had been dreaming about. She called her designer who promised to get it done in record time. 

Now all she had to do was sort out her accessories, so she went :- 
shoes  ?
 purse ?
 jewelry ? 
 gele ~~~~~~~ 

Popular Media personality and highest paid Nigeria blogger Linda Ikeji is finally pregnant and she decided to debut her baby bump today, now that she is well into her second Semester .
Linda sure makes a very beautiful "preggo" and I wish her nothing but JOY. May you have a safe delivery Linda."AMEN"

Check out, what she has to say about her pregnancy :

If you went to boarding school in the 90s, like I did, I bet you will agree with me when I say; made in Nigeria peanut snacks; Kulikuli is every boarder’s must-have snacks. This is especially because; food scarcity is a frequent thing in the hostel, as almost everyone would have eaten all their provisions a month into the term and then, start walking around as if they are in the spirit, looking for something to eat.😕😕😕

Billionaire businessman, entrepreneur and chairman of Forte Oil PLC, Femi Otedola, has shared a video of himself on old and outdated public mass transport system, popularly called ‘Molue’, in Lagos.
The video captured the oil magnate on a ride from Sango to Agege.

Otedola had earlier shared a video capturing himself in a public bus while in London just a few weeks ago.

The video was criticised by the public who asked him to try it in Nigeria and see what happens.

Otedola, father to celebrity DJ Cuppy, was unrecognised for the few minutes he was on the bus as Lagosians plying that route went about minding their business.

The billionaire, who was dressed like a random Lagosian, has left many awed at the scenario which played out today.

Growing up, I have always been surrounded by African prints especially Ankara and Adire, i can't really say I developed a taste or liking for either back then. Fast forward to many years later however, when I became more fashion conscious, I fell in love with made in Nigeria Ankara accessories, especially neck pieces and palm slippers. 
My love nearly turned to obsession because I just couldn't do without having one neck piece or the other adorning my neck, irrespective of what outfit I had on.

It was so bad it got to a point that; I had to be indebted to a colleague just because of Fashion.  The lady brought some made in Nigeria Ankara and Adire slippers to work  and wanted me to buy a pair or two. Although, I was broke during that period, I immediately took two of the pairs, hoping to pay once I got my salary.
When I got my salary however, It took all of my strength for me not to return the slippers and just keep my money...after all, I'm from Ijebu, money get motivation pass fashion , biko!😑.

Nowadays, while I still have mad love for Ankara accessories, its safe to say my children have cured me of all obsession I have for them, hehe! 😅😅

But, coming across the amazing pieces made by Koko Williams , I could feel the obsession gradually returning, so I decided I cure it, by asking myself, how soon my baby's food needed to be replaced,lol!

KMB sat down with the talented lady behind the brand for an interview, and excerpts from the interview is here below........

We don’t live in filth, but my home is now always just a little messy. I no longer have that “OCD drive- to clean all the things all the time.” If I’m walking barefoot in my house and step on a crumb, I don’t immediately run for the broom. Truth is; I want to live in a clean house that sparkles. I want to have people come over and say, “Your house is so clean! How do you do it?”

But here’s the thing. Even though I want a home that shines, I also have kids. And trying to keep a clean house when you have kids is absolute bullshit. It is nearly impossible to keep a home spic and span when you have small children because they are clean-destroying machines.

I have a schedule for what needs to be clean on what day so that theoretically my house is never dirty. My kids don’t give a damn about my plans and charts and schedules, though. In fact, I think they’re on to me. They know that on Mondays I clean the bathroom, so you know what happens on Tuesday morning? Everybody has to poop several times! Sometimes they even have diarrhea! And then they take a bath. And then get the dirty water all over the mopped floor. They know. They know and they don’t like it.

If you are like me, and you have a large house; there is a solution 😏😏….Get a housecleaning Service who comes in when those little tykes are gone off to school!…they may come in twice a week, and knowing how expensive majority of them can be; KMB is pleased to introduce to you : BRIGHT PROSPECTS INTERNATIONAL...A Made in Nigeria cleaning services specifically tailored to your needs...We had a short interview with the multi talented and vibrant lady behind the brand and below is excerpts from the interview: 

This one is my fault! Na me mess up

Today been the first day of the month of May, I pray that God will open his heavenly window of blessings and showers his blessings in abundance for you and your family in Jesus Name, Amen.

Human beings always want what they don't have instead of appreciating what they've got.

We always want what someone else has instead of enjoying what we have. We are always comparing our stuff to someone else's stuff. We are always thinking, "If I only had him, I would be happy."

Don't get me wrong, it's lovely to have someone in your life. It's lovely to have someone to share special moments, secrets, affection and sexy time.