By Paul Ukpabio
It was middle last month, on Wednesday 16th of February 2017 precisely, when a cross section of Nigerian Fashion Designers, gathered at the NCAC Arts Gallery at The National Arts Theatre, for a seminar on Branding and Fashion Business, that was where we met Modupe Gladys Mills, a lady who has rapidly turned out to be Nigeria’s famous skin therapist and most sought after professional in that field.
She had just finished a presentation to the participants,
who were mostly successful fashion designers with a few aspiring younger ones
among them. At the end of her presentation, the ovation followed her to her
seat, where we met her for her contact and possibly, an interview. We were
rewarded, with an invitation to her laboratory and soap factory at Maryland,
Lagos.
In 2006, Modupe Gladys Mills found the need to
re-locate to the United State of America to sojourn for some years. It was not
what she had planned. According to her, “I suddenly had a major reason for
going to America when I did. When my daughter gained admission to study in
America, it was obvious to me, that I will have to go and live there for a
while. That is because I had to be close to her. I needed to be around her when
she was there in a foreign land.”
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| Modupe Mills during the interview session |
And when she got there, restless Modupe had empty
hours too many when her daughter was in school. So, she decided to make good
use of the time by returning to school.
Today, that singular decision has paid off. She is
presently one of the most sought after esthetician: a skin therapist in town.
We met her at home in Maryland, Lagos, where she has built a laboratory and
factory for production of beauty soaps that is making impact in the beauty
industry.
During our visit, business woman Modupe Mills, told us
about her soap simply called ‘Momil.’
“I am an esthetician by
profession that is, a skin
therapist. I went to the USA in 2006. While I was there, I thought of what I
could do that was different from what other people were doing in the USA, which
was nursing. I wanted something that I could also do, when I return to Nigeria.
Something that will be unique, something that I could start a business with! I
had in time past done a lot of things. So, at that point, I decided that skin
care will be it. I enrolled at the International School for Skin and Nails in
Georgia, Atlanta and I did a course there that lasted for a year plus.”
And that exactly is what Modupe Mills, is doing in
Nigeria now and even more. But first, we asked her what really attracted her to
skin care. She aptly replied:
“I wanted to enhance people’s beauty. Not just
people, but women. I wanted to correct beauty fallacies and easily enable women
to take care of themselves. Like I said, I had done other things in time past,
even here in Nigeria. At a time, I ventured into restaurant business, then
again, I was once into sewing of clothes, I owned a popular boutique on
Adeniran Ogunsanya in Surulere, and I ventured into cosmetics too.”
With such a business background, modupe Mills was
set to achieve a high level of quality soap manufacturing. And this she has
been successfully doing in the past few years.
In her capacity as the Chief Executive Officer of
‘Momil Essentials,’ Modupe Mills tells us more about her soaps.
“Momil Essentials an organisation that specialises
in handmade gourmet soaps. Our soaps are formulated using 100% exotic nature
finest oils, exotic butters; clays, herbal infusions and botanicals. We
formulate from scratch using the old fashioned cold process method.
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| One of the soaps |
“Our soaps are scented using premium essential oils.
The result is amazingly luxurious bars of soaps that has a creamy, foamy lather
with wonderful and gentle cleansing properties, unlike many commercial bars.
“Our handmade soaps retain all its naturally
occurring glycerine and contains no artificial detergents or harsh chemicals.
Our gentle soaps are safe to use from face to toes. We have formulated every
batch to help the skin feeling clean without being stripped of its natural and
beneficial oil.”
Walking around her laboratory and factory, Modupe
Mills shared more about the make-up of her soaps. “Our range of soap is made
from fruit peel. They are also made from carrot, papaya, pineapple, lemon and
avocado. We have soaps that are anti aging with toning, aloe vera toning,
regular soap, papaya soap, oatmeal soaps and so on.”
Essential oils, a vital make-up of Modupe Mills
Momil soaps cannot readily be available here, so where does she shop for some
of her materials, she replied, “I shop for materials for the soaps in France or United State of America;
And some in Morocco. And as for colours, I have a color chart that determines
the colour I use. I also test run my colours.”
The beautiful part of Momil Soaps according to
Modupe Mills, is that, as a product, they are easily affordable! “They are
actually very cheap!” She insisted, “Especially for those that love their skin.”
For the future, Modupe Mills, hopes to use her
organization, Momil Essentials, to help restore, the Nigerian woman’s lost
‘glowing skin.’
To her, skin care is extremely very relevant to
both women and men because “your skin is the mirror to your inside. The moment
I see a person, from her skin, I can tell if the person is clean or not.
Whatever you put inside will definitely come out to the skin. So I advise you
have a skin regiment every day.”
The skin therapist also went on to advice the Nigerian
woman, to stop using soaps with harsh chemicals on their skin because, it takes
away age from them. She said, it also destroys the epidermis of their skin. “Any
product that promises to change you from black to fair in seven days must be
stayed away from. Our products helps you tone but not bleach and we use toning
ingredients that is mild and are not abrasive to the skin,” She added.
Modupe Gladys Mills can be reached on: +234-8030751554
Modupe Gladys Mills can be reached on: +234-8030751554
Other soap designs
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