When TV personality Jamila Mbugua flaunted her new weave that cost her Sh 40,000, her Facebook followers were livid. The tantrums hurled at her were churlish. She was accused of spending a lot of money, only to end up looking like she had done nothing on her head.
However, the furor Verah Sidika sparked when she claimed that her weave was worth Sh 450,000, followed by her bleaching instantly earned her international notoriety, earning her a shrift of time even at the veritable BBC.
Verah ignited a debate online. While in Nigeria, she told off critics, “Those asking My hair is not Indian, not Brazilian, not Peruvian and it cost me sh 450,000,” in her customary immodest manner.
Then you have KTN’s Joy Doreen, “I spend Sh 15000 thousand on make-up and Sh 7000 on hair and nails,” it’s a requirement. According to her, it is nothing about her status, and more about taking care of herself.
Welcome to Nairobi’s beauty parlour, arguably one of the fastest growing sector. Women are spending millions in makeup. And the market is well stratified to take care of virtually every class of woman, from the house help in Dandora, who relies on freelance pedicurists, to the middle-class lady in South B who has her appointed beautician, to the rich woman in Westlands who goes for a ‘fish pedicure’, there something for every woman.
There are several aspects of makeup. The hair, the eye-lashes (that need to be shaved, trimmed, elongated), facials, nails, as well as waxing the hair from the legs off, it is a full-fledged industry that employs thousands of young men and women. To know, how lucrative the business is, pay a visit to some of the most famous and iconic buildings in Nairobi and sure you will find boutiques and beauty parlours that have a consistent clientele that they rely on.
We did a survey and here are the findings. According to Sydney Obachi, who has worked with one of the city’s famous stylist, -Tony Airos, she has seen both big and smaller spenders. “For a middle-class woman, they spend about Sh 4,000-5,000 monthly for a manicure and pedicure. And that is for those who have a fortnight routine, some come as much as weekly. Also depending on the season,” says Obachi.
From his experience and working in different parts of Nairobi, he estimates that women in Eastlands, spend about Sh 1,500 monthly for a pedicure and manicure. High end clients can spend at least Sh 6,000 in one sitting for their nails to be painted.
In recent times, there is a new method in town, imported from Asia. It is called the fish pedicure. It is presently popular at the Coast, where a session is charged Sh 1,500. In Nairobi, Westlands, Oceanique Foot A Fish Spa, has opened its doors for this kind of exotic treatment.
At Oceanique Foot A Fish Spa, the standard fish pedicure takes about 45 minutes and costs about Sh 1500, 60 minutes is Sh 2000. Normal manicure is Sh 900, and normal pedicure is Sh 1,500.
Hair and eyebrows
For hair, women are spoilt for choice. There are popular markets where women go for their hair to be made. Kenyatta Market is legendary given the lightning speed dexterity of the hairstylists who learned the art at their mother’s knees. It is frequented by women from both ends of the class spectrum. Those from Eastlands, are home at Umoja Market and roadside hair stylists of Kayole are equally popular. There are also residential hairstylists that are frequented by women just as much. For women, on average, hairstyling starts from as little as Sh 500 to infinity, going by what Verah Sidika spent and what TV personalities spend.
Eye-brows can be beaten to shape for about Sh 400 while artificially elongating them, costs about Sh 1,000 to 6,500 depending on which part of Nairobi you are doing it.
Metrosexual men jostle for space with women
There are spectacularly meticulous men who also spend a fortune on their looks. A standard male pedicure goes for Sh 800 and manicure goes for Sh 500 along Kimathi streets beauty parlour.
Facials range from Sh 1000, for the poor man, Sh 1,000-2,500 for the man in the middle, while the rich fork out Sh 3,500 onwards.
According, Mr Obachi, those who go for a full treatment, it costs about Sh 40,000. In his experience, there women who pay for themselves. And there are younger ones who depend on their boyfriends, masters and parents, mostly the former two. And Nairobi now teems with many women who come at least once a month for a makeup overhaul and it is such clients they are thankful to.
According to Image Consultant, Derek Gbanga, more men still do not pay attention to their grooming.
“In this country grooming for men, is not a priority unlike the worldwide trend which shows more and more men paying attention to their grooming. Women have a lot more intimate grooming like shaving their legs and trimming their bikini lines. Men are paying for this. Most women ask for money from husbands ,”Derek Gbanga Image consultant,
Most men, save for metrosexuals, lack variety of the makeup options, beyond the standard routine shaving.
Ladies on the other hand have weaves and hair braids. Only a distinct minority of men spend more than women. Men’s products on shelves limited. Age and class is a factor also.
“Most men become successful in their 30s and 40s when competing on how attractive you are is not a priority. Some women even take loans. Heteropolitan men love women who take care of themselves well,” says Gbanga. He notes that education is also a factor on the nature of makeup a woman will take up.
The rare case Lupita Nyong’o
Lupita Nyong’o has previously told fashionstas that she does not depend on makeup in order to feel beautiful. Lupita has become a Kenyan symbol of the magic of short, natural hair and minimal make up. Ironically, she was on more covers of the best female magazines in the world and The People Magazine declared her the most beautiful woman in the world in 2014. Some women too tend to gravitate towards looking natural, but there are other factors that work for them that may not work other women.
Ordinary men
Ordinary men, spend less. In your typical barber shop in Nairobian outskirts, shaving the head and beard will average Sh 200. For middle class men, in the corporate, they often upgrade to a shave worth Sh 300-500, which comes accompanied by a massage, facial and other accompanying services depending on how a man values his grooming. To most men, you don’t have to look too meticulous lest people mistaken you for something you are not.
“There is a common perception that metrosexual men are gay. Generally it is considered unmanly to be overly spruced,” notes Alex Kirui, the animator behind Makarao, who says the maximum he spends in a month on his grooming, is about Sh 1000
[“source-standardmedia”]