`Permanent make-up’ course on offer
The launch today of the new Divine School of Infinite Beauty at Craig on the East Bank of Demerara will provide aspirants to careers in Guyana’s fast-growing beauty sector with an opportunity to acquire skills in some of the most advanced fashion and beauty application techniques available.
Guyanese-born Nicola Lewis, the School’s proprietor, who has worked in the beauty industry for more than twenty-five years, says that the mission of the new establishment is to provide young, ambitious women with skills with which they can make careers in the beauty industry. She wants, she says, to provide them with both earning power and a sense of self-esteem.
Having herself acquired a wealth of training and experience in the United States, Nicola told Stabroek Business earlier this week that her real mission is “to give back to Guyana and particularly to Guyanese women.”
The former Brooklyn resident is a licensed beautician, trained at the New York Beauty School and a former employee of Milady’s, an up-market New York beauty establishment. During the seven months preceding her remigration she worked as an examiner for the New York State Board, the institution responsible for the evaluation of qualifications and the granting of beauticians’ licences in the state. Before that she “did her time,” spending fourteen to sixteen hours a day on the floors of beauty parlours, learning the craft that has brought her a fair measure of success. “I want to pass on my knowledge at less then what it cost me to acquire it and I want to ensure that my students do not have to do all the hard work that I did.”
While she insists that she is now in a state of “retirement,” for Nicola, ”retirement” is about throwing herself into what she believes is her most significant venture yet, helping to raise standards in a local beauty sector which she says has a great deal of potential. Training is her sole mission and, she says, she has no intention of immersing herself in the competitive environment of the local beauty business. “My mission is to use the School to help other people to create their own businesses. I want to teach them to market themselves and their skills.”
The school’s three-week course will conclude with the presentation of certification and, more importantly, with skills that will make its graduates marketable. Moreover, Nicola says that certification from the School can serve as a useful credential for graduates who may be considering migration to the United States. “As a registered New York beautician the certification that I offer can help women to find their way easier in the beauty industry there.”
What the School’s programme offers goes beyond training in beauty techniques. “My students will be engaged in both classroom and practical sessions during which I will seek to create within them a sense of self-motivation and confidence which I hope they will use to provide good customer service. I am not targeting established beauticians, I want to work with girls who are ambitious and who want to know.”
The courses on offer at the Divine School of Infinite Beauty include `The permanent make-up’. ‘Every woman wants the permanent make-up. There are women who spend up to half an hour putting on make-up before leaving for work. They do not have to do that. With a permanent make-up all that you need to do is to comb your hair and apply a little lipstick and you are ready to go,” she says.
The new School will also be training its students on hair infusion, a delicate art of applying hair extensions that is favoured by a number of American divas. “The skill is related to a very precise way of cutting and weaving to create a natural look,” she says.
Guyana, Nicola says, is a decidedly beauty conscious society. She believes, however, that the enhancement of the beauty sector must come through exposure. “That exposure must come either through access to the international beauty industry or through people with experience actually working in Guyana.”
Classes at the Divine School of Infinite Beauty commenced two weeks ago and the students currently in training will serve as support staff to Nicola when her first batch of trainees – who have already registered for classes – arrive next week.
And while she says that “the demand is there,” she does not intend to “crowd out” her classes. “I want to provide my students with individual attention and I have decided that each class will probably comprise around thirteen girls.”
Her choice of Craig as the location for her new school is deliberate. “I grew up at Craig but that is not the only reason. What I am offering is special. People should be encouraged to come and get it.”