Why Out of Everything, It's Wet Lips I Started Using for My Videos - Enioluwa

Nigerian beauty influencer, media personality, and content creator, Enioluwa has done a successful job of creating a niche for himself in the content space. He is one of the very few men in the beauty space and his videos have gone viral many times because of their candidness, relatability, and his signature style of rubbing wet lips (lip gloss) when he does his videos.

In a new interview with The Guardian, Enioluwa opened up about why he chose to use lip gloss out of everything in his videos, as well as talked about how it is to be one of the few men in the beauty space and what it's like to navigate Nigeria as a more 'feminine' man. Here's what he said.

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"When did you get into the beauty industry and why lip-gloss?"

I think I started making beauty-influencing videos in 2019. I don’t think lip-gloss boy as a character really relate to beauty influencing. When I do make-up and skincare videos, it’s when I do beauty influencing. That is what I started with. One day, I was making a makeup video and then I used my lip gloss and ranted and it blew up. I wish I could say “Oh, this is the reason why it was lip-gloss and this is what makes it special,” but there isn’t any of that, it just fell on lip-gloss and that is how it became lip-gloss. Beauty influencing has always been my love. I learned how to take care of my skin by seeing my mother when I was a child. I think I am reaping the benefits now.

"You are one of the few male beauty influencers in Nigeria. In your experience, what do you think is responsible for the stigma surrounding male makeup?"

Being one of the few male beauty influencers is exciting. It is such a good opportunity that I am one of the first to do it, but there are new people doing it as well. I feel like there is just this feeling of fulfilment. When I started, a lot of people talked about the stigma, but I am glad it was different for me. I understand the stigma directed towards it, but I feel like that is changing and that is what representation does. Once we hear more success stories related to beauty male influencers, then people will start to become more accepting of it.

"Ever since you have been in the public eye, you have continuously used your platform to advocate, especially for femme men. With Nigeria being a conservative country, how do you navigate through the negativity and what message are you hoping to pass across?"

No matter what you do, people are always going to talk, so I don’t see the negativity. Rather, I focus on positivity and I know it is a sort of protection. The message I want to pass across really is representation and what you look like or who you are doesn’t define you. I try to avoid interviews where people ask “femme this and that”. Why don’t you ask me about how you were able to achieve first class at 19 or finish your master’s degree or get signed with brands? One thing that is very important to me is to not let my life be based on one thing. It doesn’t matter if you are femme because it is also being different. Just telling yourself “I can be successful” is fine as long as you aren’t hurting anybody and as long as you are working on it.

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