House of Tara International

House of Tara International is an African Beauty and Cosmetics Brand founded in 1998 by Tara Fela-Durotoye. Durotoye is a trained Lawyer who decided to venture into the Beauty Industry with an interest in the bridal make-up profession and has been in it since. She is also the Creator of the Tara Orekelewa Beauty Range, Inspired Perfume and the H.I.P. Range.

Additionally, Durotoye launched the first ever bridal directory in her country in 1999. Subsequently, she set up a make-up studio of international standards. In 2004, she also founded Nigeria’s leading beauty academy to offer top notch training to aspiring beauticians and beautypreneurs.

As a result, Durotoye is recognized as having empowered many beautypreneurs in her country. This earned her the 2018 Outstanding Business Woman of the Year Award in the African Economy Builders Awards, Abidjan.

Why bridal make-up

House of Tara International has over 3,000 representatives all over Nigeria and over 14 stores to cater to Nigerian women’s beauty needs. The Founder’s initial decision to target bridal make-up was probably fueled by the elaborate Nigerian weddings. A 2017 article on CNN titled Inside Nigeria’s million dollar wedding industry reports on their flamboyance noting the increasing importance of make-up artists;

The wedding industry is considered one of the major contributors to Nigeria’s economy.

It is credited for creating entire industries that didn’t exist or were previously unprofitable, such as makeup artists and luxury toilet hire companies.

For House of Tara International, providing a Cosmetic Brand for the African woman was definitely a hit with Nigerian brides.

Awards won by House of Tara International Founder

The Founder has since won numerous awards. In 2013, Durotoye was recognized as A Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum. Furthermore, Forbes identified her among 20 Young Power African Women.

Again in 2018, Tara was recognized as The African Make-Up Icon by Ghana Make-up Awards. Still in the same year, she was awarded The Leadership Award for Entrepreneurship by the Harvard Business School Association, Nigeria. Recently in 2019, she won the award of Excellence for Social Impact and Job Creation, awarded by the Nigerian Vice President.