From Brenda Fassie to Felicia Mabuza-Suttle and Danai Gurira, trailblazing make-up artist Faith Seuoe has played her part in ensuring that the beauty industry does not fail black women.
The 57-year-old describes working on the Sowetan40 x Netflix campaign as a high point for her illustrious 38-year career in the cosmetics industry.
Seuoe did the makeup for legends Yvonne Chaka Chaka and Sipho “Hotstix” Mabuse as well as young Netflix stars Prince Grootboom and Lethabo Bereng for the project that celebrates the paper’s 40th anniversary.
One of the images that has been reimagined from Sowetan’s rich archive is of Fassie’s lavish wedding in 1989. Seuoe, at 21, did Fassie’s make-up while working as a beauty consultant at Carlton Hair Salon.
Born in Katlehong on the East Rand and raised in Soweto, Seuoe’s passion for the beauty industry started at the tender age of 14. She used to work part-time at the hair salon of her mother’s friend, where she learnt how to plait braids and cut men’s hair.
Her career launched professionally at age 19.
“I grew up a tomboy but very creative. I did well academically but I always had this creative side. My dolls were always the best dressed because I was always making lovely clothes for them,” Seuoe said.
“I loved that feeling of making someone feel special, seen and celebrated.”
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In 1990, she relocated to Mahikeng, North West, to work for five years at Bop TV as a make-up artist and hairstylist.
In 1995, she opened a salon that she sold when she returned to Johannesburg in 1997.
Seuoe yearned to see her work on the covers of magazines like True Love. After knocking on the doors of many publications with no answer, she joined a well know agency to assist her with professional bookings.
“I was assisting a white make-up artist and if we were doing a fashion show, black models didn’t want to come to me because they had not seen black make-up artists in the industry,” Seuoe recalled.
“The white woman told me that it was going to take me three to five years to establish myself in the industry. I said to myself ‘this lady doesn’t know me’.
“I was so hungry. I had a child who I had to pay school fees for, so I gave myself three to six months. For that six months I worked for free and people were asking who this Faith is.”
Before long, Seuoe secured bookings and her work graced the cover of Pace magazine, with Desiree Chauke on the cover. Seuoe became known as “The queen of eyebrows”. “I wanted to change how black women’s eyebrows were seen in those magazines. I was sick of those thin black eyebrows.”
She has done make-up for stars such as Connie Ferguson, Basetsana Kumalo, Tyra Banks and Samuel L Jackson.
One of her two daughters, Lerato, has followed in her footsteps and worked as beauty editor for True Love and Drum magazines.
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