TikTok is one of the fastest growing social media platforms. It has millions of niche content creators, which makes them stand out.
Andile Hazel Mlotshwa is one of the famous TikTokers whose content is about make-up.
She has more than 300 000 followers and more than four million likes. What makes her stand out is the commentary.
She will lay those eyebrows while giving sound advice on how to patiently master your make-up, in the most hilarIous way.
@andile_hazel Awuyi Empini Phela oe😭😩 #hazelandile #makeup #mzansitiktok #southafricantiktok ♬ original sound - Andile Hazel
Intrigued by her make-up skills, I spoke to the talented make-up artist (MUA) from Tongaat, KwaZulu-Natal, to learn more about all things make-up and how she ended up being one of the best MUAs of this generation.
Like many creatives, Mlotshwa’s love for make-up started at a young age when she wore red lipstick and her grandfather complimented her.
“I was fortunate enough to be raised by both my grandparents. My grandfather walked me to school every morning and was a huge fan of my make-up journey. Every time, he would say: ‘Ufake I rouge ebomvu’, which translates to ‘you’re wearing red lipstick’.
“My grandmother, on the other hand, played a huge part in instilling good values and respect in me, and I am really grateful to these two people for providing me with a good, loving and healthy upbringing,” she said.
After finishing matric, Mlotshwa enrolled for media studies at the University of KwaZulu-Natal.
Since she had that burning passion for make-up, she started learning how to do it through pictures on Wikipedia’s WikiHow.
Eventually, she started watching YouTube and TikTok videos to master her craft and now she’s a pro, all thanks to her artistic skills, which played a huge role in watering her craft.
“I think I’m generally an artistic person because I used to do art in school, and my favourite thing to do was playing around with colours and painting.
“Like painting, make-up is an artistic expression for me, and something about holding a make-up brush makes me feel calm and whole,” she said.
The 23-year-old MUA has been doing great in keeping up with the trends. She said that although she wasn’t born in the ’90s, she loves the make-up looks from that era – the thin eyebrow and clean base – with a dark lipliner and gloss being her favourites.
However, with make-up looks forever evolving, each year comes with new trends and on this year's beauty forecast, Mlotshwa anticipates the following trends: “It looks as if the ‘clean girl/ minimal make-up’ trend is coming to an end and full faces of make-up and proper eyeshadow will be making a comeback in 2024.
“The ‘Mob wife’ aesthetic also seems to be on the rise as it includes heavy eyeliner, eyeshadow and lipstick.”
As a make-up adviser to beginners, Mlotshwa mentioned common mistakes people make and how to avoid them.
“It has to be not blending your make-up properly, which leads to a patchy look. To fix this, use a slightly damp beauty sponge after your foundation brush or any other make-up brush to blend that make-up seamlessly.”
Below are a few more of her make-up tips for beginners:
- Shaping your brows by waxing or threading will make your brow process so much easier.
- If you don’t have brow wax to lay your eyebrows, that’s okay. Use the Sunlight bar soap, it does wonders.
- You don’t have to buy the entire kit all at once. Get one item, focus on that, then progress to the next step.
- Don’t bombard yourself with products. Most make-up items are multipurpose. You can use your lipstick as a blush as well, and you can your blush as an eyeshadow as well.
- Highlighting and contour are opposite steps. For highlighting, use a concealer 1 or 2 shades lighter than your foundation. For contour use a concealer/foundation stick 1 or 2 shades darker.
- And lastly, don’t forget a setting spray. It will keep your make-up intact without creating creases.
@andile_hazel Ay ngoba nginilawula🌚👀 #hazelandile #Makeup #umuntukababy #tiktoksouthafrica #mzansitiktok ♬ original sound - Andile Hazel
When asked about her biggest career highlights, she said it was working with international beauty brands.
“In the past year, I got an opportunity to work with brands like Garnier, L'Oréal and Rihanna’s very own Fenty Beauty.
“It was a huge accomplishment for me as someone who used to dream and watch all these brands on television, and this really proves that dreams do come true and you are capable of doing anything you set your mind to.”