SHALOOM MUTABAZI had been doing beauty makeup for a long time. She however, switched gears to become a special effects makeup artist with the aim to help Rwanda's film industry thrive.

She says that she has always been very enthusiastic and creative when it comes to make-up as a young lady, which inspired her to want to do more than simply beauty make-up.

"As a makeup artist, I get the opportunity to express myself and turn an actor into a character,” said Mutabazi.

Even though she is a freelance makeup artist, the 22-year-old also does makeup in her mother's hair salon. She says that the salon has served as a platform for her to train and gain experience. Her style includes beauty makeup, which entails enhancing a person's appearance with various cosmetic products and special effects makeup, such as prosthetics, paints, moulding, and transformations. She has been doing this professionally since 2020.

"Ever since I started, I have been learning and developing my skills in makeup, and I made different professional connections,” she said.

She continued that since she started, she got opportunities to apply her skills in different places.

"I worked with different movies in Rwanda where I did special effects makeup to actors, and the movies are yet to come out,” said Mutabazi.

Mutabazi highlighted that special effects makeup is a growing industry and soon, it will be something big in the Rwandan community, especially in cinema. 

"This is something which should work out, it’s starting out, but with more people developing these visual tricks, it’ll grow big,” said Mutabazi.

When asked about her ambitions, she said that she wants to see the Rwandan film industry reach a high level where Rwandan films would be seen on a variety of platforms thanks to enhanced visual gimmicks and special effects makeup. She stated that additional effort is needed to attain that level.

"As makeup artists, we need to document ourselves more, practice harder, and expand our skill sets,” she said.

Mutabazi addressed the challenges she faces in her profession. She claims that acquiring materials is difficult and expensive since they must order from abroad, and shipping costs are high. She also mentioned that many people in Rwanda who seek these services are unaware of the existence of special effects makeup.

"It's also a challenge to create our brands or professional contacts to be known as someone who does this work,” Mutabazi said.

To overcome these obstacles, Shaloom believes that the more people who apply special effects makeup, the more popular and well-known the industry will become. She encouraged anyone who wants to do it not to be afraid to take the plunge.