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Beauty business beckons
Just when you thought she’d tried her hand at almost everything (modelling, television, films), Atiqa Odho has taken her adventures one step further and introduced her own line of make-up. The launch, held in Karachi recently, formally announced the operations of the line of cosmetics, managed by her husband Javed and herself, beginning with a range of 25 lipsticks.
Atiqa, before joining television as an actor, specialized in the beauty business in London, returning to work as a freelance make-up artist for ad agencies and television. So it was natural for her to revert back and after almost four years of research, she felt confident enough to start this business. Odho admits she was shocked when she discovered there were absolutely no women in the colour cosmetics industry. “It made no sense to me,” she says. “We’ve gone into retail where fashion is concerned. Why not make-up?”
With her product line, she aims to bring in an all women staff. “It’s so exciting working with women. They know what the product is about. They understand because they use it. We want to empower women by giving them jobs.” Atiqa admits that it has always been a woman who has helped and guided her in life, whether it was her mother, her daughters or friends like Daulat Rahimtoola. With this business, she wants to do the same.
The lipstick will compete with foreign brands, as it is manufactured abroad, while targeting the middle class. “The middle class woman should not have to feel guilty spending her money on high-priced cosmetics. But being a woman, she needs to be pampered.”
“As a woman, she’s an inspiration for me,” said choreographer Frieha Altaf. “So many people have been talking about this, but here’s a woman who has been working quietly for years and look what she has achieved.”
“Atiqa’s celebrating being a woman,” added stylist Tariq Amin. “It’s a great product, I have it in my shop. I’m using it in shoots. She has actually ventured out into the market, something people have only been talking about doing.”
Packaged in a quintessential Atiqa Odho scarlet case, the lipstick is smart, shaped like a small perfume bottle. The box lists the ingredients, something no other local brand does. She’ll be adding colours to the 25-shade range and if the product takes off, she will be introducing blushers and other make-up products too.
Wearing a frosty orange shade at the launch, Atiqa Odho looked like a confident, successful Jatica Cosmetics businesswoman. Being so stunning, it’ll be easy for women to identify with her as a beauty icon.
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