Bulawayo born beauty starts own cosmetic line

At 25, she was representing the country on world-famous ramps in Las Vegas, United States of America, as a Miss Universe contestant. She dazzled the world on the catwalk and launched her clothing line upon her return from the American voyage, and now she has made a grand entrance into the cosmetics world. Her name is Langa Sibanda-Lloyd and her product line, which is already causing a stir in the cosmetics field, goes by the name House of Langa.

The new kid on the block might find stiff competition from established brands like Black Opal, Fashion Fair, Sleek or such other cosmetics, but the Bulawayo-born beauty believes her new home-grown brand is the real deal for the dark skin tone.

The confident businesswoman, who spent over a decade in the United Kingdom working for a cosmetics retail company, says she has been working on her own cosmetics line for the past two years.

"We have been testing and enhancing this product since 2011 and I am convinced that this is a game changer in the cosmetics industry because there are no brands out there that cater for dark skin tones," said Langa.

She says the world, especially Zimbabweans, should trust her with their skin as she uses the same product and would not have put her name on it if it was sub-standard or mediocre.

"I have worked in the cosmetics industry for a long time, I know what is lacking out there and that is the market I have come to cater for," she said.

"I recently saw my modelling pictures from the '90s where I either looked 'donkey grey' or orange - meaning my make-up was either too dark or too light. I thought to myself: this is the 21st century, why do I have to continue wearing the wrong kind of make-up for my skin?"

Langa says she knows that Zimbabwean women do not like to wear too much make-up.

"Because the make-up we use is not designed for us, we end up using too much foundation and end up with very heavy and thick make-up, which is not suitable. With Langa cosmetics, users will feel light on their skin and confident as well since this make-up is a break from what we have come to know," Langa said.

The former top model says she uses natural ingredients in creating her products.

"My products do not react with the skin, if anything they heal the skin. All I wanted when I was creating this product was to have a make-up range that is natural and free from nasty chemicals and preservatives that end up damaging the skin," explained the beauty.

Targeting the middle to high-income earners, House of Langa is set to immediately open two branches in Harare's central business district and in Bulawayo in their quest to cover the entire nation by targeting big department stores.

In addition, Langa says she will also soon open an online store in the UK by the time her cosmetics line is launched on September 13.

"We are going upstream and downstream and have recently concluded discussions with Truworths Group, which will see us taking retail space at selected sites to include

Truworths First Street branch in Harare and subsequently Bulawayo's Jason Moyo branch.

"This will allow us to reach our targeted markets and strategic locations in the Zimbabwe retail sector," said Langa.

She may have been the Designer of the Year in 1998, having a good future in both modelling and designing, but the lady with an insatiable desire for travelling ended up falling in love not only with the UK and cosmetic field but with a UK man as well.

Through House of Langa, the Bulawayo beauty pays school fees for 25 primary school-going children in Kezi at a school she attended briefly in her formative years.