POLOKWANE – 24-year-old, Heather Makhado, is a beautician by profession and loves everything which has anything to do with beauty. Initially she wanted to become a model, but when she fell pregnant realised it might not work out for her. “Not too many doors are open to young mothers and I knew I had to find a way around it. I decided in order to remain in the beauty industry, I would become a beautician,” she said.
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Becoming a beautician also held more purpose for her, because it allows her the platform to help people feel better about themselves. “With some clients, you can literally see the change happen right before your eyes. It’s not only something which happens externally, it’s more of an internal revamp. You see the confidence in how they carry themselves, after being in your chair for whatever amount of time,” she said.
She added she sometimes encounters difficulties with clients who expect miracles from the beauty treatments.
“I had a client who wanted a treatment which would clear her skin instantly. I had to explain to her that it doesn’t work that way. As much as I can help her, there is no such a thing as an instant cure, it is a continuous process which needs to be sustained,” she said.
Because of her own experience of becoming a mother at a young age, she holds motivational talks with young girls about teenage pregnancy. “Although it is something I do informally, it is something I am deeply passionate about. I don’t want to see young girls throw away their future, because of things that could have been avoided. I talk to them about the difficulties which come with being a young mother and how things become more difficult, with the added responsibility,” she explained.