A Mitchells Plain teen has created her own cosmetic range and started her own business.
Saskia Paris, 15 from Westridge loves make-up and perfume and has invested all her spare time into her cosmetic and fragrance line, Ms. Paris.
Her proud mother Carla, 46, recalls moments when her daughter would sit wide-eyed as she applied make-up.
“She would ask me if she could put on make-up for me, and that’s as far as it would go. I never allowed her to put make-up on,” said Carla.
Little did her mother know her daughter’s fascination would become a business opportunity.
Carla, herself a businesswoman who designs jewellery, told the Weekend Argus that Saskia, who also models, used her money to start a business.
Carla wasn’t keen on her daughter being on social media but agreed to let her use it as a marketing platform. Since then, they’ve never looked back.
“I believe that children can also start their own businesses and become their own boss,” Carla said.
“It teaches responsibility, it helps them to become motivated, and one day she can also look back and say I did this.”
The Grade 8 pupil beams from ear to ear as she lays out her cute range, pointing to her favourite scent named Sweet Angel.
“I choose the scents, and have my supplier do the tests and make it for me. The lip gloss comes from a manufacturer in Durban,” she said.
“I decided to do this because I was sure just as many young girls out there want to put on a bit of lip gloss, nail polish or smell nice.
“But because there aren't children-friendly products, their parents, just like mine, said no.
“So my brand caters for them. The lip gloss and nail polish is clear and the scents are made up of cute girly smells.”
Saskia said the point of designing children's cosmetics is to allow girls to feel naturally beautiful without looking or smelling like an adult
.“The perfume costs R100 a bottle while the lip gloss costs R60 each. “We also have a mascara/eyebrow brush for R30, everything comes with a free pair of earrings,” Saskia concluded.