With Beauty Hut Africa, she is making beauty products accessible to all the girlies. Here’s how she did it.
If you’ve ever tried getting that viral serum or perfect lipstick, you know beauty shopping is a struggle. But where there’s a gap, there’s a visionary ready to fill it, and for Subuola Oyeleye, that vision was crystal clear: beauty should be accessible, no matter where you are.
As the founder of Beauty Hut Africa, she has built a retail platform that beauty lovers now swear by. But how did she go from beauty enthusiast to industry trailblazer? And what does it take to build a powerhouse brand in a space where access has long been a privilege, not a right? In this week’s #MCNWorkLife, we explore Subuola’s path to making her dream a reality, the business of beauty, breaking barriers, and her beauty routine.
How would your friends describe you?
My friends would describe me as kind and thoughtful, but also fun and spontaneous.
We all had dream jobs growing up. What was yours, and how did that translate to your current role?
Growing up, I always dreamed of becoming a doctor. Helping people and making a tangible impact on their general well-being inspired me. My dad is a doctor, as well. In secondary school, I considered doing cosmetic science. Then, I realised that I could be a dermatologist, and from there, I explored other realms of medicine. That led me to pursue pre-med in university, but along the way, I realised that my passion was elsewhere, specifically in the beauty industry.
It may seem like a dramatic shift, but the underlying purpose remains the same. Beauty, like medicine and many other careers, is deeply personal and transformative. It can boost confidence, enhance self-expression and generally improve people’s quality of life in meaningful ways.
So, Beauty Hut Africa is like an extension of that dream. I am not treating patients, but I’m building a platform that helps people feel seen, valued and empowered through beauty.
How did your parents react to your decision, considering the fact that having a child who’s a doctor is the ultimate dream for many Nigerian parents?
I’m grateful that my parents have never imposed on my career and what I wanted to do. Even though my dad is a doctor, I don’t think he ever pressured me to be one. They saw how passionate I was, and for them, as long as I had a job, they were happy with it. When I decided to quit my job and start Beauty Hut, they weren’t ecstatic about the idea, but I had faith in it.
Beauty Hut has grown from an idea into a go-to destination for beauty lovers in Nigeria. What inspired you to start this venture, and what was the defining moment that pushed you to go all in?
My path to Beauty Hut Africa began during my final year in university in 2020; I found myself completely captivated by the beauty industry, its rapid global growth, influence, and the way it intersects with both science and culture, amongst other things. It fascinated me so much that I decided to step away from my med school ambitions and dive headfirst into beauty.
That led me to create the first proof of concept, what I like to call Version One of Beauty Hut – Skin Science Africa. From the start, it gained significant traction. That reinforced my belief that there’s a real opportunity to build something meaningful in the beauty space, specifically in Africa, where there’s so much untapped potential.
I spent the next few years working within the beauty industry to deepen my expertise, and I focused specifically on retail marketing. I worked with brands to expand their market presence in major global retailers like Sephora, Target and Boots. Those experiences gave me invaluable insights into what it takes to build and scale a beauty business successfully.
At the beginning of 2023, I felt an undeniable conviction that it was time to go all in. So, I quit my job, where I had been working brand-side with top retailers in the UK. I took a leap of faith to bring Beauty Hut Africa to life and turn my vision into reality.
Beauty Hut is Nigeria’s first venture-backed beauty retail startup. How did you navigate securing funding in a space where founders often face challenges?
Raising capital for a beauty startup was challenging. The beauty industry is predominantly led, served and consumed by women. Yet, despite its size and influence, it is often overlooked by investors. So from the start, I knew I had to be intentional about how I position Beauty Hut.
I knew that to make any headway in securing funding, I had to focus on proving demand first, which was no easy feat with limited access to capital. However, it was something I was determined to achieve, and I did. Before seeking investment, I built a strong proof of concept, demonstrating a clear market attraction and a rapidly growing community of engaged beauty consumers.
This helped investors see that the opportunity was beyond just “beauty” but more about redefining the beauty retail landscape in Africa. To be honest, it wasn’t easy, and it’s still an ongoing process. I’ve learnt that securing funding is not just about pitching the numbers; it is about crafting a compelling narrative, proving your execution and finding investors who believe in the vision as much as you do.
What has been the biggest challenge yet, and how did you handle it?
Navigating the reality of what it means to scale a beauty retail business in Africa has been the biggest challenge. There are obstacles at every level—supply chain hurdles, funding limitations, and building consumer trust in an industry that has traditionally been fragmented.
Beyond funding, building efficient operations in a market with operational challenges has been tough. Despite these challenges, each roadblock has been a lesson in resilience.
Scaling in Africa requires a different kind of grit. But I truly believe that the opportunity in beauty retail and the beauty industry as a whole is worth every challenge that we’ve had to overcome.
What are the biggest gaps in the Nigerian beauty industry that you set out to fill and the new ones you hope to fill?
One of the most pressing challenges is the limited access to global and local beauty brands. So many consumers in Nigeria rely on sourcing products from resellers and informal markets, and they often face issues with authenticity, inflated pricing, limited availability and unsafe products.
Beauty Hut changed this by creating a trusted retail platform. We partner directly with international and local brands, ensuring a carefully curated selection of products. This means we can sell these products at the same price you would buy them in other more developed international markets.
Another major gap was the fragmented beauty retail experience. Unlike markets like America with structured beauty retailers like Sephora and Ulta, Nigeria lacked a seamless high-quality shopping experience. I believe that Beauty Hut introduced a more organised and tech-driven retail approach to make it easier for consumers to discover products, and shop for products across different categories online and in-store.
We also saw that African brands, specifically the locally sourced brands, struggled with visibility, distribution, and scaling their businesses. Many have great products, but their limited access to proper retail partnerships and marketing support was a deterrent. By integrating brands like these into our platform, we’ve helped them reach a wider audience and grow sustainably.
Looking ahead, we aim to address bigger gaps. Expanding the structured beauty retail across Africa as a whole is a priority. We want to improve logistics, accessibility, and general availability of quality beauty products at scale to service other African countries.
Beyond retail, I see an opportunity along the way to support African beauty entrepreneurs with better financing, mentorship, and general industry expertise that we can offer to support their growth locally and internationally. I hope to build programs that provide more structured support and look into how we can support the professional beauty sector – makeup artists and salons – because this is a major part of the beauty industry that remains largely fragmented.
We plan to create stronger B2B solutions. We’ve just officially launched our B2B business this year, and we plan to expand that to create stronger B2B solutions that give professionals access to better pricing, premium products, and even training in the future.
Ultimately, Beauty Hut isn’t just about selling products. My vision and goals for Beauty Hut are to transform the beauty retail landscape in Africa and champion African women in this industry.
As the founder of a beauty retailer, how do you determine what products will ensure that your consumers have access to?
We’re approached by tons of brands daily. The first thing we consider with the brands we choose is whether the product is safe for people of colour. In Africa, there is a proliferation of counterfeit products and bleaching products. It goes massively against my values to have anything under any brand under the Beauty Hut family that contributes to this nationwide problem. So, staying away from harmful ingredients is important.
Personally, I have struggled with hyperpigmentation, which sent me into a product haul of understanding ingredients. This helped me understand different products, ingredients, and formulations. It played a good role in my product knowledge and buying expertise, which informs a lot of the brands that we choose to integrate into Beauty Hut.
Brand representation is something we also consider. Beauty Hut is such a creatively led brand in that all the brands that we stock tie into that visual experience. Brands in Africa should invest more in things like packaging, and branding to match international standards. We’re very specific about the local brands we stock; pairing them with successful international brands greatly affects the perception of their products. We carefully select the brands we integrate because we never want to compromise our identity at Beauty Hut.
Why do you think beauty holds such a deep cultural significance for African women, beyond just aesthetics?
In Africa, beauty is more than just a routine. It’s deeply woven into the female experience, from our lavish celebrations to everyday life. Women here place greater emphasis on how they show up in the world than in many other regions, making beauty and self-care essential rather than indulgent.
So, it’s not just about aesthetics; it’s about confidence, identity, and cultural expression. It’s a key reason making high-quality products accessible is a necessity. Regardless of the cost positioning of these things, this is something that African women invest in. Here’s an interesting statistic: 90% of African women spend money on beauty, regardless of their income.
This month, Marie Claire Nigeria is launching the Power Issue, which celebrates Nigerian women shaping industries. What does power mean to you as an entrepreneur and industry leader?
Power, from the perspective of a female entrepreneur, is about ownership, influence, and impact. It’s more so the ability to create opportunities where none may have existed, redefine narratives, and build something that outlasts you. Power means using my experience and the platform that we’ve built as a team at Beauty Hut to open doors for other women in beauty, whether it’s giving the African beauty brands the visibility that they deserve or creating spaces where our consumers feel seen, valued and catered to.
I feel blessed to have this opportunity, and I’ve been called to use it to uplift others. Hence, it’s about ensuring that African women aren’t just consumers, but that they’re also key players in shaping the future of the industry.
I don’t believe power is about dominance. It’s more about empowerment, and I see it as a responsibility I have to be a part of driving that change.
As a founder, you constantly make decisions that impact your business, team, and customers. What’s a leadership lesson you’ve learned the hard way?
One of the biggest leadership lessons I’ve learned is that you can’t do it alone. I used to be extremely hyper-independent, but building Beauty Hut has completely reshaped that part of me. As a founder, it’s very easy to feel like you have to oversee every detail, make every decision, and push through the challenges on your own, especially because I’m a solo founder.
I’ve realised that true leadership isn’t about doing everything. It’s about building the right team, trusting them, and knowing when to step back and let people do their thing. Learning to delegate, investing in the right people, and empowering my team have been some of the most valuable lessons of my journey. Focusing on leading with the vision and trust has made all the difference.
I’ve also learnt the importance of asking for help when needed. So, I’ve seen first-hand how collaboration makes all the difference, whether it’s leaning on my amazing team, seeking mentorship, or even admitting when I don’t have all the answers.
It’s been five years since you started working on Beauty Hut and a little over a year since you officially launched the company. Where do you see the brand in the next five years?
In the next five years, I see the brand as more of a global company, taking the company beyond just retail and providing a lot more impact.
I also see our day-to-day business expanding into other African markets and replicating what we’ve built in Nigeria in the countries we feel would be a good fit.
Building a company from the ground up is demanding. How do you find work-life balance while growing Beauty Hut?
My honest answer is that it doesn’t exist for me yet. It’s something that I’m working towards, but building a business is one of the most all-consuming things that you can do. I think how we’ve managed to grow success, and build sustainably is because one thing I understand well is sacrifice. I believe there is a period of sacrifice, and then a period of reaping the benefits of that sacrifice. And if you don’t do the former, the latter will not be that much of a reality.
That said, I have a life outside of Beauty Hut. I have an amazing relationship with my family and my friends, and I spend a lot of time with them as well. All the support I have from my community has made all the difference for me.
What are your top three tips for handling stress as a busy entrepreneur?
My first tip is to know when to call it a day. When you’re overwhelmed, the best thing you can do for yourself is step back and go back to a project or whatever you’re working on when you are more clear-headed. Rest is valuable.
My second tip is to make time to do things outside work. I like to spend my evenings away from work, even though it’s not always a reality. I prioritise catching up with friends over dinner, playing tennis, and other things that take my mind off work.
Introspection is the third one for me. It’s important to understand what is causing you stress and how to solve it. It might be a person or a task. When you understand what is causing you stress and build a better structure around avoiding the specific triggers, it helps you better.
What’s a typical day in your life like? Do you have any morning rituals or non-negotiables that keep you grounded?
A day in my life is not that exciting. Most days are spent working, but I start the day with prayer. The best part of my days is when it’s time to close up the laptop after work and do something and get out of the house. That is something that helps, and I do often.
As the founder of Beauty Hut, what beauty secrets or products do you swear by?
My beauty secret lies in having consistent and easy beauty routines. I like to call myself a skincare enthusiast because I love trying new products often. My skincare routine is something that I invest in and spend time on. I also don’t wear makeup often, so it helps that I prioritise my skin.
It’s hard for me to pinpoint my favourite product. However, one of the most consistent products I’ve had in my routine for the past three years is the Sache Skin Tri-Fala Pigment Corrector. It is one of the best products I’ve used for hyperpigmentation, and having it frequently in my routine has helped me manage or have an even skin tone. It’s just been a game-changer and a necessity for me.
What’s your daily beauty routine like?
My morning skincare routine focuses on hydration, so I use hydrating serums, toners and essences. I typically layer quite a few of them in the mornings and go about my day, and I’m very consistent with sunscreen. Then, at night, I focus on exfoliating more and treating any concerns.
What’s your advice for female entrepreneurs?
I want female entrepreneurs to invest in their journey and stay the course. I get a lot of questions about how I got here that imply that I just woke up with the idea, and it became a success. Truly, it’s because I didn’t start Beauty Hut the day the idea came to mind. I started it years later, and that’s because I knew that there was a journey that I had to make for this dream to become a success.
Getting the right experience was a big part, which meant working in the industry. Constantly knowledge-sourcing, reading and understanding what it meant to build a venture-backed beauty retailer. I invested so much in learning a lot about the business and industry I was going into, and that has truly made all the difference.
Many people seek my advice, and I’ve noticed that many start by saying they don’t want to work for anyone. They say, ‘I just want to build my own thing. ’ I think that isn’t as beneficial as you think. I believe the best professionals are those who have worked under other people. If you’re building a successful business, you will be answering to people. I’m constantly answering to investors and different stakeholders. It’s not a realistic standpoint, and I believe in getting the right experience before starting.
When I talk about staying the course, I often think about what would happen if I stayed in a well-paying job in the UK or decided this wasn’t working for me. Staying the course has helped me build the success that Beauty Hut has now. I think sometimes people give up early or get bored, but you also need to understand that in business, there will be times when you are bored, and you just have to accept that so that you can move on to the stage that is more engaging or more interesting for you.
Challenges will come, but you shouldn’t let the step setbacks make you forget why you started. You have to keep refining your vision, learning from your experiences, and showing up every day with the same passion and purpose that made you take whatever leap of faith it was that you did take in the first place.
Recently, I’ve been thinking more about how your success is not just about you. It’s about all the people who work with you, and the opportunities you create for them. When you stop making it only about yourself, you gain a broader perspective.
I think about how my team will grow in this company and how we’re all going to become successful through this company. Having that perspective allows me to keep going.
What do you want to be known for?
I want to be known for making a lasting impact, not necessarily just in beauty, but in how African women access, experience, and participate in the industry. As I said earlier, my goal with Beauty Hut is bigger than just retail. It’s more about transforming an entire ecosystem, creating opportunities, and ensuring that African beauty is represented and specifically valued globally.
Beyond business, I want my journey to inspire other women to chase their dreams unapologetically. If I can open doors, break barriers, and leave some legacy of empowerment, then I’ve made a real difference.
