- Name : Dr. Awuor Dorah Shikuku
- Nationality : Kenyan
- Age : Turned 28 yesterday
- Do you have someone special in your life?😛 Yes 🙈
- Favourite food: Chicken and fish
- University Attended: Kenyatta University
- Year of graduation. – 2019 due to lecturers’ strike but we were class of 2018.
- One thing you love to do. – Makeup ( temporary and semipermanent)
- One thing we don’t know about you. – I used to write novels in exercise books during my high school days, and lend my friends to read haha.
- Do you love being a pharmacist? Yes and No
- Places worked. – Mama Lucy Kibaki Hospital, Laboratory and Allied , Rangechem pharmacy, Malibu Pharmacy.
- When and how did you discover your love for fashion, modeling and cosmetics? -After high school, around 2011, I used to watch a lot of fashion show videos on YouTube, and look up fashion related articles and photos online, which greatly intrigued my interest.
Back then, I wasn’t aware the modeling scene in Kenya had such shows and photoshoots, until a friend of mine introduced me to a modeling agency owner and that’s how my journey in the kenyan fashion scene began. Somewhere along the way, having met and interacted with a number of makeup artists and beauticians, during photoshoots and fashion shows, my love for cosmetics was birthed.
It didn’t come as a surprise to me , when I developed interest in the art of makeup, since I have always been artsy for as long as I can remember. - Any well known brands/magazines that you have partnered with in your Journey?-During my journey in the Kenyan fashion industry, I have had the opportunity to work with amazing Kenyan brands like Achie Otigo, a renowned Kenyan bespoke designer; Niku Chana , one of Africa’s best jewellery designers; City walk; Jumia Kenya; Salon Magazine; Standard newspaper ( Pulse); The Nairobian newspaper; True Love Magazine ; Palmers Kenya and many others.
- Tell us a little bit about The eyebrow doctor. – “The eyebrow doctor” is a term I coined for my Semi-permanent makeup business, which mainly entails Micro-shading (a.k.a powder ombre brows), Micro-blading, Eye liner tinting , Lip tinting and micro-needling. Being very passionate about cosmetics and beauty, I have always felt the need to learn new worldwide trends, so in my efforts to scale up my makeup business, I bumped into the above named procedures during my research, and knew I had to learn them. I saved up during my internship, my partner topped up and I enrolled in classes by the Canada Microblading Academy based in Karen.
- With the many number of beauty shops in Kenya, especially River Road, what advice would you give Kenyans seeking cosmetic products from these areas? – Cheap is expensive. Always invest in original brands when it comes to cosmetics, since most of them are regulated worldwide and were you to be harmed due to lack of quality in these brands etc, its easier to seek legal action. Unlike the fake brands which are mainly found in river road. Most of the river road products would never be allowed to be sold in first world countries , where regulation of cosmetic and beauty products is not compromised on, and that is mainly due to concerns about the safety of ingredients contained in these products on the skin.
Besides, we now have a lot of affordable original and quality cosmetic brands to choose from. - Do you think Cosmetology is an untapped area by Pharmacists in Kenya? – Yes I do. And that’s the major reason why our cosmetic and beauty market is flooded with a lot of harmful products. Am yet to come across a cosmetic pharmacist in the country. If they are around, I would love to be mentored by one. 😇
- Where do you see yourself in the next 10 years? – Running my pharmacy and an MTM clinic, Becoming a cosmetic pharmacist.
- What has been your biggest struggle in the Pharmacy field?
-Being taken seriously in terms of my value as a professional and my contribution to the well being of patients, other than interpreting a prescription and dispensing.
-Finding jobs outside of government institutions or parastatals, that offer reasonable salary - How do you think you have positively contributed to the Pharmacy field?
-I have always strived to be patient-care oriented with my service, by ensuring the patients I see feel heard and receive the best possible medication counselling other than just vaguely instructing them to take their meds at whatever frequency is indicated on their prescriptions. - If you are to change one thing about the profession, what would it be? – I would want to revert back to when pharmacists were posted by the government post-internship.
- Advice to other pharmacists. – Serve your patients the way you would want to be served were roles reversed.