Leading Nigerian beauty brand, House of Tara, has expanded its cosmetics line to Kenya. The company plans to sell colour cosmetics, make-up products and accessories like brushes, bags and boxes in the East Africa’s leading commercial hub.

This bold step by Nigerian entrepreneur Mrs Tara Durotoye, founder of the fashion and beauty business, will see her enter the highly competitive industry dominated by multinationals like Unilever, L’Oreal, and Proctor and Gamble.

According to the Euromonitor International, the Kenyan colour cosmetics market is worth $59.8 million and is projected to grow to $73.7 million by 2018.  However, Tara believes the industry is yet to attain its full potential. “We feel the Kenyan market is very important to us. It is growing by five percent every year and the multinationals are already here and of course the local brands like Suzie Beauty. But I feel the market is still (under-served) to a large extent because the Kenyan consumer is not exploring cosmetics. There are so many who do not wear make-up,”  said Tara during an interview in Nairobi on Thursday.

She also stated that the more brands there are in the market, the more varieties offered customers to use make-up.

“Pro” Master class organised by the beauty brand, will also help professional make-up artists who want to brush up on their skills and learn how to create looks for all occasions and mediums. The program, which took off earlier this week in Kenya, will explore the tools capable of taking make-up to the next level.

The Kenyan launch is the latest move towards accomplishing the beauty house’s goal of establishing 100 make-up stores across Sub-Saharan Africa.