Meet The City Beautician.

Everyday Winifred of Derfini uses her magic wands (combs and brushes) to perform magic. New Warri sat down with her, and it’s quite interesting the things we discovered, meet the City Beautician.

What drew you to hair and Makeup?

Looking back, I have come to appreciate the unspoken influence my family, my Mum especially has on me. For example, I met my Mum doing hair from childhood and I just grew into it and became exceptional at it. Who would have thought, what was once for fun, has now become a business. For makeup, I’ve always been artistic by nature and that got me into makeup coupled with the fact that I love beautifying people. There's this joy and satisfaction I get when I can transform a woman's look by either applying makeup on her or giving her a hairdo. The crave for that joy brought me here.

Why the name; "Derfini"?

After thinking so hard for a business name, I read an article in a magazine where a lady had come up with her own business name by spelling her name backwards so I decided to try that with mine and that was how I got DERFINI. Its Winifred spelt backwards with d exception of letter W.

How long have you been around, work experience?

I will not be honest to myself to put a time stamp on it, because I’ve been making hair from childhood out of love, and also as per-time business during my university days, until Derfini was officially launched a year and four months ago.

Who are your inspirations?

I get a lot of inspiration from leading experts and professionals in the beauty world, and also from colleagues in the business and even friends and family.

Tell us a bit about yourself?

My Name is Winifred Oke Etetafia, friends call me Winnie. The first among three in my family. A botanist from Delta state university, Abraka. I am the lead beautician at Derfini, and I love music.

Which is your best hair/makeup job so far?

Time they say maybe a great healer, but we’ve all come to confirm that it’s a lousy beautician. At Derfini it’s our statement of promise that how young you look is our business, and to achieve that, we’ve kept improving on every and any job. It just keeps getting better and better with each job.

What do you want to achieve with Derfini?

Derfini will become a reputable global brand, but first our target is ceasing the entire local market, become the household name in the city and then spread out to having outlets nationwide and abroad.

We are much more than a beauty parlour, we are like a beauty institution pursuing growth relentlessly by continually improving performance, products and business effectively in the beauty world.

What sets Derfini apart from all the others?

Our greatest strength has been the uniqueness in our service delivery. This has provided the right atmosphere for our clients to enjoy every minute of their time with us.

We’ve leverage on our youthfulness and growing technology to always be the first on new trends as we engage in consistent training and retraining not just on the job, but on basic moral values, ethics and business strategy.

What is the best part of your job?

The excitement, joy and satisfaction I see from my clients and the kind words potential customers who has been referred to us by previously satisfied customers is gratifying. Many times they make me feel like a magician; I have to remind myself that I am not, but a beautician.

When did you make your first hair or make up and what lead to it?

For my first hair, I really can’t remember because I’ve been making hair from childhood, But my first professional job was in 2009 when a course mate of mine back in school was getting married. I was awarded the contract to beautify her.

How do you handle dissatisfied client?

I rarely have dissatisfied clients but when I do, honesty is the key to working it out. If someone doesn't like what I've done, I ask them to tell me what didn't work or they don’t like and we work it out together. I also always welcome my clients to come back at the end of the day if they're not happy with the style or have any challenges.

I do my best to get feedback from dissatisfied clients in order to be able to know how best to work with them in providing the services they desire, while I also make suggestions of what I think works best for them.

Where do you see yourself in the next ten years?

In the next ten years, I am certain that Derfini will be a well known brand across Nigeria and transforming the looks and lives of every woman who walks through our doors, giving exceptional services and enriching their lives in various ways.

Derfini will be a leading voice in the beauty industry and pioneering beauty fairs in major cities across the country.

We hope to diversify into a comprehensive or one stop beauty learning centres, where we will not only teach but create platforms to empower young people with interest in the beauty industry in the Warri.

And privately, a fantastic wife to an amazing husband, and a mother of three lovely children.

Where can we find you?

Derfini is located at No 146 Jakpa road near white House junction opposite small market, Effurun, Delta state. Our Instagram handle is @derfinibeauty. And you can reach us on phone-08066593638