For at least a week, photos of the media personality Toke Makinwa, who launched her career from a graveyard shift radio gig on Rythm FM, in sexy lingerie, and at times no lingerie at all, have adorned billboards and banners in Lagos.
On social media, she is in beast mode, relentlessly hawking a new product to her 5.6 million followers, a perfume line she announced two weeks ago. But this is different from the products Makinwa has launched before under her TM Luxury and TM Beauty brands; scarves, handbags, lip glosses. This is not some Instagram affair, send-a-DM-to-order type of product. This is the big one.
Already, the luxury retail store RJ4 on Victoria Island is carrying it. There are plans for the perfume to roll out in other stores. “Let’s just say that we have more money now than we did when we started TMluxury,” Makinwa told Pulse Nigeria at a launch event on Tuesday, May 7, 2024, at RJ4. “The bag company is a bit jealous.”
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For the past three years, she has been working on the product, fine-tuning the notes, the packaging, and branding. “Everything has gone into this. And I'm super excited to see that the reviews have been great. I think the hard work sort of paid off, fingers crossed.”
Makinwa has rolled out three variants of the perfume, Vogue, Dive, and Intense, which she says are all unisex. Starting at ₦167,000, fans will be able to cop a bottle. “It is a premium luxury line. We try to make it very affordable. It’s a hundred ml. So for a hundred ml, I think we did not do too bad,” she said.
Makinwa has always been a fan of scents she said because they make her feel good. That was why she chose to sell perfumes. She is not deterred by the state of the economy. She said that even at a time of biting economic decline in the country, people will spend on how they feel.
“I think anyone who knows me will know that I have been very passionate about perfume. And I also believe that regardless of what the economy is saying, people will always spend money on how they look and how they feel. Because that’s literally what they need at the end of the day. And perfumes make you actually feel good. Smelling great is good manners,” she said.
When she launched the perfume weeks ago, Makinwa joined a very short list of Nigerian celebrities who have launched perfume lines.
But also she is not thinking of her brand as primarily a Nigerian brand. She thinks of it these days as a global player that could break barriers if the products are good and opportunities are presented.
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“We are definitely rolling out a couple of scents. This is the first but not the last. And I really do hope we take this out of Nigeria and the rest of the world. I'm hoping and praying that in all white spaces, black brands begin to gain respect and the recognition that they deserve,” she said.
But first, she wants to sell her perfumes and nothing is off the table, not even a TM store.
“I’ve never thought about it. But now that I think that economically we might be okay, let’s see what the checks and balances are, and we might open a store,” she said.