Beatrice Abena was born in 1982 in Koforidua, Ghana to Alex and Gladys in a loving home she shared with her two older brothers and other family members. The home was that of her beloved grandfather, the late Alfred Sem Boateng Ayim, a Manager at Cadburys and later the Managing Director of several locations at the then CMB (Cocoa Marketing Board) in Accra.
She attended K.O.V.O.K International Primary School, where her grandfather was also one of the schools Chairman, and later joined her two brothers at SDA International School.
After a short time Abena lost her father and grandfather in a matter of months apart and later left Ghana at the tender age of 5 years. She and her mother lived in Germany briefly before settling in the UK, where she attended primary school again until graduating from London Metropolitan University in Fashion Design with Business.
Beatrice Abena is a lover of all things creative and found her niche quite early on in her teenage years, studying art and media. She studied a short course in Journalism at the London School of Journalism before going on to study Fashion Journalism at St Martians College of Art and Design, also as a short course. Her ultimate dream was to be an international fashion designer, sashaying between London, Milan, Paris and New York fashion weeks. She wanted to be the black Anna Wintour of fashion.
In 2011 she wrote and self-published her first book, ‘Black Brides the Book, a mammoth wealth of inspiration for black brides that is still available on Amazon today.
During her university years Beatrice found her passion for business and was nicknamed ‘the fashion dictionary’ by her peers due to her extremely extensive knowledge of fashion. She later went on to start her first business, Verla, a luxury womenswear brand that was to branch into Verla WHITE (bridal dresses). Unfortunately, that dream fell through when she encountered a manufacturer she described as ‘my worst nightmare,’ having destroyed her samples.
Though it broke her down Beatrice Abena never gave up her entrepreneurship dreams and in her early 20s launched Silk Rose Creative, a full-scale creative agency that offered services in personal shopping, bridal styling and fashion business start-up consultations.
Beatrice Abena then went on to launch The First Lady Conference, a conference that brought together successful women entrepreneurs to give talks on their career paths to aspiring boss babes.
One of her biggest entrepreneurial projects was to build a Sephora-like beauty store in Ghana, a dream she is still pursuing. On the back on the she launched Forever Beauty Cosmetics in 2023 after two years of groundbreaking research, to a welcoming audience. She is a woman of dreams and has many plans to launch many businesses both in Ghana and in the UK.
Shine My Crown caught up with Beatrice to learn more about her line and what to expect from her thriving business.
Tell us a bit about yourself. Where are you from and how do you think your upbringing prepared you for a career in beauty and entrepreneurship?
Thank you so much. Well, my name is Beatrice and I’m originally from Koforidua in Ghana. My roots are very important to me. I’m a proud Ghanaian so whenever I get the opportunity to answer this question , I don’t hesitate or shy away from expressing my love for my hometown. I think growing up as a young girl, I always felt and I somewhat somehow knew that I was different, in a good way. I later discovered more and more about myself when I began to fall in love with colours and daydreaming and creating my own world around me. Eventually, in my early teens, I discovered that that difference I felt when I was a small girl was literally a creative desire that was in me and that desire was to create and produce whatever my mind could think of.
My background is in fashion, design and business. That is what I studied at university, but before that I doubled in art, media, fashion journalism and really wanted to try my hand at TV presenting too, but I never gave myself the chance. I’ve done a bit of teaching, mainly in fashion business and fashion marketing. One of my proudest moments was writing, producing, editing and printing, my very first book ‘Brides the Book – the ultimate style guide for black brides to be.’
I fell in love with beauty, not too long ago just a few years actually. I literally watched just three videos on YouTube on how to apply eyeshadow and that was it. The love was born. But I think my experience and my love for fashion definitely contributed to my career path in beauty. My mother has also been a great fashion and beauty inspiration to me. I’m sure that definitely played its own part too.
We’re loving the new line at Forever Beauty Cosmetics. What led you to take a leap of faith and begin a cosmetics line?
Wow, that’s a beautiful question. I had been doing research for two years prior to starting Forever Beauty Cosmetics – just really trying to find the best suppliers that could bring my vision to life. I had been investing and I still love investing in indie beauty brands as well as the major brands of course. It was just a day when I thought to myself it’s finally time I invest in my own brand.
That is the day I decided to throw procrastination out the window and begin this amazing journey. The dream for a beauty brand was actually much bigger. It was a mammoth task, but now I believe it had to start with Forever Beauty Cosmetics and so one day that bigger dream of a beauty empire will emerge.
What would you say has been the biggest challenge you faced as you prepared to launch and how did you overcome it?
My biggest challenge I would say is funding, which I believe in most start-up business cases is always a challenge. Originally I had planned to source funding such as a local business grant or loan, but in the midst of all that thinking, I decided that I would use my hard earned coins to start this journey, and it is the most self-fulfilling thing you can ever do.
I can only thank God because I amaze myself every time that I was able to do this on my own without any financial backing. I definitely want to upscale the brand even as small as we are now, but I like to dream big and start small and with that you still need financial backing so definitely I would say that finances has been one of, if not the most challenging thing, but it’s not scary I know that whenever I put my mind to I can achieve.
Who or what are some inspirations of yours that led you to a career in the beauty industry?
I am inspired everyday by nature, by trends, by colours even by talking to someone can inspire an idea, can birth an idea. I am inspired by the woman who have started their businesses and grown it to become multimillion dollar brands.
The women that really inspired me are the geniuses behind Juvias Place, PLouise, Cosmic Brushes, TLP and Coloured Reine. Among many others.
Which product(s) are you most proud of in your collection?
Choosing which products I’m most proud of is like choosing a favourite child so I am proud of all the products that we currently have.
I’m also very proud of the products that are going to be launched in the future. It’s great to be able to create something and see it come to life and so I’m definitely proud of every single product that we currently have.
What are some beauty trends we should be looking out for this summer?
A classic nude lip never goes out of fashion. It can be worn with the most boldest or simplest of looks. It can go with any outfit and any occasion. Fashion and beauty, both intwine and go through different phases with each approaching season. I love barley there brows and flushed cheeks. Since the pandemic I personally have taken a more natural approach with my makeup looks but I’m gradually re-introducing back my bold eyes. I believe in creating your own trends and paving the way for others to emulate.
What is your mantra in life?
Honestly, with God all things are possible. That’s my mantra.
Where can people learn more about you and your work? (feel free to add personal and/business social media handles here).
Yes absolutely, we’re on instagram at @foreverbeautycos and our website is www.foreverbeautycosmetics.co.uk and we deliver internationally too.
