Maureen Bandari: I dated throughout my student life in campus

The skincare mogul behind Bandari Beauty talks about her riveting university years and creating a niche for herself in the cosmetics industry

Ronald Kipruto

Where and what did you study in the university?

I studied Biotechnology at Kenyatta University. I specialised in applied biochemistry.

Which unit would you describe as your worst unit while in campus?

That would be ‘The structure of Biomolecules’. It was not hard, just a bit difficult. It was all because of the lecture. I remember one time while preparing for exams, I read about all amino acids, but one. Please tell me why during the exam, the amino acid that I didn’t read about is the one the lecturer set in the exam! Literally! It was very rough.

How about your best and worst lecturers?

Now my age will be showing here, as it has been a decade since! But I would say my best lecturer was the one who taught us about Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs). The class wasso much fun. Also another one called Prof Rono who taught us organic chem. My worst were the common units we did in first year, I cannot even remember their names.

How was campus life generally?

I enjoyed my life on campus. The first day in class I got seven or eight friends who are still m friends to date. We did everything together- house parties and all, including those I would not want to say loudly. I was also part of a hip hop group.

How did you make money while on campus?

My friend Boke and I used to buy second hand clothes at Gikomba or Githurai markets and re-sale them on Facebook. We would then take photos of the outfits and post them online. The money was mostly for enjoyment as I was still heavily dependant on my parent’s and was living with my sister at kahawa Sukari. I also made money from Google AdSense from the blog I was running.

How was dating life then?

I had an active dating life as I had never dated before. I was those people for books books books! I got my first boyfriend in my first year, and I was also very secure, so if a relationship is not working, I would move on. Not to say that I dated many people, but I was never single. By the time I was in fourth year, I had met my current husband nikatulia.

What do you think of campus relationships?

I approve of campus relationships, however, living in kahawa Sukari, I saw young people moving in together, which was a no no for me. Campus relationships are for one to experiment and meet different people, not to play the role of a wife at 20. You don’t even know your taste yet.

What was your ideal hang-outon weekends?

I wasn’t really adventurous at the time, I was already a blogger, so over the weekends, I would go to the cyber, write those fun articles  for the blog  and storytell on Facebook. I also liked to go to Alliance Française to watch live plays and treat ourselves to nice meals with my sisters.

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Classmates you will never forget?

I will never forget my whole Reindeer Squad. We are all still friends, we have Joe, Masha, Michael aka Michael Scofield, Lillian, Milka, Benji and Clint. We even know each other’s families. We were the ultimate squad.And let me just say our fun times were fun times without disclosing much.

Advice to young girls who would like to venture into beauty and skin care in general?

I would tell them to find something that they love about the product and use that to create a niche for themselves. But first, learn about beauty and skincare. Once you know your stuff, customers are able to depend on you and believe in your craft, enough for them to give you their money. 

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Any tips for creating a long lasting and trusted beauty brand?

You have to consider things around the continuity of your business. The problem is that people just think about the present moment rather than think of longevity of the brand. Things, such as what kind of channels do I use to do marketing?  How do I maintain these particular customers? What are my brand colours?  you name it... the moment you start asking yourself these questions, ideally, you have started building a brand that can last even beyond you being in the business.