Xiora Nikita Mader-Niles brings luxury and rich colour to local, hand blended makeup

Her makeup line boasts high quality pigmentation and delicate ingredients, providing “luxurious application” and rich colour payoff that is compatible with all skin types and tones.

The line currently includes eye shadows, blushes, and highlighters but she says her specialty is customisable eye shadow palettes, which allows her clientele maximum satisfaction through their personal choice of colour.

Additionally, Nikita can custom blend any colour to match items and accessories of her clients’ choosing.

Her personal drive to excel, she says, is borne out of her knack for innovation. She believes this innovation allows her to “set new boundaries within the industry and keep abreast with trends while staying true to my promises of delicate ingredients, customisability, and high pigmentation.” Out of secondary school, Nikita attended Roytec to pursue a Bachelor’s in Business Management, a tool she knew would come in handy on her entrepreneurial journey – a journey she says she always had her heart set on.

“My goal was to become a makeup artist but it never worked out due to my lack of _ nances and connections, among other things,” she describes the way her personal plans transformed during her course of study. Compounding these obstacles was her shy and introverted personality, traits that made it difficult for her to network with others in the industry.

Her own sensitive skin ignited her interest in researching the many ingredients and products on the makeup market. It was this research that led to the birth of “my destiny, my passion and my love, Xiora; a true labour of love.” In April of this year, Xiora launched its official Instagram page. Before this branding and launch, all orders of Nikita’s makeup were made through face-to-face interactions – a true marker of the high quality of her product and accompanying customer satisfaction. In 2017, she promises a “relentless pursuit” of development, customer service, new products and collaborations.

“Xiora means innovative, organised and analytical,” she says of what’s behind her brand’s name. It is an homage to her late grandmother “who touched my life so deeply in the years I had with her.” Her grandmother’s name, Violet, a colour similar to purple but Nikita didn’t want to limit herself to a purple-only line, and so she started brainstorming.

“One night, ‘Xiora’ popped into my head and I just couldn’t get my mind off of it. Weeks and months went by and I just knew ‘Xiora’ was it.” Ever the researcher, her quest led her to discover that Xiora represents both her personal and professional personalities and she is sure her grandmother guided her to her brand’s eventual name.

She feels blessed with talent and more so with the ability to pursue education in her desired field and excel at her start up business. She believes women in the world of business have seen many a challenge throughout history but women of today “have the power to become anything they want to be and strive with persistence and perseverance.” Expanding on how her brand is a “labour of love”, she shares that all Xiora makeup is handmade personally, entirely from scratch from start to finish without pre-made bases. “We also do not repackage any existing, wholesale ordered products,” she says proudly.

Currently, she works from a home lab and Xiora’s pallets can be customized instantaneously at display setups at local markets such as Upmarket and South Market. The line contains mineral ingredients such as magnesium, calcium, zinc, and clays and she highlights that harsh chemicals, preservatives, common irritants, and animal-derived and pore-clogging ingredients are not part of her makeup’s make up.

“This means that Xiora is less likely to cause skin irritations, making it perfect for sensitive skin types and persons with allergies,” she says of the love and care that go into making her special line.

One of the greatest inspirations behind Xiora and Nikita’s work is colour: “I draw inspiration from a lot of local elements such as the common outfits worn during Limbo dances, the Steelpan, sea urchins that wash ashore, and the colour of our Nylon Pool,” she elaborates.

“Sometimes I fall in love with colours of random things such as rocks, flowers, colours on a paint chart and match them to our culture with names such as ‘Gas Brain’, ‘Stuush’, ‘Palance’ and ‘Papayo’ just to name a few,” she says of the local influence her brand has taken on. Her line is truly a conglomerate of local innovation, style, homage, and representation.

At the core of it all is Nikita’s entrepreneurial and fighting spirit, which has allowed her to create something worthwhile: a locally made and inspired makeup line that keeps its clients in mind. She also hopes to visit various schools and organisations to share her story of perseverance with young women like herself, to inspire them to pursue their goals and not be “deterred by issues that appear to be hindrances; instead, capitalize on those hindrances and make the best of your situation.”

Her situation has seen her launch a successful brand and career as an entrepreneur. She admits the entrepreneurial life is not an easy one, but preaches confidence in self and your offerings as one of the keys to success.

“When you have found your passion, you will never have the heart to give up on it,” she says of her own entrepreneurial drive. For her, the happiest moments are interacting with her clients and seeing the amazement and joy Xiora brings in both little and big ways. “Most times when I share my story, people are amazed that I make makeup from scratch, which to me is just another day in the life,” she says lightly.

“Those encounters always remind me that I’m not just doing this for myself but to show others that you can do something you never imagined could have been done and be open to where life can take you.”

Nikita’s life is certainly taking her on a journey of discovery, service and beauty, one pigment and application at a time