Eight questions for the interested and interesting: Sethu Mehana

The Currency team first met Sethu Mehana at this year’s Durban July, where she was helping guests look their glamorous best. We got chatting, she slipped us one of her lipsticks (which we’re now big fans of) and, well, the rest is history.

Nubian Cosmetics founder Mehana spent years in the corporate world before taking a leap of faith into beauty. Today, she’s the brand’s self-proclaimed Chief Fabulousity Officer, creating makeup designed to enhance, rather than mask, while also ensuring that it’s easier for people of every skin tone to find their perfect match.

We caught up with Mehana to find out about the book that changed her perspective, her favourite Joburg restaurants and the tunes she’d take to a desert island.

What’s the best book you’ve read in the past year, and why? 

After a maternity break, I was unexpectedly retrenched. Instead of spiralling, I leaned into a side hustle I’d been nurturing. Somewhere in that transition, rebuilding a sense of purpose outside a job title and redefining what “enough” looked like, I found myself drawn to Ikigai: The Japanese Secret to a Long and Happy Life by Héctor García and Francesc Miralles.

I wasn’t looking for hustle culture or reinvention. I was looking for what the Japanese concept promises: the quiet intersection of what you love, what you’re good at, what the world needs and what can sustain you. A reason to get up in the morning that isn’t tied to perfection, but to balance. I didn’t pick up the book to find a new dream, but to better understand the one I was already quietly living.

How do you keep fit? 

Pilates three times a week and Shape classes twice a week. Every now and then I’ll do a Parkrun or simply go for a walk around the block.

Weeknight, low-key restaurant go-to? 

Ukko in Bryanston. It’s just 10 minutes from my house, and they make great cocktails. When I’m with family, we love Higher Ground Restaurant at St Stithians.

What is the one artwork you’ll always love, and why?

I don’t have just one favourite piece. My taste spans a few artists whose work I keep coming back to. William Kentridge is probably where it all started. I used to work at Hollard Insurance, where the building housed several of his works that I’d walk past every day. I also worked closely with the company’s specialist fine art insurance division, so I was constantly surrounded by South African art. That’s really where my appreciation took root, rather than through galleries or books.

I still love Kentridge’s charcoal animations, especially Tide Table, and the way he builds a story through erasure and redrawing, leaving traces of every previous mark behind. More recently, I’ve been drawn to Zanele Muholi’s photography, particularly the Faces and Phases and Somnyama Ngonyama series. Their work has that same sense of directness and testimony, documenting a lived reality as much as creating an image.

Do you have a hobby? What is it?

I used to play indoor netball in the evenings, and I actually turned my hobby as a makeup artist into a business. Now I’m hobby-less.

The one unusual item you can’t live without?

Gelish on my nails. Having colour on my nails gives me something to look forward to, and I book my next appointment after every session. That, or a metal straw in a handy case that I keep in my handbag.

Who was your high school celeb crush? 

Definitely actor Boris Kodjoe.

Three songs you’d take to a desert island?

Oceans (Where Feet May Fail) by Hillsong United, Gracefully Broken by Tasha Cobbs Leonard, and God Is In This Story by Katy Nichole and Big Daddy Weave.

ALSO READ:

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• Art of the mall: why Standard Bank’s new gallery is a smart idea

_{Top image: supplied.}