Don’t feel the world is caving in on you because you don’t have a man in your life -Zainab Tanko Yakassia, dermatologist

By ADAEZE AMOS

Zainab Tanko Yakassia, fondly known as Miss Curves amongst her friends is fun to be with. Though she is  a make-up artist  and an event manager she is also a dermatologist by profession.

 The amazon from Kano state was born in America, she is the grand daughter of Alhaji Tanko Yakassai, a popular politician. “I graduated from New York University School of Medicine. (Laughs) Well, Miss Curves came about because of my body physique. I’m a very curvy lady. It wasn’t as a result of any beauty pageant. I have never done that before. Pageants and contests aren’t my thing. I was born in the United States of America. My dad is from Kano state and my mum is an American.  So I’m invariably a Kano chic. I’m an event planner and manager, a make-up artiste and a dermatologist by profession.  I hail from a well known political family in Nigeria. My grand father is Alhaji Tanko Yakassai, as people like to say one of the most influential politicians that has come out of the North,: she giggled

It didn’t take her much time to describe  her grand father in her own words. “My grand father has played different roles in the government dating all the way back to Shagari, IBB and Abacha. He served as the first minister of finance, as an adviser to multiple presidents. He had written  and launched a book telling the world about his life as a politician through his humble eyes. A lot of people don’t know him as a journalist before becoming a politician. He still considers himself a journalist. When you walk into his living room, you can catch him on either iphone, ipad or Mac book typing away (laughs). By the way he is in his late 80s and surely knows how to operate today’s technology. That old man has the brain of a computer. He knows and remembers every single detail of everything. He never forgets, which amazes me. I strive to live up to his greatness. He is my most favourite person on this earth,” she said, as a matter of fact.

You may wonder whether this plus-sized diva has ever felt inferior in the midst of slender ladies. “Well, I don’t  consider myself plumb. I’m a thick curvy chic with meat in the right places (laughs). I don’t ever feel inferior to anybody. I’m comfortable in my own skin and if you ask me, I’m the ‘baddest’ chic one could think of,” she laughed loudly.

Guess the part of her body she considers most sexy? “I don’t consider just one part of my body sexy or sexiest. Every part of me makes me the sexy confident person that I am,” she enthused.

What makes her happy is living life to the fullest. “Well, I live for today and enjoy every moment of my life as if it was my last day on earth and that makes me happy. Every positive motivating person I come across makes me happy. Over all, I’m just one person that lives just to be happy,” she giggled.

When this style aficionado is dressing up for a date, “the first thing I put into consideration is comfortable clothes and shoes. Comfort comes first and if you are not comfortable with what you have on, everyone can tell. It would be obvious, really,” she stressed.

This duchess of beauty feels bad when a natural skin is damaged with bleaching cream. As a dermatologist, she says such skin damages should have been avoided. “I honestly feel bad when I see people with bleached skin. They don’t understand the amount of damage they are causing to their skin. Your skin becomes so delicate that you can’t even be in the sun for long and apart from being prone to skin cancer, such people are destroying their melanin production in their body. All seven layers of the skin is being destroyed and they can’t repair it. Light complexioned ladies are not in any way better than dark skinned ladies, so why bleach?

Then of course, as a make-up artist, she unveiled some common make-up blunders that Nigerian ladies should desist from. “Make-up blunders I always notice are the horrible thick fake looking eyebrows. Your eyebrows are not meant to look like you got them waxed. They should look next to natural. But I’m happy there are some women or fashionistas who are almost perfect with their looks and make-up that I admire. They are such people as Tonye Lawani, I admire her. She is one bad chick that looks hot. I also admire Mai Atafo, he looks stunning always,” she revealed.

To  ladies who are long over due for marriage and they are still single because they are yet to find Mr Right she also admires  and has some words for them. “In fact, for no reason should you feel the world is caving in on you because you don’t have a man in your life. Life goes on! There are tons of people who are married and they are very unhappy in their matrimonial homes.  So, bottom line is be content and happy with your current situation,” she counseled.

There are really some things Zainab would never tolerate in a man. “I can’t tolerate a man that is disrespectful, that lies, that boasts and tries to show off. I don’t like a non-confident man either. I love a man with swag like I’m the- boss-swag,  he must also be humble,” she nodded.

Her style signature? “I don’t have a style signature. I mean fashion is ever changing and so are my looks. So, I wear whatever looks that is most flattering at the moment. I’m totally not a label freak. You will never catch me with design labels from head to toe. I actually think people who are label freaks lack fashion sense. I won’t wear glitter leggings or anything that glitter. I won’t wear an over down colour-blocking,” she said, finally.