She needs no introduction, Mary Charles stands out as one of Nigeria’s renowned beauticians. A skin-care expert and tattoo artist, the USA certified permanent cosmetic surgeon who has been in the business of skin-care for decades turned 50 recently, and chose to celebrate in a rather unique manner, with just a select crowd. She had her reasons. The soft spoken and elegant Mary spoke to G&E’s Olapoju Kolapo about her choice of celebrating the golden age that way, as well as about her blossoming business, family and her profound love for God. Enjoy.
How has it been being a born again Christian and what led to you becoming closer to God? I’ve been ‘born-again’ for over 10 years but for the past 2-years, my life has changed. God showed himself through a dream that the end- time is imminent. I had a dream and I told a friend of mine about the dream, who counseled me that the dream meant that I needed to get closer to God. And I’ve been close to God ever since and I’m en- joying every minute of my life with Him. What’s been different in your life since becoming ‘born-again’? Now, I have so much peace and everything is working well for me. When you have a good relationship with God, things will go well and even your enemies will rejoice with you. I tell people every time that the secret of wealth, wellbeing, and peace is knowing God. You can go to church forever, but if you don’t have a relationship with God, you’re just a regular bench-warmer. When you know God, the glory of the lord will shine in you. People will see it, that there is a difference in you.
You recently expanded your business. What led to the expansion? I’ve been planning to expand for a very long time and although the money was available, but the drive was missing. Since I’ve gotten closer to God, everything has been working very well. Here we have the spa which is for skin treatment and the other side is the product store. Every person needs spa treatment, because when you go to the spa and treat yourself, it calms your nerves and soothes your skin. At your birthday party, your ex-husband had a lot of good things to say about you. What kind of relationship do you have with him? He is my best friend, brother and confidante. We see almost every day and do everything together. I don’t think I have any other per- son in my life apart from him. I don’t call him my ex-husband, and because we aren’t staying together does not mean we don’t have a good relationship. At 50, you have four fully grown and matured daughters. How do you feel about that? I tell you, it feels good because when people see them with me, they always think they are my sisters. They don’t see me as their mother because we are almost the same height, same figure and they are intelligent and mature. I’m also happy because they know God too and most of them are workers in the church. (I attend Revival As- sembly, Ogba). Even my twin daughters that school in University of Rhodes Island, USA, organize a small fellowship for their friends in school.
You recently expanded your business. What led to the expansion? I’ve been planning to expand for a very long time and although the money was available, but the drive was missing. Since I’ve gotten closer to God, everything has been working very well. Here we have the spa which is for skin treatment and the other side is the product store. Every person needs spa treatment, because when you go to the spa and treat yourself, it calms your nerves and soothes your skin. At your birthday party, your ex-husband had a lot of good things to say about you. What kind of relationship do you have with him? He is my best friend, brother and confidante. We see almost every day and do everything together. I don’t think I have any other per- son in my life apart from him. I don’t call him my ex-husband, and because we aren’t staying together does not mean we don’t have a good relationship. At 50, you have four fully grown and matured daughters. How do you feel about that? I tell you, it feels good because when people see them with me, they always think they are my sisters. They don’t see me as their mother because we are almost the same height, same figure and they are intelligent and mature. I’m also happy because they know God too and most of them are workers in the church. (I attend Revival As- sembly, Ogba). Even my twin daughters that school in University of Rhodes Island, USA, organize a small fellowship for their friends in school. Since you’ve discovered from the bible that tattooing isn’t good, how do you deal with clients who come in for tattoos? I don’t offer tattoo-service anymore. You can ask anyone around. I stopped doing that over a year ago. I started it, but that was when I was in the world and now I know better. No matter how much you offer me, I won’t do it for you. When they come in, I open the bible to them and read to them where it says tattoo is not good. Some people are grateful for it, while others will go elsewhere to get their tattoo done.
Are you planning or do you have any intention to remove your tattoos? I’ve removed almost all my tattoos, and even the remaining ones, you can’t even see them because they are hidden. Why do you think almost every Nigerian female wants to get fair and light nowadays? One thing I’ve realized about Nigerians is that they are all one-way traffic. People like to copy each other. Personally, I don’t like to do what everyone else is doing. Bleaching has become so common and regular that a lot of people come to me begging to help them become white, but I always tell them I’m not God and being light skinned doesn’t mean you are beautiful. For God to create you dark, He must have known that it will suit you. I think it’s just an inferiority com- plex mentality in Nigeria, and by extension, Africa. You won’t ever see a white person start using creams to go black. You can maintain your colour with good creams and moisturiz- ers, but you don’t have to change it. I don’t advise people to bleach their skin because there are a lot of side-effects that will come up. Bleaching chemicals peels off the skin layer and makes it thin, and you start looking a lot older than your age. In 5-10 years time, you’ll start seeing the result, when the skin of the people who bleach start getting withered and parched.
