Meet the lady behind breathtaking makeup in Beneath the Lies

By Solomon Muleyi

There have been various efforts to make the Movie industry in Uganda more lucrative than it is now but all have been futile.

From the consistent seminars to the film festivals the Ugandan film festival has staged. The factor as to why the movies locally made never go past the usual spheres, though elusive, borders exclusively on the fact that the production strongly lucks, especially in the aspect of portrayal.

When you however look at some of the pictures of the accidents from scenes in the beneath the lie series (on Urban TV (that have been put on hold by the way) making rounds on social media , it hits you that perhaps the film industry of Uganda is getting there. When a scene that involves accidents in a movie is painted like an actual traumatizing moment, with gore and split-blood-oozing skins.

Daniel Omara after makeup by Kose

But it's because the production team of Beneath the lies has selected, strictly, the cream of artistry in the various departments. And as such, the make-up department has Eva Kose, an adroit jack of all trades when it comes to make up.

Perhaps, a glance at any of her works will label her the best there is in Uganda. But that is not for us to tell, but getting nods from international shows like Vogue Italia is certainly something that ranks her way up there than your normal Ugandan make-up artist.

She's applying make-up on a client when we meet. Her hands are colored in bits of paint, or what looks like make-up powder but to a man, might actually pass for paint. Make up swatches lay scattered besides a gigantic make up kit which is perched besides a mirror that sits atop the desk.  And she sees me through the same mirror and mumbles a greeting before motioning me to a couch which also, is draped in thousands of artistically colored drawings and colors adjacent to where she is working on her client.

I watch as she paints  the client’s face, applying prudently, layer by layer to make for an exceptionally different but beautiful look on the client who, as I later learn, was going for a wedding.

Background
Born on June 12, 1987, Eva Kose's work will fool you into believing she went to International schools to perfect this art yet she went to to local schools, St Lawrence and Eagle's nest for her secondary and St Kizito Primary School Bugolobi for her Primary.  

And adroit person in facial art, Eva Kose's art has featured in many international shows one of the significant ones being Vogue Italia in Italy. It is her work in Beneath the lies, a series that will soon resume airing on Urban TV that has shoved her name in the limelight.

One of the pictures has Daniel Omara painted as one with deep fresh wounds, probably sustained from a club-induced battering as the cuts on his forehead seem to be inflicted on him with something sharp. While another viral one is of a lady with what looks like a split arm with blood incessantly oozing out of it. Yet It's the work of Eva Kose after concocting a number of colors.

Yet she maintains a polite composure.  "I like adventure. I draw a lot of inspiration from the beauty of the human face. I mean, the fact that one has all those facial features gives me a lot to work with," she relays.

She , according to Simon Mukiibi, a movie producer Uganda, might be the answer Uganda's movie industry has been asking for.