Encomium
Tiana Dimoko, a 300 level student of Philosophy at University of Benin won the Miss Fair and White Beauty Gold pageant, sponsored by Bozac Continental Ltd, owners of the Fair and White range of beauty products.
In this interview, she said that Miss Fair and White Gold is the most transparent and genuine beauty pageant in the country and more…
So, can we meet you?
Yes, my names are Dimoko Tiana, a 300 level student of the University of Benin, and I am based here in Lagos.
Which course are you studying?
Philosophy
You are the Miss Fair and White Gold winner?
Yes, I am.
Five months after winning the crown, is it still the same old Tiana?
It cannot be the same old Tiana. Life is all about change. Change must always take place. Obviously, my life has changed since being crowned the beauty queen. My social life, my mode of dressing, people I relate with, where I go to, all these have changed.
Why the sudden change?
Because I am now a beauty queen. I have to carry myself differently now, I can no longer be like any other girl. Now I represent a brand so I have to come out well always because anything I do can be related to the brand and the image of the brand depends on me. So I must have to come out in a positive way, to promote and safeguard the esteemed profile of the brand.
What is this Fair and White Gold all about?
Fair and White Gold is the latest product of the Fair and White range of beauty products. Fair and White Gold range of skin care products cover special beauty treatment and formula from cleansing and exfoliation to fading and brightening, as well as hydration and protective skin care treatments, to meet all skin care needs. For a complete skin beauty regimen, Fair and White Gold provides a three phase ritual: prepare, even tone and protect with various specialized products, for the best results
Why are they called Fair and White, are the products meant for only fair skinned women?
No, that conception is really wrong. Fair and White Gold does not in any way mean that it is only meant for light skinned ladies, it only means that it brings out your real complexion, it makes your skin to glitter. So that glittering is what we meant when we say Fair and White Gold. Even if you are dark, it makes your dark skin glitter, and if you are white, it makes your white skin glitter as well. So Fair and White Gold does not mean that it is meant only for light skinned ladies, it is for all skin types.
So, can we say that Fair and White Gold is for the African woman?
Yes, indeed, it is for the African woman; that is the ideal interpretation.
What have you been doing as Miss Fair and White Gold beauty queen?
I have been involved in a lot of promotional projects for the brand; I have been involved in fashion shows and events at which the brand has to be represented as a sponsor, to give more visibility to the brand.
Do you confine your activities to Benin and environs or are you involved in areas outside Benin?
For now, I am mostly around Benin. But very soon, I will widen my scope to areas such as Lagos.
In the last five months, since the pageant, people would have been expecting to see your face in a lot of promotional materials, in the dailies, magazines, billboards and television as well as online, but you seem a bit scarce. Why is that so?
I am just a brand ambassador; everything I have to do must be with the consent of the company that owns the brand. They are still putting the adverts together because they do not want any kind of advert, they want to take their time and come out with promo content that will really give the brand the desired mileage. Fair and White Gold is a premium brand, the public should expect a world class advert campaign. From the information I gathered, the company will soon hit the airwaves with powerful creative adverts.
How do you cope with your studies, combining it with your role as the brand representative of Fair and White Gold?
It’s challenging because I am almost in my final year, so I have a lot of work in school. But I have to balance my studies with the work as a brand ambassador. So it’s not easy but I thank God that I am pulling through and my lecturers are very understanding, I thank God for that.
Your company, Bozac Continental Ltd gave you a brand new 2013 Nissan Rouge SUV. Most of the beauty pageants that we have seen do not give as much as that car. So what was your reaction when you got the car, was it the desire to win the car that motivated you to enter for the competition?
Before I participated in Miss Fair and White, I had done a lot of beauty pageants. And I was on the brink of giving up on beauty pageants, because there were usually a lot of underground works with the beauty pageants. So I was almost going to be like: “I am tired”! But when I got the information from my friends, they encouraged me, telling me that this one will be different. I did not even believe that I will get the SUV, I just opted in just for the show and all that. With other pageants, sometimes they give you the car and after snapping pictures with it, they take it. But to my surprise, they gave me the SUV without condition. I am still the owner of the SUV, I am still using it, there were no delays, there were no conditions that the car will only be for promotional purposes. I won and they squarely gave me the car. So, I am really happy about that. And it is surprising because it rarely happens in pageants nowadays. Most pageants, they just give you a small car, maybe a Picanto and after a few months, they take it. But this case is different.
What you are telling us is that the pageant is transparent and the company lived up to their words.
Yes, they did.
You still have a lot of potentials as a model. Do you still want to go higher as a model or would want to stop with Fair and White Gold?
I am still considering that, but I feel this might just be the last.
If a bigger brand comes from abroad and persuades you to model for them, won’t you give it a try?
I might give it a try.
How long is your reign as Miss Fair and White Gold, is it one year or two years? How long is the contract?
It is for one year, but that is if there will be another crowning the next year. If there will not be another crowning, then the contract will be renewed and it will be for two years.
Does your reign as beauty queen affect your relationship with your boyfriend?
Before I got into the pageant, I was in a relationship. But while I was in the contest, I broke up. Even after I won the crown, I was not in a relationship. Being a queen now. Does not afford me a chance to be in a relationship, because if a guy is to come now, it may be because of whom he thinks I am. He may be able to say: “Yeah, she is my girlfriend and she has that, or she is my girlfriend and she owns this or she owns that” So, I avoid relationships for now, until I am done with my reign.
Don’t men come after you?
Of course, they do. But I just do not want to be in a relationship now.
What is your message to ladies who use excessive bleaching cream instead of a healthy brand with natural skin improving emollients, like Fair and White range?
These days, most ladies want a light skin, so they go for strong bleaching agents that spoil their skins. So when I meet ladies, especially my course mates who are reacting to one bleaching agent or the other, I encourage them to use the Fair and White Gold. I tell them that: “This your skin that you think you do not like the complexion, if you use Fair and White Gold, you will marvel at the transformation it will give you”. So most of the times they take my advice and change to Fair and White Gold and the result has always been fine.
So how does lady Tiana relax when she is not busy modeling for the Fair and White Gold brand?
I love watching movies a lot. So, I just go to the cinema, watch one or two movies, then I go swimming pool.
