In a beauty industry often driven by trends and quick fixes, Priscilla Kadima is building something far more intentional. An approach to beauty rooted in dignity, education, and care for women’s bodies.
As a beauty entrepreneur, esthetician, and cosmetic scientist, Priscilla is the founder of Halawa Pris Sugaring Spa, Nigeria’s first mobile sugaring hair removal service. Through her work, she is challenging harmful beauty myths while championing skincare practices that prioritize safety, sustainability, and respect for melanin-rich and sensitive skin.
Drawing inspiration from traditional Northern beauty rituals and holistic wellness practices, Priscilla has created a brand that goes beyond aesthetics. At the heart of Halawa Pris is a deeper mission, to ensure that women feel seen, informed, and confident in their own skin. By combining education, eco-conscious beauty techniques, and a deeply personal approach to care, she is redefining what it means to build a purpose-driven beauty business.
In this conversation with Leading Ladies Africa, Priscilla reflects on her journey into entrepreneurship, the emotional labour that often comes with building something meaningful, and why patience, integrity, and craft matter more than chasing trends. She also shares her vision for creating beauty spaces where women are not rushed, fixed, or compromised, but respected, empowered, and cared for.
Who is Priscilla Kadima when you take off the founder title and the business hat?
Without the founder title, I am a woman who is still becoming. I am a daughter, a friend,an educator, a leader, a beauty and wellness enthusiast. I am deeply reflective, valued-led and intentional about how I move through the world. I believe in softness, vulnerability, rest, and boundaries not as a weakness, but as necessary forms of strength. I learned resilience through responsibility, hardwork, discipline, patience, vulnerability and that continues to shape who I am today.
What first drew you to wellness and beauty, and how did that personal journey lead to the creation of Halawa Pris in Abuja?
My journey into wellness and beauty evolved from a simple habitual routine into the present professional path. Being from a northerner background, and from a family of with a lot of women, My selfcare routine was highly influenced by my Socia- cultural background and the women around me. We were raised around the understanding that routines and femininity care is and must be gentle, tender and meticulous,and should be approached through natural beautification rituals which are primarily organic like the use of natural extracts from various God-given sources.
I realised early that many beauty practices don’t consider bodies/skin types with care, especially women like myself, that possess sensitive skin. Wellness and Beauty, to me, became about values, dignity, integrity, accessibility, not luxury. I wanted beauty to feel safe, seen, respectful, intentional, confident and informed. Halawa Pris was born in that gap. Creating a space where women are cared for, not rushed or compromised, and where beauty is rooted in wellbeing while maintaining their sense of human dignity, optimal health standards, protecting self-respect and enhancing self-esteem, self-worth and promoting self image.
You pioneered Nigeria’s first mobile halawa sugaring spa. What did you understand about women’s lives that made that model feel necessary?
Long before the modern spa, beauty rituals were sacred traditions. Halawa Pris Body Treatments are Traditional Northern beauty treatments techniques with practices that have roots cut across the Middle East, Asia and the African Continents. These beautification practices and regimens were originally practiced by queens in ancient Egypt. In the northern states in Nigeria it was created for brides as part of their wedding practices as well as during ceremonies such as engagements, pre/post-partum care, anniversaries as a means of honoring the skin as a reflection of health, dignity and femininity. These treatments were usually meted out by much older women to younger women who fell within the demographics of intending brides or young mothers. I however, noticed a huge gap in service provision for other younger women who do not necessarily fall within those demographics but also wanted such health services from such traditional treatments techniques. Moreso, with so many factors influencing rural-urban populations, there has been an increasing number of such young women in the cities who desire such treatments that are often found mostly in the traditional communities rather than the urban and cosmopolitan settings.
In addition, the dynamics in the city needed to be matched.The busy schedules of women, lesser privacy and access to organic resources amongst other factors led Halawa Pris to establish the mobile service which provided the 5 Cs: convenience, comfort, connection, confidence, and community for the women to blossom and thrive again. It also provided access and respect. The goal was to provide these services to the women who grew up with these routines and now live away from the previous or known traditional spaces, yet crave those services in their more urban setups. It allowed women to receive care without disruption to their lives as well as the Nigerian women from different ethnic groups who have heard about these treatments, or are looking for ways to beautify and care for their skin naturally/holistically. At the time it wasn’t widely understood, but I trusted my insight. Innovation, for me, has always been about longevity, not trends.
Halawa Pris is deeply rooted in clean, eco-friendly beauty. Why was it important for you to build a spa that prioritises sustainability, safety, and skin health, especially for women?
The skin is the largest organ in the human body. It is also the organ that makes the most direct contact with our environment and people around. It serves as a protective barrier. Therefore, the skin deserves to also be given an intention and adequate attention, protection and care. This influences our approach at Halawa Pris. Halawa Pris approaches Sugaring not just as hair removal, but as a way to restore body PH balance while enhancing the skin tone, texture and temperature. This is also a beauty alternative that blends both the art and science of traditional and natural skincare techniques. In addition, Halawa Pris is unique in both technique and approach. An approach that maintains and sustains age-long beauty care methods. These are all achieved through minimal wastage of resources, optimal utilization of ingredients and highest ethical standards.
At Halawa Pris, unhealthy compromises do not exist. Our approach to skincare and beauty is viewed from a holistic lens that provides and promotes accountability, responsibility and sustainability. Short term benefits should not exceed long term effects as obtainable in most other systems. Halawa Pris ensure that the best beauty and skincare service is available at the most cost effective level and efficient way.
For a lot of women with melanin-rich skin, hair removal comes with fear. What myths or misunderstandings do you wish we’d finally let go of?
Halawa Pris has tailored services and products specifically formulated for different skin types. These are aimed at soothing, calming, healing, and protecting the skin. This detail is to ensure that clients are safeguarded from the ‘one size fits all’ approach that is generally obtainable in the beauty industry where certain products or services are labelled as CLEAN BEAUTY but not safe and suitable for every skin type.
It’s also important to demystify the myth that pain is normal or necessary for beauty. Understanding Skin, Body & Hair Anatomy is key to ensuring the procedures are performed correctly and with minimum discomfort. It is also essential to educate clients to understand the structure of their bodies so as to guide them through the processes. Burning, bleaching, stripped skin, compromised barrier or chronic irritation are not the ideals.
Beyond the service itself, how important is education in your work, helping women understand their skin, their bodies, and what truly works for them?
EDUCATION is the real solution to awareness not trends. Understanding the layers of the skin and the anatomy of hair ensures precise, and safe techniques. It is essential to understand the structure of the skin and hair to perform safe, and effective treatments. Understanding and educating women about the hair growth cycle is an essential part of consultation. It is central to everything we do. I don’t believe in creating dependency, I believe in empowerment. Women deserve to understand their skin, their bodies, and their options. When clients are informed, fear reduces and trust grows. My work goes beyond service; it’s about replacing myths with knowledge and helping women make confident, and informed choices.
What’s one challenge you faced that you think many women building businesses in experience, but rarely talk about openly?
One of the hardest parts is the emotional labour. Entrepreneurship and leadership can be lonely. You will outgrow certain people quietly. You are often underestimated, yet over scrutinised, at the same time. You will experience betrayal. Growth comes with grief, grief for old versions of yourself, old relationships, and expectations. That part of entrepreneurship isn’t talked about enough.
For women who want to build purpose-driven businesses in beauty or wellness, what would you tell them about patience, craft, and staying true to their values?
Delayed gratification is a blessing. Patience is KEY, it’s not delayed… It is a discipline. Focus on your craft before clout and applause. Build a community and be intentional. Say no to opportunities that dilute your mission, even when they look attractive. Build longevity, not virality. Purpose and integrity will always outlast TRENDS.
When a woman walks out of Halawa Pris, what do you hope she carries with her, beyond the physical results?
Beyond physical results, I hope women leave feeling confident, secured and safe in their skin and their bodies. Seen, not fixed. Reconnected to themselves. I want them to carry a loud and audacious confidence, one that’s grounded, not performative. A reminder that softness is allowed, vulnerability is strength, emotions are expressed and care is not something they have to earn.
If a young woman is listening right now, wondering if she can build something meaningful in her own way, what would you tell her?
You don’t need permission to start. You do not need to be ready to begin. Start where you are, start now with what you have. Your pace is valid. Consistency matters in everything. Be audacious and most importantly, build something that can hold you not something that will consume you.
