President of Sierra Leone says record-breaking makeup artist has inspired the nation

A Sierra Leone woman got the attention of the president when she broke a world record.

Mary Yongai became a local celebrity when she performed the most cosmetic makeovers in 24 hours (one artist).

The 26-year-old gave beauty transformations to a total of 111 women when she took on the challenge in Freetown, Western Area, Sierra Leone in April.

She smashed the previous record of 96, set all the way back in 2005.

Mary’s incredible feat caught the attention of Julius Maada Bio, the president of Sierra Leone, who posted a celebratory message on X.

He wrote: “On behalf of the government and the people of Sierra Leone, I extend heartfelt congratulations to Mary Yongai for setting a new world record for the most cosmetic makeovers in 24 hours by a single artist.

“Mary’s remarkable achievement of 111 makeovers has surpassed the previous record of 96, set by Indonesia’s Martha Tilaar in 2005.

“Thank you, Mary, for your exceptional talent and resilience in showcasing the beauty of our great nation to the world. Your achievement inspires us all!”

Mary, who works as a professional makeup artist and is studying mass communications, was absolutely thrilled.

“His message was very encouraging and it said all of them feel inspired by my work, can you imagine that? So I feel so blessed at this moment,” she told us.

Like many others, Mary was inspired to take on a record attempt by Nigerian chef Hilda Baci, who previously held the record for longest cooking marathon (individual).

Mary explained: “I followed her record-breaking attempt from start to finish and I became inspired.

“Then I decided to go for this record because I’m a makeup artist.”

Mary did some research through the Guinness World Records website to find the right title for her.

She reached out to various companies in her local area, as well as the United Bank for Africa and Sierra Leone’s Ministry of Tourism, who sponsored her.

Having worked as a make up artist on movie productions and video shoots in the past, Mary was well practised in giving lots of makeovers back to back – but never on this scale.

She prepared by practising on her sisters and friends, coming up with the different looks she’d do.

On the day, she was armed with 50 bottles of foundation and too many concealers, eyeliners and mascaras to even count.

She said: “I came fully prepared because I was aiming to do more than 100 people and I didn’t want my cosmetics to be the reason why I was not able to reach my goal.”

The people getting makeovers were all volunteers who signed up after seeing Mary’s invites on social media.

Mary chose which look to do for each of her volunteers, taking before and after pictures of them all.

Each look had to use concealer, foundation, blush or bronzer, at least two colours of eyeshadow, eye liner, mascara, lipstick or lip gloss, lip liner and pressed or loose powder to count towards the total.

Mary was permitted to take as many breaks as she wanted during the 24 hours, as long as the clock didn’t stop.

But to maximise her numbers, Mary says she only took a 20-minute break the entire time.

She said: “I did my level best. At a point in time I was very tired, I was feeling my back, my legs were in pain.

“Of course, it’s normal because I was standing for almost 24 hours, I only had a 20-minute break and I did that with no food and without answering a call of nature. I was only sipping a soft drink without no energizer whatsoever.”

She added: “I kept myself alert with the help of God.”

Since breaking her record, Mary has become well known in her country.

Interestingly, another makeup-based record was broken in Africa in the same month.

Akosua Mantey Roselyn (Ghana) performed the longest marathon applying makeup – 103 hr 25 min 33 sec.

With eight years of experience in the beauty industry, the goal of this attempt was to revolutionize the makeup industry by uniting stakeholders.

It served as a means to create awareness of the importance of teaching young girls the skills to help reduce early marriages in certain countries.