My man must be sexy, warm –Delta soap model
By Josfyn Uba and Chinwendu Uzoukwu
Saturday, November 17, 2007

The name Beatrice Tawo may be as ordinary as any other name until she hit sudden fame with the official launch of her face as the Delta Soap girl. While women aspire to be like her, men desire to have a piece of her.

Beatrice hails from Ogoja in Cross River State and is the fifth child of a family of seven. Educated in Port Harcourt and later moved to Lagos, where she had her university education in sociology.

She struck fame and fortune with the Delta Soap modelling contract that ran for four years. Although, she has relinqiushed the crown but still carries herself with such elegance and poise. Beatrice Taiwo will be going for her youth service next year after which she goes for her Masters degree as well
In a chat recently with Saturday Sun, the pretty face of Delta Soap revealed that modelling has been her desire, even, as a growing girl. On her private life, she said that she has preference for a warm and sexy man. She spoke on other private issues.

Modeling
I have always loved modeling but I wasn’t fully into it but with the Delta Girl thing, I took the opportunity. It just came and I went in for it. They put an advertisement then I went for the auditioning and that was how I was picked.

I have always loved the magazines of pictures and I have always had the passion for fashion. Likewise when I was growing up, I felt this is something I could do if given the opportunity. I will be going for my NYSC in March and I’m going do Masters as well, after which I’m going to work.

Life as a model
It has been nice. It is not every time you get every thing smooth but you know that as human beings, the only constant thing is change. So when it comes, you take it as it goes but you don’t want to loose your focus.

Challenges
The high point was, having to take photographs every now and then because my boss then was a very particular kind of person. He wants things to be done in perfection. So we take lots of photograph. You could take up to 5000 pictures and only one or two will be picked. So there was always this challenge of wanting to do better and a lot of people are involved. But for the Delta Girl, I was the only person.

Did it get to a point where you wanted to quit?
I have never really come to that point where I say I don’t want to do it again but like everything in life, there are bound to be challenges. There were times when you have your low moments. You have to combine school with career at the same time; you have to mix family together. So it makes you feel like you are not giving in your best and then you kind of feel withdrawn.

Basically, it depends on what kind of modeling you are doing. If you are doing the billboard thing, you don’t really do much. If you get involved in the business of advertising, choosing of the pictures and organizing the event, you are not really given the opportunity to come out and do anything because you are under a contract and you have to keep to that contract.

Mum’s advice
The best advice that mum gave to me was : “No matter what you do, you have to be happy but don’t go nude.”

I will never go nude
I will never go nude no matter how huge the amount I am offered or paid. I don’t have the kind of will power to go nude. There might be nothing wrong with it but from my own background, I will never go nude. I am a Christian and I don’t see myself exposing my body so much. Even on the billboards, what you see some times are make believe. They make it look real but I can’t go nude for any reason what so ever.

My beauty routine
I wake up in the morning, most of the time I am always at the gym because I am on the fat side so I always have to walk out. Then I wash my face with cleanser, I use moisturizer everyday and it is Delta.

Perfume freak
I am a perfume freak. I love perfumes so much. I like Christine Doir, Versece Woman and I love YSL. I have a whole lot of perfumes. If God says He is going to change any of my bad habit now, I would say my perfume habit. I also spend my money and time on make up. Sometimes I spend hours trying to draw my eyebrows but I wouldn’t even get it right. I have so many make ups that I don’t even use. I love different colours. I love to have lots.

If God comes to you now want would you want Him to do for you?
I would just say ‘God! You have to make me better’. Asked if she is not better the way she is now, she said: “I am okay as I am now but I would like to be better because it is always good to be better.”

Style
Style means lots of different things but to me, it means being poised and elegant. Being able to carry yourself well in every occasion and at every time and place you find yourself.

Do you go for designer labels?
Basically I love quality. If you want to have the best, it is better you go for quality. It lasts long. Four five years, you are still with it. I love quality and quality is the best.

Are you married?
No. I am single.

My ideal man
My ideal man is a God fearing man, someone who is very warm and sexy. Traditionally. I will like a man who can stand me. Who can appreciate what I do because most people misinterpret what we do as models. Some people take us to be inferior while others look at us as been loose but we are not loose. We still have our dignity and we carry ourselves well.

Wrong impression Nigerians have for models
I will like Nigerians to change their perception of seeing a model as loose person or unfocused person because models are human beings. Modeling is just like taking up a passion for what you like and being creative like dancers, musicians and artists. There is a passion you have that you want to create and bring out for people to appreciate. Modeling is part of promoting business and marketing. We are not marketing ourselves but the product that we are wearing not ourselves.

Modeling agencies
Basically, you come in through agents, because you can’t just get the job on the road. You can go for auditioning and spend lots of hours and not even be attended to because the crowd in Nigeria, particularly Lagos is very large. So, what you do if you go through an agent is that you take pictures and not nude pictures but pictures of portrait sizes. If your face looks good for what they want to market, you would be taken. But, I think some agents reap people off their money and they don’t allow the models get more of what they have done. But I hope that has changed because we didn’t go through agents.

We went directly for auditioning. We met board of directors four times before we were chosen. There was even a time I had an advert that was cancelled because it wasn’t good to be presented. So, I hope that has changed.