Written by: Funmike | Edited by: Ez
A.Beauty Brands, and their Founders, haven’t always had the best wrap. Which is why, in November 2020, we decided to launch our A.Beauty Initiative to recognise and celebrate the African beauty brands who have championed changing the narrative around beauty on the continent. Articles like: 18 HIGH-PERFORMANCE NIGERIAN SKINCARE BRANDS TO KNOW & 9 EXCEPTIONAL NIGERIAN MAKEUP BRANDS TO KNOW, are some content we created as part of that Initiative.
Today, we are excited to launch this mini-series featuring A.Beauty Founders from Nigeria.
From sub-standard products to nearly every product marketed as a bleaching agent, a lot of people made a decision, a long time ago, to steer clear of Nigerian beauty brands. But there’s been a significant turn around in the past couple of years, with what seemed like a sudden boom happening during the tail-end of the pandemic in 2020. Nigerian beauty brands have now stepped their game all the way up. One can actually build an effective skincare routine or an exceptional makeup collection made up exclusively of Nigerian beauty brands, something that was absolutely impossible at the time BiL launched 11 years ago. There has now grown a very decent number of Nigerian beauty brands who’ve completely turned things around and are changing the narrative, some of which we featured previously on the site: A.Beauty on BiL
With this mini-series we will speak with 4 different Nigerian A.Beauty Founders, as they share about the challenges they’ve encountered as entrepreneurs. The Founders are:
Toyin, of Junederm
Mae, of Sanct Skin
Chidinma A, of Hankali
Ayo, of Soapy Suds
We will have them share their perspective on FIVE common challenges, that come with building a brand in Nigeria, and how they overcame them. The 5 challenges are:
1. PACKAGING
A lot of us are guilty of this, you know when you see a brand with aesthetically pleasing packaging, and you’re shocked to hear that it’s a Nigerian brand (a show of hands?) Packaging is so important, it’s the first thing people see and you can deduce what a brand is trying to communicate i.e bleaching, misinformation, etc. I honestly think we got used to mediocrity but that’s changing. The Founders featured in this mini-series understand the importance of packaging, the answers I got from each of them was impressive!
2. TRANSPARENCY
The reason why brands need to be transparent is so consumers are aware of the ingredients used to formulate their products, as it helps guide their decision making. We need to know what we’re putting on our skin, and how to use the product. One of the ways to spot an unsafe brand is by looking at the correlation between the product claims and their ingredients listed (incl. list). I mean there are some skin concerns that certain ingredients just cannot treat.
3. PRODUCT FORMULATION
On the topic of formulation, the Founders shared on formulation knowledge, quality control, purchase of raw ingredients, and product stability, it’s a lot. To formulate a product, it’s expected that you have proper formulation knowledge and I wondered if being a, ‘expert’, eg. cosmetic scientist, was a requirement for launching a beauty brand. I know a number of Founders who churned out amazing products before they were certified in anything.
4. INFLUENCER MARKETING
Some influencers are just doing their job of influencing, and aren’t necessarily experts, we need to learn the difference. When you need expert advice, seek out an expert.. but if you’re just looking for honest reviews or exploring new brands, the right influencers are your go-to. When it comes to beauty, I think we need a bit of both, influencers and people with knowledge or experience in the industry. Can’t wait for you to read what our featured Founders had to say about this
5. INDUSTRY REGULATIONS
The major regulatory body we all know in the beauty industry is the National Agency for Food & Drug Administration Control (NAFDAC). But, when a brand advertises their product and emphasizes that it’s “NAFDAC Approved”, unfortunately, that doesn’t comfort me anymore because you see brands that should clearly be banned saying they are approved. ‘NAFDAC Approved’ doesn’t necessarily mean it’s safe, so I wonder what the approval process is.
One key commonality amongst all the Founders featured? It’s beyond making money, and more about creating a space for healthier skin.
There are other soon-to-be Founders who want to join-in on this narrative and raise the standard even higher, I hope this inspires them.
Read the Series here:
