São Paulo – Although it is not a significant part of the cosmetic production, Brazil manufactures some organic beauty and toiletries products. An example of that may be seen at Bio Brazil Fair – Biofach América Latina, which started on Wednesday (5) and runs until Saturday (8) at Anhembi, São Paulo, and exhibitors include Brazilian organic beauty products brands such as Cativa Natureza, Almanati, Souvie, Bioart, Care Natural Beauty, and others.
Most of the organic beauty products industries are led by women and they talked about their companies and this market during panels at Bio Brazil this Thursday (6). What defines an organic cosmetic is that it is composed by natural actives that come from a production without pesticides, hormones, chemical fertilizers, animal drugs, antibiotics, or GMOs, and incorporate social, environmental and economic sustainability. Both farm inputs and cosmetic manufacturing must follow these requirements.
Amanati creator Zezé Ferri Viesi talked a little about what inspired her to establish the company, which manufacture items such as moisturizer, exfoliating gel, lip balm, shampoo, soaps, and many other body and face care products. “It started with my drive to learn more about where the things in my city came from,” said Viesi, who comes from Campinas, São Paulo. “What I use on my body comes from where? What is organic food? So, I understood what happened in my city regarding waste, regarding where those food come from, and these were elements to help me develop Almanati,” she says.
Another businesswoman who presented an overview on her life story was Luciana Navarro Vieira, Care Natural Beauty cofounder, which started selling its products last January. Luciana used to own an event-management company while her partner Patricia Camarco Divitiis worked on a large multinational corporation. Care establishment was related with their struggle to find a purposeful work. The brand produces lipsticks, blushes, mascaras, highlighters, and others.
In addition to manufacturing organic products, the company supports a series of other sustainable projects. The brand’s handbags are made from recycled fabrics and are manufactured by the organization OrientaVida, which reintegrate women who have been through vulnerable situations into society. The company also grant scholarships to makeup artists so that they arrive at the job market knowing more about sustainability, as well as other projects and initiatives on the same line.
The businesswomen talked about the challenges of manufacturing and selling organic cosmetics in Brazil, from taking care that the whole process is sustainable to providing inputs and using recyclable packages and making sure they are disposed correctly, as well as raising consumer awareness to the prices. Since they involve sustainable raw materials and every certification, organic cosmetics end up being more expensive than the conventional ones.
“There is neither a logistics helping recycling or a package supplier that offers what we’d really like,” said Bee Basics Cosméticos Naturais founder Patricia Wulkan Dale during the panel, about their aspiration to have in the Brazilian market vials that decompose quickly. Not having this kind of packages in the Brazilian market means that they must be imported, which impact costs, she says. Bee Basics produces lip balms, body butter, body lotions, and exfoliants from ingredients such as sunflower seed oil, grape seed, avocado, sweet almond, carnauba wax, and others.
The Brazilian companies are mainly focused on the domestic market and one of the major challenges to export is the certification for raw materials used in the production, which is required in most organic consumer countries. “It is a culture we still have to create so that every Brazilian active are certified,” said Luciana Navarro Vieira. According to her, Brazil is very rich in products, but still has a long way to go in the chain. “We must develop local suppliers so that they can serve the industry, but this is still a maturation process,” she said.
The panels on organic cosmetics at Arena Inspiração also featured the businesswomen Roise Bezecry from Cativa Natureza, Caroline Villar from Souvie Cosméticos Orgânicos, Soraia Zonta from Bioart Biocosmetics, Evelyn Steiner from Ikove, Ananda Boschilia e Santos from BScomBrasil (which imports natural cosmetics), Maria Cláudia Pontes, Weleda do Brasil CEO, as well as journalists, advisors and influencers.
Translated by Guilherme Miranda
