São Paulo – The Brazilian cosmetics brand Male – Lab Pour Homme entered the market about a month ago, inspired by the Moroccan way of caring for hair and beard. Founder and owner Alexandre Becker Vieira had the idea for the business after going to a street barbershop in Marrakech, Morocco.
It was November 2014. Holding a degree in Law, a master’s in Forensic Psychology, and teaching classes to postgraduate students, Vieira took a sabbatical after the course that he taught was shut down. After a season in Europe, he decided to head out to Morocco before coming back home. He went with a long beard and uncut hair.
On the streets of Marrakech, he stumbled upon a small, classic-styled barbershop, and went in. As Vieira got his hair cut and his beard shaved, including essential oils and a hydration, he was treated to a foot massage and a glass of arak. “It was the best service [I ever had],” he told ANBA.
Vieira explains that the services and products available for men in Brazil then were of a very basic kind, and that got him thinking. He got in touch with the Brazilian Cosmetology Association, did research on the field, took a perfumery course in São Paulo, and spoke with a laboratory that makes cosmetics and perfumes.
Two years later, in November this year, the brand Male was up and running, and a store opened in Porto Alegre, the capital of the state of Rio Grande do Sul. Vieira is the brand’s creative director. He creates the cosmetics and perfumes, and the formulas are developed by a partner lab in the state.
Male’s catalogue includes two colognes, with a new one due out every six months. The first ones are part of a collection whose theme is Rio de Janeiro. The company also makes beard and hair shampoo and conditioner, 50% oil soap, exfoliant for bearded faces, aftershave moisturized, hair modeling wax, beard softening spray, beard shine oil, and solid shaving foam.
Exporting is in the plans only for the future, but Alexandre Becker Vieira recognizes the potential for his products on the international market, including the Middle East, where many men wear beards. “They care about their looks a lot, they do their beards and brows,” he claims. According to him, there is a culture of vanity among young Arabs. “They wear lots of perfume, their hair is done flawlessly and so is their beard, they trim every week, they use oil for extra shine,” he adds.
Vieira wants to plan out each step thoroughly, from expansion in Brazil to going international. At first, he will sell Male products to end buyers only, at his store and online. In March 2017, the entrepreneur plans on starting to sell to multi-brand stores, since wholesalers and barbershops are already interested. There is also a prospective importer in Portugal.
The brand’s owner explains that Male’s cosmetics cater to both the more traditional demographic, like older men who still like to shave with a brush (solid foam is an option in this case) and the more modern customers who wear hair modeling wax, for instance.
“I have worn a beard for the last 12 years, so I knew what bearded guys were missing,” says Vieira, who wasn’t always able to find quality products to match his needs. That is why he decided to build a brand with quality items that are neatly packaged and sell at lower price points than the household ones.
Quick facts
Male
Website: www.malelab.com.br
Phone: + 55 51 99772 6875
Email: malelab@malelab.com.br
*Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum
