Podcast 186: Taking indie beauty entrepreneurship global

As the world’s number one online beauty formulation school with award-winning courses, it is particularly validating to see how far and wide Formula Botanica teaching is spreading. Before the advent of online learning, cosmetic chemistry was taught only in a small number of universities, mainly in the UK and US. The skills of home formulating had been lost for centuries, which meant this information was not as widely accessible as it should be. Formula Botanica changed that in a big way. Its teaching now reaches over 19,000 students in over 190 countries.

In this opinion episode, Formula Botanica CEO and podcast host Lorraine Dallmeier sets out a vision for a better cosmetics industry; one that sees indie brands that formulate locally, for people in their communities, with products that are created specifically for a region, rise to the fore and challenge the dominant, Eurocentric cosmetics industry.

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In the last episode, we heard Dewi Kauw, founder of Skin Dewi, talk about her mission and ambition to create a premium skincare brand from her native Indonesia that could rival any of the big brands out there today. Lorraine and Dewi agreed that the dominant Eurocentric perception of beauty is no longer valid and needs to be changed.

Encouragingly, there is a movement afoot that is enabling budding formulators, brand builders and beauty entrepreneurs to enter the world of entrepreneurship with fewer barriers than ever before. Dewi started her formulation journey with only USD$1500 – a sum that includes her Formula Botanica online courses, which she says was “money well spent.”

Online learning platforms like Formula Botanica are helping democratise formulation and beauty entrepreneurship. With this level of access at your fingertips, you can learn, uncover information, collaborate with others, find inspiration and start your own business in real time. The added bonus of the democratisation of formulation means that that you can begin in your own backyard and yet have an edge over global beauty brands.

By staying local you have the ability to connect with customers, to talk to them in person, and build a network of loyal clientele. In addition, democratisation provides many advantages including the freedom and flexibility to work on and run your business to suit you. Local businesses are also a boon to their communities. As they scale, they can help create jobs, and support and partner other local businesses.

Those who embrace these opportunities, think outside the box and challenge the norms of the big beauty players – as Dewi Kauw did – are the ones who will be successful.

Lorraine’s challenge to you for this week is to remember to Buy Local. Have a look at your bathroom shelves and if it is dominated by big global brands, it’s time to go shopping. If you need help on where to start, head to the Formula Botanica website, click on our graduate gallery, find those in your region and start browsing their products. You will love what you find. Let’s help those maverick indie brands change the landscape of beauty.

Thank you for joining us for this episode of the Formula Botanica Green Beauty Conversations podcast. If you enjoyed listening, please share, subscribe and review this episode on iTunes, Spotify or Youtube so that more people can enjoy the show. Don’t forget to follow and connect with us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

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Lorraine Dallmeier is a Biologist, Chartered Environmentalist and the CEO of Formula Botanica, the award-winning online organic cosmetic science school. Read more about Lorraine and the Formula Botanica Team.