Ancient ingredients for modern cosmetics
Entrepreneurs are applying traditional techniques from around the globe to their exotic skin- care products.
With multistep rituals performed by Japanese geisha, a 500year- old book on Korean medicine and an Indonesian great- grandmother’s face mask made from turmeric and black tea, local beauty entrepreneurs are using traditional principles of other cultures in a new wave of intriguing product lines.
Victoria Tsai, founder of the San Francisco- based Tatcha, spent three years researching how Japanese geisha maintain lustrous, unlined skin well into old age. She found the answers within the pages of the 200- yearold “Miyakofuzoku Kewaiden” ( which translates as “Capital Beauty and Style Handbook”), considered the oldest beauty book in Japan.
Another ancient book is at the heart of Amarte, a line created by dermatologist Craig Kraffert, who mined the rituals prescribed in the “Donguibogam,” a centuries- old Korean tome that lists more than 6,000 herbal prescriptions and touts the virtues of purified sulfur and mushroom extracts.
Nyakio Kamoche Grieco gave up a job in the entertainment industry to create a line inspired by two of her Kenyan grandparents — one was a farmer and medicine man, another grew up on a sustain- able coffee and sugar cane farm where everything needed for the skin came from the land.
“Brands are realizing that ingredients and rituals that have been passed down for centuries in other cultures are tried and true, make great marketing stories and perform well,” said Shalini Vadhera, who wrote “Passport to Beauty: Secrets and Tips From Around the World for Becoming a Global Goddess.”
Not that certain things haven’t had to be tweaked for the Western market. In Asia, many women are accustomed to an elaborate skin care ritual morning and evening that can necessitate the use of up to 18 products.
“While I have a strong contingent of patients that enjoy having multiple skin care products to choose from, I believe few Western consumers have the time or the patience for such an involved daily regimen,” said Talia Emery, dermatologist at Veronica Skin and Body Care in Malibu. “There’s also a concern that if a patient has an adverse reaction to a product, it’s difficult to isolate the culprit.”
Also, while many of the ethnically cultivated product lines have their roots in charming stories and anecdotes, it should still be all about product efficacy, said cosmetic chemist Ron Robinson, founder of Beautystat. com.
“Exotic ingredients that are indigenous to other regions can indeed be effective on various skin types,” he said. “But these brands should have clinical or consumer testing to validate this.”
Here’s the rundown on some of the global product lines.