Bright spark is savvy about beauty lines
When her peers suffered breakouts during puberty, Phiwokuhle Ndcayiya was always praised for her glowing skin, which is why she has worked towards keeping it that way.
Ndcayiya, 32, launched her own skincare company, Perile Cosmetics.
The Perile Skin range includes organic anti-aging creams and serums and Ndcayiya hopes to venture into hair, fragrances and homecare.
Now based in Pretoria in the employ of the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research where she is a communications and marketing practitioner, the Qumbu-born Rhodes University Journalism graduate said the council had opened her eyes to the opportunities available through science to pursue her passion.
“Although I studied journalism majoring in economics, with aspirations to become a business reporter, little did I know that I would be the businesswoman I am today,” she said.
“My work experience in news is not more than a month split between Unitra Community and 702 Radio Stations besides writing for the Rhodes in-house newspaper where I was the business reporter.
“Joining the council opened my eyes and inspired me to venture into the business I have now pursued, following my passion for skincare with the intention of creating an affordable, organic skincare product that can help people take better care of their skin,” she said.
Ndcayiya said she was also pursuing her postgraduate diploma in management marketing at the University of Cape Town and hoped to use this in her business.
“I've never been one to have any problem skin, in fact I was always complimented for having good skin most of my life,” she added
“This is why I became more aware of how fortunate I am and became vigilant in looking after my skin.
“This is something I want to encourage everyone else to do from a young age – make an effort to look after your skin whether you’re a woman or man, you only have one skin and you need to take good care of it,” she said.
Ndcayiya said while the market for facial products was rather competitive with pricey skincare products across a variety of ranges, some of which comprised of harsh ingredients, she remembered how growing up in Mthatha, her family used natural resources like Calamine, and Imbola [Red Clay] to protect their skin.
“My products are all about using natural resources sourced from Africa.
“Even Clarins, a French company, sources some of their ingredients in Africa, which is also reaffirming that we have the resources here to manufacture quality skincare at reasonable prices,” she said.
While Ndcayiya is the originator and manufacturer of Perile Cosmetics, the company is a subsidiary of Banzo Holdings Pty Ltd, founded by chief executive Joaky Bandzo.
Ndcayiya uses the company’s machinery for manufacturing and packaging.
Ndcayiya said while her range currently comprised anti-aging products, a serum and an eye cream, with a moisturising lotion due to be launched by the end of the year, she aimed to raise awareness about taking care of the sensitive areas.
“We need to emphasise the use of eye creams which help prevent the black marks and saggy bags around the eye, which is why I started with that range.
“Regardless of what you use to moisturise your face, the eye area needs direct attention.
“That’s the same area where you first start to age, but with taking care of your skin with natural, organic products, you can enjoy younger youthful skin for longer.”