Theo Mothoa-frendo

With the launch of skin-care products that target women with dark skin, this entrepreneur has tapped into a market that could take her brand all over the continent

women and their users are black.”

Unilever is the leading player in skin care, with a 21% share of the market in 2016, according to market intelligence firm Euromonitor. The company’s largest segment is bodycare products, where it has a 35% market share through brands such as Dawn, Vaseline Intensive Care, Lux and Dove.

In building its own brand, Uso partnered with a cosmetic scientist to develop its ingredients.

“Our focus is on understanding women’s needs and taking those needs and concerns and translating them into science,” says Mothoa-frendo. “The ingredients were tested using clinical trials.

“We had a panel of black SA women test the product and, based on the feedback, we would go back and reformulate [the product].”

Uso, which sells its products online, hopes to launch a retail platform to take its products to consumers. Mothoa-frendo’s previous experience in sub-saharan Africa also makes expansion outside SA an attractive proposition.

“Us melanin-rich women are not just in SA and I have an interest in . . . the rest of Africa.

“I’ve spent a number of years working in sub-saharan Africa, so we are definitely taking the product to other markets within the continent,” she says.

Uso sells to customers in neighbouring countries through its online store, but Mothoa-frendo plans to extend that by entering sub-saharan markets more formally.