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Beauty Beat: Briogeo founder on going natural

Nancy Twine, founder of Briogeo, explains her hair philosophy

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For natural beauty entreprene­ur Nancy Twine, passion is what gave her the push to leave her job at Goldman Sachs and start haircare brand Briogeo. She entered a niche but growing market for ‘clean’, eco-friendly beauty with a plan to give people products that work without harsh chemicals. As the brand officially launches in the UAE, Twine talks to tabloid! about her inspiratio­n and why natural beauty is the future.

Dubai is such a multicultu­ral place and people love taking care of themselves in terms of skincare and haircare. How can Briogeo tap into that?

So we are one of the only clean and natural haircare brands at Sephora in the UAE currently. Not only that, we are the only one that’s really catering to a diverse array of haircare needs. Whether your hair is wavy, curly, fine, thin, damaged, whether you have scalp concerns, we have clean solutions to address all of those concerns. And I think that’s really how we’re going to meet the needs of women [in Dubai]. I think that there is a renewed focus on using clean ingredient­s.

When it comes to haircare in the UAE there isn’t much informatio­n about natural products. Most people just go to the supermarke­t and buy whatever they see on the shelves. How do you think people should approach their haircare now?

I think that it’s really important to be mindful of the climate that you’re in. For example here the water is a big concern, it’s drying out the hair... You want to be very mindful about the products you’re putting on your hair. One of the things about Briogeo is that our entire product line is silicone free. When you mix poor quality water with silicones on the hair it can really cause detrimenta­l build-up to the hair and scalp. So I think the women of this area need to be conscious about the types of ingredient­s that are using on their hair.

Let’s go back a bit. How did the brand start? Where did the idea come from?

I was actually inspired by my grandmothe­r. She used to make all sorts of natural products on her farm in Virginia. She was a single mother bringing up eight children. One of the things she would do was she would harvest her own plants and fruits and distil her own extracts and oils, and she would use the extracts and oils to create her own personal care products for the family. Everything from soap to lotion to haircare products.

You’re one of the few black women to be at the helm of such a brand. Do you feel a sense of responsibi­lity to push forward the message of diversity?

Yeah absolutely. I mean, to me it doesn’t really feel so much like… a responsibi­lity but really like an honour. An honour to be in a position to be able to authentica­lly celebrate so many different hair textures in women, and not every brand can do that. You know, there is a trust factor. I’m not sure that if I wasn’t an African-American woman if I would have the same success creating such a diverse product line.

What would you tell someone who was thinking about switching to natural line?

For me it’s pretty simple. The results are there. You will see instant results when you switch to a clean haircare product line. Removing things like silicones and sulphates from your hair regimen, it’s going to increase the softness, the vibrancy, the shine of your hair. It’s going to look healthier, it’s going to feel healthier, it’s going to grow more because it’s not all breaking off at the end, and because you don’t have the same level of build up on the scalp.

Do you think the natural beauty is picking up?

Oh, absolutely. 100 per cent they are. It’s a big change. People have experience­d a lot of health issues... And people are really becoming cognizant of their lifestyle choices and how it can contribute to that. It’s not just what you put into your body it’s also that you put on your body for sure.

— Jennifer Barretto is a copy editor and writer who is often found browsing beauty websites getting the scoop on what’s new in make-up and skincare, reading voraciousl­y and/or listening to 80s ballads.

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An everyday girl’s guide to beauty, skincare and loving yourself by Jennifer Barretto.
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