International Women’s Day: Female Entrepreneurs in the Beauty Business

If you can’t find a lipstick that matches your skin tone or a clay mask with only natural ingredients, what do you do? Make your own! Natasha Moor and Rakhi Khialani created their own line of cosmetics to solve problems they themselves faced. Prachi Garg just wanted to create a local product that brought back nostalgic memories of Singapore.

We had a chat with these ladies to find out more.

Natasha Moor, Founder of Natasha Moor Cosmetics

Vanilla Luxury: What made you create your own line of lipsticks?

Natasha Moor: As a makeup artist, I found it so hard to find the perfect blend of lipsticks for my clients. The products that had a good formula weren't made in good shades, especially for indian skin tones. I wanted to create something that lasted so long, felt amazing on your lips and looked extremely glamorous.

The majority of my clients are brides and brides don't have time to touch up. They want to be able to enjoy their night without having to worry about how they look. This is how it took me 2 years to formulate the perfect product that i'm so humbled and proud to share with everyone today!

Vanilla Luxury: What is the initiative #DoMoor about?

Natasha Moor: Sometimes we forget how blessed we are to be independent, strong and have a mind of our own that we forget that there are women who don’t have these privileges and have been raised to believe they are inferior. My brand is all about empowering women and making them feel invincible like they have the power to do anything and everything.

My #DoMoor initiative encourages people to do more for themselves and those around them. This is why I visited shelters around LA to make victims of human trafficking feel beautiful, confident and with the hopes of inspiring them for a better future.

Rakhi Khialani, Founder of Mise' En Detox Your Skin

Vanilla Luxury: What made you create Mise' En Detox Your Skin?

Rakhi Khialani: I started Mise’ En to be able to share with others skincare treatments that have worked for me. I have acne prone skin and so I went in search for a soothing clay face mask. I found many clay based products ladened with other ingredients, fragrances and preservatives. I just wanted something simple - a clay face mask with nothing else in it!

That’s when I created the Parisian Beauty Secret face mask - a two-ingredient clay face mask for acne prone and oily skin. I wanted to create products of minimal ingredients that would have a powerful detoxifying effect on the skin. Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication; that’s my motto behind Mise’ En.

Vanilla Luxury: What are the ingredients in your products?

Rakhi Khialani: All the kits are personally handmade by me according to the Good Manufacturing Practices of Singapore. I pay careful attention to source my ingredients from the purest sources. The Parisian Beauty Secret face mask contains my star ingredient - Velay Green Clay - that is sourced from the Auvergne region of France. The glowing skin elixir is apple cider vinegar that is raw and is sourced from USA.

I believe in the natural scents of the raw, authentic ingredients I use and will never alter a product’s chemistry to mask it’s glorious pungent natural scent. Mise’ En is committed to natural, cruelty-free, vegan products.

Prachi Saini Garg, Owner of Singapore Memories Perfumes

Vanilla Luxury: What made you create a range of perfumes inspired by Singapore memories?

Prachi Saini Garg: Given our country’s national flower is the orchid, there are numerous souvenirs for tourists visiting Singapore that are inspired by orchids such as jewellery and plateware. But orchids are also known for their wonderfully fragrant scents, especially native orchids of Singapore.

So we decided to create a product that was uniquely Singaporean in that it is manufactured locally and also elicits nostalgic memories of the nation. We distilled the orchids and used their scents to create 6 perfumes - One Degree North, Peranakan Oud, Vanda 1981, Orchids by the Bay, Aranda 1965 and The Orient.

Vanilla Luxury: What’s the story behind the ‘Perfumes of Singapore’?

Prachi Saini Garg: I recently acquired this company that was around in the 1960s. The original founder, Ms Christina Stone married businessman Mr Dadi Balsara who was popularly known as the "Perfumes King of Asia". Together, they created the Girl series - Singapore Girl, California Girl, Hawaii Girl, etc. The Singapore Girl became extremely popular amongst locals and tourists who could buy the fragrance on board Singapore Airlines.

The couple moved to India in 1990 and the company was closed. I now own the company and plan to revive the popular fragrances Singapore Girl and Reves De Singapour.