After receiving several backlashes with her faux-fur clothing line, Dubai-based Ollia Tzarina decided to turn her business 360 degrees with the launch of her new organic skincare line - Bio Lab Exotique, but how did this realization really happen while she’s at the peak of her fashion career gaining momentum and attention from big celebrity clients such as Beyonce, Cardi B., Ariana Grande, and the Kardashian clan?
Here, Ollia answers some of the Frequently Asked Questions to her:
What made you decide to move your business from faux fur to organic skincare products?
I think over time our morals do evolve and we get to have a better perspective of the world. I have reached a point where I want to live my life ‘clean’ and ‘sustainable’. Launching the skincare brand was totally not planned and just happened out of coincidence when we met a couple who lives in Agadir and introduced us to Argan, we fell in love instantly with the process of getting a product that is free from all free radicals as I myself is having a difficult time to access these kinds of products over the counter as most of the skincare products currently out in the market are just pure of chemical (even though they claim they do not have on it!) and the rest is history.
Clean Beauty is amongst the biggest trends in the beauty industry today. Would you say ‘Bio Lab Exotique’ is a ‘Clean Beauty’ brand?
It’s so clean you could cook with it if you ever happen to be stuck on some desert island with no way out! The product has zero added chemicals and it is cold-pressed, put it in the bottle and send it immediately to the local stores, that’s how fresh it is.
What changes do you think need to take place within the beauty industry in the next couple of years?
The beauty industry, in my opinion, is an industry where everybody can find exactly what they need. Be it highly acidic products that resurface the whole skin or 100% organic products that are great for maintenance, the beauty industry stands to improve anyone, and everyone’s life once they’ve found the products right for them but generally I think the trend will be sustainable, people would like to get products that will 100% help them feel better and look better, without all the nasties.
What Does it Mean to Live Sustainably?
Living sustainably means making choices that have less of an impact on the environment and human livelihoods. Sustainable skincare is essentially choosing products that will meet our skin and beauty needs, without harshly impacting the environment or safety of humans.
We all want to make good product choices, for the environment and for ourselves. It can definitely be overwhelming to think of all the potential impacts, the certifications you should follow, the ingredients, and the list go on and on... But it doesn’t have to be difficult to build a sustainable skincare routine.
What is the impact of skincare products on the environment?
The beauty industry contributes to pollution and drains natural resources in multiple ways – with our everyday actions as consumers exasperating the problem.
There are reports that more than 120 billion units of packaging are produced every year by the global cosmetics industry, much of which is not recyclable. The majority of beauty products come packaged in plastic, which – when talking about your average moisturizer pot – can take nearly 1,000 years to decompose. Then there’s the plastic wrappings, paper inserts, cardboard sleeves, foam, mirrored glass, and more, sometimes all present in one purchase.
How Bio Lab Exotique addresses the challenges faced by the saturated skincare industry?
With a new push toward clean beauty, the biggest obstacle isn’t consumer demand; it’s that beauty brands need to figure out how to source, manufacture, and scale clean products.
Producing a truly clean product is especially challenging under traditional manufacturing methods because it requires visibility into the entire development process to make sure every ingredient is safe and sustainably sourced. In addition, producing a clean product from nature may deplete natural resources or require purification processes to compensate for variability in quality.
Bio Lab Exotique addresses these challenges and is enabling a clean beauty transformation that benefits consumers and the planet.
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