Curated: Your New Go-To Clean Cosmetic Brand

With non-toxic beauty on the rise, Middle Eastern founders Hend Aziz and Alia Al Khafajy are pioneering clean cosmetics in the region with their distribution company Curated

Over the past few years the clean beauty movement has gained serious momentum across the world, and it doesn’t stop at the Middle East now that this dynamic beauty duo are highlighting conscious costmetics with their distribution of non-toxic cosmetics in the GCC. The pair share their thoughts with Bazaar on the ‘clean-washing’ phenomenon, how they’ve turned their passion into a business and the ways we can be more ethical with our beauty cabinet.

What is Curated?

Curated is a homegrown, Dubai-based distribution company where we exclusively distribute clean beauty, lifestyle and wellness brands into the GCC. We position ourselves as more of a boutique-like distribution startup where we work closely with our partners to offer a more tailored and intimate service towards growing the great brands here in the region.

Tell us how Curated came about?

Curated started just over two years ago off the back of our sister company Boxich, a subscription beauty box introducing the region to clean beauty. We wanted to gauge the consumers’ appetite towards brands that we were focusing on. As advocates of clean skincare, we were both constantly trying and scoping out new indie brands through our travels and it was evident there was a clear pull towards clean products. It was through Boxich that we managed to attain interest and also incubated some of the brands that were gaining positive customer responses. We put Boxich on pause to focus on Curated but hope to relaunch come summer time.

What is your take on the current sustainability conversation in the beauty arena?

We think having a conversation is a positive thing. Having opinions that are pro-sustainability, and for those that don’t have any interest (although frustrating) is honestly a good thing. Having brands and companies actively making conscious decisions, whether that’s making smart choices when sourcing ingredients, packaging, or both, and those who are giving back, shows that brands and founders are trying to mark a change within their reach. These are all positive attributes currently shaping the beauty industry. However, there still needs to be more accountability in some areas, as some brands have jumped on the trend as a marketing tactic. Regionally there’s a lot more needed to be done in terms of education and building awareness on the topic. The ‘whys’ and the ‘hows’ need to be both focused and adopted here.

Pseudonym Terrific Scented Candle, Dhs265, Elis Brooklyn at Ounass

What are the most challenging areas you’ve had to navigate in order to build Curated?

To be frank, we’ve had quite a few challenges over the past couple of years. Those would include the responsibility we need to adopt in growing the brands here to try and ensure they are as well-received as they are in Western markets as it can be a challenge when introducing a new brand into our market. And then there are the more mundane challenges such as logistics – managing matters during the COVID-19 pandemic has not been the smoothest ride but it’s been a huge learning curve.

The ‘clean-washing’ phenomenon (when brands market not-so-clean products as non-toxic) is gaining momentum. How do you avoid brands such as these?

Unfortunately many mass brands and some smaller ones are definitely jumping on the bandwagon and using false or misleading claims. For instance, the FDA has only banned 11 harmful ingredients whereas the European Union has banned 1,300 ingredients that can usually be found in beauty and skincare cosmetics. One of the US brands we distribute here, Indie Lee, have taken the liberty to go above and beyond in ensuring their products are truly clean in their formulation regardless of what the FDA deems safe. We’re well-versed on the matter and are continuously learning more. We follow our internal process and ensure due diligence when scoping out the brands. After some time and being a part of the industry you become more in tune with how to differentiate between the brands who use the movement for marketing purposes and those who are true to the core. We would advise that you look out for the following products in the ingredient list and try and avoid them where possible; aluminium, DEA, MEA, TEA, DMDM hydantoin, imidazolidinyl, mineral oil, parabens, PEG, phthalates, propylene glycol, butylene glycol, siloxane, synthetic fragrances and triclosan. A quick rule of thumb is if you can’t pronounce the ingredient, you shouldn’t put it on your skin.

Rose Eau De Parfum, Dhs441, Outnass

There’s lots of sustainable packaging but the message of how to dispose of it effectively is being lost, with most still ending up in landfills. Is there something we should consider when recycling our beauty packaging?

This is quite unfortunate. The consumption level still outnumbers the re-use or recycling level. Admittedly, some brands offer a mail-back service for their empty packaging to either re-use them or recycle them. However we’re quite limited here regionally in doing that. The best way to go about it is to steer away from single-use plastics, even if they’ve been recycled. Opting for glass packaging which many of the clean brands use is a better option. Packaging should also direct how to best dispose of them. Personally, we tend to reuse the glass jars as Q-tip or make-up brush holders – you can be as creative as you want to be. Refillable beauty products are slowly but surely penetrating the industry and is something we all should be aware of and try to opt for when available.

Can you define what natural and organic beauty is?

We get asked this question a lot, and it can be quite confusing to seperate the two. Natural products can mean that the ingredients found in them are either derived naturally, are from a natural source, or are found in nature. It gets tricky when they use the term ‘naturally derived’ as that could mean it’s synthetic in its formulation but derived from nature. Organic would mean that the ingredients used has been derived and sourced organically, for example from soil to harvesting and to extraction for all of the ingredients. It’s best in these cases to check the ingredient list and not depend solely on the label on the front of the bottle because some brands may dub a product organic or natural but in reality maybe a small percentage of the ingredients would be.

The Rosehip Restorative Oil, Dhs157, Solaris Laboratoria available at Tryano

It’s proven not all natural ingredients are safe, in fact there are safer synthetic products that can be used – what is your stance on this?

Yes that’s correct; some ingredients in their natural forms or a higher dosage percentage of them could be quite unsafe. Clean ingredients doesn’t exclude synthetic ingredients at all, it just means that the synthetics used are safe and obsolete of any harsh chemicals. Sometimes natural and safe sythentics are incorporated to obtain more efficacious results.

Who is the customer buying non-toxic products in the GCC?

Women looking for something new, different and, most importantly, products that work. A woman looking to enhance her own beauty by focusing on her skin and what it needs. She’s aware of what shouldn’t be put on her body and steers away from harmful alternatives for a quick fix.

LED Mask Dhs720, Solaris Laboratories at Tryano

How did you go about selecting the brands? 

Predominantly they’re brands we’ve personally tried and tested to obtain a better judgement of the brand and how it works on different skin types. Our approach is to find brands that offer a unique and differentiating factor that fits in with our portfolio to create a holistic offering instead of just being another brand. We monitor brands and have the conversations with the founders to better understand their ethos, the reasons behind their brands and the transparency. Our aim is to share and expand the offerings to the region hoping to always extend the reach to what we perceive to be the best in the industry.

Tell us about your favourite ‘clean’ products you use.

Where do we begin?! We’re suckers for great cleansers and scrubs and one of our favourites has to be the Indie Lee Brightening Cleanser and the Verso Micellar Water. We love the Orgaid Face Polish for an instant scrub and glow and the SJÖ Skin Happy Honey Face Mask is really one of the best. And finally spritzing Abel Odor perfumes, or lighting an Ellis Brooklyn candle to suit the mood. The list goes on…

Santalum Natural Deodarant, Dhs135, Corplus Naturals at Ounass

What’s it like to be female entrepreneurs in the Middle East?

It’s very exciting being female founders in this day and age. We love seeing it across the board with our friends who are entrepreneurs in other businesses. We get a lot of support from them and our society which we are so grateful for.

Gua Sha Rose Quartz facial massage tool Dhs105, Solaris Laboratories at Faces

You founded Curated in 2018, how has the clean beauty landscape changed in that time?

There’s been a positive growth curve since we started. So much so that we’ve been seeing so many online retailers approaching us to stock our brands. Vetting them is crucial because although there’s a growing interest in clean beauty we must differentiate between ones who view it as a trend and the ones who truly understand the future of the industry. There are still people who think clean beauty means a homemade product, or that you have to be a vegan ‘tree-hugger’ to use it, but that’s changing as well. The bottom line is: clean beauty products truly don’t differ from conventional cosmetics except that the products work amazingly well and are ultimately good for your skin in the long run.

From Harpers Bazaar Arabia June 2021 Issue