Organic Meets Luxury with Recreation Beauty
Recreation aims to merge the concepts of organic and luxury together.
When owner, Nedahl Stelio, started to live an organic lifestyle and refrain from using chemicals, she ventured into creating a fragrance collection that is safe enough to touch one’s skin. The finest points of Recreation’s products, aside from the actual scent of the products, are (1) that it’s all-natural and uses organic ingredients as much as possible; (2) the ingredients are ethically-sourced - no animal products, and no animal testing; and (3) usage of 50% recycled plastic bottles in the development of the product’s containers.
KP Retail had a chance to interview Nedahl and asked her to share some of her thoughts on Recreation.
What inspired you to launch Recreation Beauty?
I had been dreaming about a luxury natural fragrance ever since I went all natural with my beauty products about 10 years ago. Fragrance was the one thing you couldn't buy that was a luxury experience in the natural/organic realm. Regular perfume is filled with up to 3000 chemicals and we spray it directly on our lymph nodes so I had stopped using perfume all together. RECREATION brings luxury to your everyday that is actually good for your skin.
What is your most popular product or service, what really makes your customers & clients get excited?
Our SUN-KISSED fragrance is like a spritz of summer - all citrusy vibes with a hint of coconut, fig, and jasmine. It just smells heavenly.
What are your top 5 apps for optimising how you run your business?
Xero is probably number one to keep on top of accounts. Instagram and Facebook, then Planoly to keep on top of both. Mailchimp is another one I use a lot for EDMs
Instagram or Facebook? Instagram, for me anyway!
Do you have a dream stockist for the brand?
Yes, MECCA!
What has been your highlight for the brand since launching?
We've won three European Design Awards for our packaging which was pretty fab, but my highlight was being featured in Vogue magazine, right next to Louis Vuitton, Armani, Tiffany fragrances! Dream come true.
What advice do you have for other business owners looking to launch their business?
Think about your market, who you're going to sell to and how you're going to reach those people.
What has been your biggest learning so far?
So many learnings. I think one of the biggest things is that it pays to know all details yourself - from the accounting to the technology to the production process, and keep a bird's eye view of everything.
Apart from grant funding, what other gold nuggets should businesses take advantage of? (Networking, groups, guest speaking, PR etc.)
I think that female-led companies do a great job of sharing wisdom with each other, and that's a network worth joining. Doing as much as you can for other businesses and to help them will come back to you three-fold.
What exciting things can we look forward to for the brand in 2020?
We're launching a new fragrance at the end of 2019 and a really cool new face product in 2020. We'll also be expanding our body range. That's going to be fun.
