The First Ever Local Makeup Line Honors The Maldivian Culture & People With Darker Skin Tones
At a time where the makeup industry is still failing people with darker skin tones, the first-ever local makeup brand – Komas Beauty – has surprisingly done them well.
Sara Ibrahim has a passion for doing other people’s makeup and her own on occasions, especially when it boils down to costume makeup. During her internship at Nada Salon & Aesthetic Studio, she came across an eyeshadow palette by Urban Decay titled ‘Beached’ in which the shades were named after things that relate to the beach. It was then the light bulb in Sara’s head clicked, “Oh wow, an eyeshadow palette related to the Maldivian culture would be really cool.” Moreover, eyeshadow palettes are a lot more versatile when it comes to different shades and the looks one can create are endless. And so marked the beginning of a two-year journey to create what would be the first product of Komas Beauty, the ‘Moodhu’ eyeshadow palette.
Even on the onset, Sara had two main specifications for the product; for it to be cruelty-free and vegan as she is a very firm believer that no animal should be sacrificed for the sake of beauty. In addition to this, she wanted to deliver for darker skin tones for the obvious reason that there is not a lot of products out there that actually show up on darker skin tones properly.
With these as a must, Sara contacted cosmetic manufacturing factories abroad in hopes of finding the perfect fit to collaborate with. In the following couple of weeks, factories from Canada, United Kingdom and Singapore provided her with samples which she chose to test on her, her brother’s and her cousins’ skin in order to check the pigmentations and the longevity of it. After extensive testing, Sara concluded to move forward with the manufacturing factory from Singapore.
She and her manufacture make the ‘Moodhu’ eyeshadow palette cruelty-free and vegan by not testing the product on animals in addition to not including ingredients that are extracted from animals such as gelatin and beeswax.
The palette which consists of 12 distinct shades showcases the vibrant colors of this tiny island nation. The shades were carefully picked to reflect the Maldivian culture and are also named in Dhivehi language with the exception of ‘Luka’ and ‘Lael’ which were named after Sara’s two cute cousins born last year. On the cover of the palette is an artsy array of drawn-on flowers and fish, illustrated by none other than Sara herself. Although for the new stock, she has requested a special local artist to design the cover.
Sara is also excited to announce that a few more products are in the development stages. Nevertheless, she does not give too much away but hints that all upcoming products are also inspired by the Maldivian culture.
