Primed for Business: AC Student Creates Affordable, Ethically-sourced Handmade Skincare

Posted on Monday, December 7th, 2020

Eloisa de Castro CostaWhen Eloisa de Castro Costa was 10 years-old, she started selling her own necklaces and bracelets in front of her house in small-town Brazil, which was on a street, she admits, “where no one ever walked.” Despite the lack of foot traffic, when she went inside to have lunch, she would force her cousins to work her stand so she wouldn’t miss even a single opportunity for a sale.

One day, a guy on a motorcycle came by and expressed interest in some of the jewellery. He told her he didn’t have any money and asked if he could pay her later. “I never saw him again,” said de Castro Costa. “It was my first lesson in business.”

Now 19 years old and in her second year of Algonquin’s Business Management and Entrepreneurship Program, de Castro Costa is much wiser. Recently, she launched another business, FullMoon Skincare Co., a line of affordable handmade skincare and beauty products with zero-waste packaging and ethically sourced ingredients.

She came up with the idea for a skincare line while visiting her family back in Brazil this past summer. She had always been frustrated with the amount of money she had to pay for products for her own skin—especially in Brazil, where they are prohibitively expensive—and she hated how she had to buy a separate product for each issue—one for acne, one for dry skin, and so on. She decided to start making her own products, and when her father started having skin issues and she successfully made something that helped resolve them, she was inspired to start developing products more seriously. Soon, all her parents’ neighbours in Brazil were asking to buy from her.

When she returned to Canada, she began selling to friends, who spread the word on social media, and in late September 2020, she officially launched her line’s website.

Each of FullMoon’s products, which range from Cocoa and Lavender Body Butter (which smells like a lavender chocolate cake, she says, and helps with dry skin) to Dark Roast Coffee Body Polish (their bestseller and her personal favourite, because it reminds her of the espresso shots they drink in Brazil), can be used for multiple skin issues

While de Castro Costa is the sole proprietor of her business, she depends on a large network of friends and family to help run it—from assisting with packaging to acting as guinea pigs for new products. Leaning on this network of support is the biggest lesson she’s learned in her venture so far, and one that started at Algonquin.

“The main lesson from all of my profs is that you cannot do everything by yourself,” she says. “You have to make time for yourself and let people help you. If it wasn’t for my friend Celine [who connected her with important partners], my friends, my family, I would not be able to do this. With all these people, it’s really a network—we can really make it work altogether. That’s what I’ve learned.”

When her company is profitable enough, she plans to pay back all of her friend and family volunteers—and she’s told them as much. In the meantime, she takes pride in what they’re creating. “When we see our customers using our natural products and they feel beautiful, we really enjoy that.”

To learn more about FullMoon Skincare Co, visit their website.


Comments

Comments are closed.