Maysama

Skincare with a Conscience - formulated with pharmaceutical grade Green Rooibos.

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Vegan Skincare

OUR VISION

Without a vision, there is no brand. Everything starts from desire – a desire to make a change, to make something better or to be something we are not.

This is never truer than when we think about our skin. Our skin is a depiction of our inner-self. If not at its best, invariably our mood is reflective. So, the desire to look fresher, younger, healthier or more beautiful is driven by the need to be at our best, to be who we want to be.

So, the vision is simply one where we all are at our best, to go in to battle with confidence, our armour shining and to be victorious!

OUR ETHOS

‘If something is worth doing, it is worth doing well’ is at the centre of MAYSAMA’s philosophy.

With the strapline Skincare with a Conscience, MAYSAMA is conscious not only of giving transparency to consumers but also providing products and packaging that don’t cost the planet.

As an eco-lux brand, MAYSAMA offers high-performance products with an eco-conscious strategy. Green doesn’t mean you can’t be luxury.

Our ethos embodies sourcing the highest grade, natural ingredients from sustainable sources, as well as cutting edge active ingredients, to create an innovative range of premium skincare products that satisfy requirements for the ethical consumer market.

We believe we have achieved this through the MAYSAMA brand, which embodies the values of inclusivity and sustainability.

To be fully inclusive, our products are formulated for all skin types, including sensitive and reactive skin. Our skin-friendly, unique product formulations effect positive changes in skin health and help protect the skin’s microbiome. All our products are registered with the Vegan Society and are approved as cruelty free under the Leaping Bunny programme.

Our sustainability efforts go beyond responsible sourcing of ingredients, to include our packaging. We use predominantly glass packaging, which is infinitely recyclable, and PCR plastic where possible. Our recycled cartons are crafted from FSC certified board and printed with non uv-cured vegetable inks.

INCLUSIVITY

We want everybody to be able to use our skincare products, regardless of values or skin type. For that reason, all our formulations are skin kind, as well as registered with the vegan society and Leaping Bunny approved.

Our formulations are suitable for all skin types, including the most sensitive and reactive skins. When formulating, we avoid any known allergens or ingredients that can potentially be skin-irritants or can trigger skin-sensitization, including essential oils or added fragrance.

SUSTAINABILITY

Our sustainability values carry right across our brand, from sustainably sourced ingredients to eco-conscious packaging.

Our high quality Green Rooibos Extract is harvested from sustainable sources across the Western Cape of South Africa.

Our primary packaging is predominantly glass, which is infinitely recyclable, and we use PCR recycled plastic wherever possible. Our cartons are crafted from FSC-certified, recycled board and printed with non-uv-cured vegetable inks.

ECO-LUXURY

Green cosmetics doesn’t mean that you can’t buy luxury cosmetics. All MAYSAMA’s products are formulated to achieve luxurious, sensorial textures, which absorb easily into the skin.

We use glass packaging to give a high-end look and luxury feel, whilst not costing the planet. Despite our high-performance products and high-end packaging, MAYSAMA’s products are priced affordably to allow accessibility to most consumers.

GIVING BACK

MAYSAMA are conscious of giving back to the rooibos community in South Africa. We searched long and hard to find the best way to do this and to find a charity aligned with our values.

We have found this in the Environmental Monitoring Group (EMG), based in Cape Town.

The EMG have a community-based climate change adaption work programme which involves partnerships with rooibos farmers from the Heiveld Co-operative.

It was only in the early 1900s that rooibos began to be cultivated on a commercial basis. The cultivated rooibos variety is fast-growing and high-yielding, but less resistant to pests and drought than wild varieties. Because of increasing demand, much of the species’ natural habitat has been ploughed up and put under intensive mono-crop cultivation. There are very few areas remaining where wild tea plants can still be found.

EMG has been working with small-scale rooibos farmers, assisting them to access organic and fair-trade markets. EMG have also facilitated a programme of Action Research with farmers of the Heiveld Co-op and Wupperthal Co-op to identify, to characterise and map populations of wild tea. The rooibos farming community are keen to develop a sustainable harvesting strategy and gain more insight into the ecology of the plant in the wild and its response to a changing climate.

The importance of managing and protecting this wild genetic stock cannot be overstated, particularly as climate change may put new pressures on the cultivated variety and threaten the viability of the industry.

I cannot imagine a more fitting cause for MAYSAMA to support. We pledge to contribute 1% of our profits to the EMG and help research and support the sustainable harvesting of rooibos for years to come.

A Personal Note From The Founder

A brand is not a brand without authenticity, so there has to be a personal story. Like many others, I have had my fair share of skin complaints, including rosacea, vitiligo, photosensitivity, and now the effects of ageing, so the desire to correct these issues is largely egocentric. Beyond this though, having benefited from good skincare, there exists a more altruistic drive to share this knowledge with others.

I developed vitiligo in my early forties and had to step up my sun protection due to the breakdown of melanin in my skin. It was my dermatologist who led me to seek more natural (physical) alternatives to the solely chemical sunscreens I was using daily and she spurred my interest in ethical and natural products generally.

My skin health has always notably been affected by diet and in more recent years I have consciously leaned towards ‘clean’ eating and reaped the benefits of a changed lifestyle. Focussing on a more natural diet, I became a devotee of rooibos tea and found that its anti-inflammatory properties markedly improved my rosacea.

Around the same time, I started to indulge in Korean Beauty. I follow many beauty bloggers and vloggers, including Gothamista, owned by You Tuber Renee, who is based in New York. Renee inspired me when she said that rooibos was one of her favourite cosmetic ingredients.

My curiosity in rooibos grew and, as a result, I started to look at what was so special about this herb. I was intrigued that one herb could have so many benefits for skin and work at so many different levels, as antioxidant powerhouse, together with its unique ability to protect fat cells responsible for maintaining skin fullness, as well as its anti-mutagenic properties. Rooibos really is an all-rounder, multi-tasking cosmetic ingredient and potentially a powerful antidote in an anti-aging armoury

Whilst rooibos has been used in cosmetics, it’s the more popular red (fermented) rooibos that is found, rather than green rooibos, which comes from the unfermented leaves. I learnt that fermentation however destroys many of the flavonoids, responsible for the antioxidant properties.

It was apparent that not all claims were backed up by science and there was a gap in the market for a premium brand where high-grade Green Rooibos, used at efficacy levels could provide a line of high-performance skincare.

In connecting with the South African Rooibos Council and subsequently the researchers performing rooibos studies, we were able to set up a collaboration to further explore the potential of rooibos as a star ingredient for skincare formulations, and MAYSAMA was born!

If my body is a temple then my skin is the sanctuary. Moving away from processed foods, it would be hypocritical to put something on my skin that, whilst nourishing and protecting my skin, potentially could lead to the build-up of skin-sensitizing ingredients over time. Fragrance in skincare has been linked to Allergic Contact Dermatitis and is the number one ingredient that consumers avoid. Ironically, brands marketing themselves for ‘sensitive skins’ frequently contain essential oils and added fragrance.

Through MAYSAMA, my vision is to develop a range of ethical, natural and vegan skincare products that boast supremacy in performance and are nothing but kind to skin. Our products are consciously formulated for all skin types, even the most sensitive skin.

A chance conversation, together with the right investor and bags of personal passion set me on the right path to opportunity. I look forward to developing the MAYSAMA brand and refining skincare for future-proof formulations.

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