A personal quest that turns into a huge opportunity
Once a niche trend championed by a few, the clean beauty and skincare movement has gone mainstream. Sustainable, natural and organic – all reflect a trend gaining momentum and revenue. According to YPulse, a leading research authority on Gen Z and Millenials, one-third of young consumers are interested in trying clean beauty products. The non-profit 2018 Global Wellness Economy Monitor reports that the global wellness industry grew in value from $3.7 trillion in 2015 to $4.2 trillion in 2017, an increase of 12.8 per cent. The wellness economy has grown at nearly twice the rate of global economic growth pre-pandemic, and the growth has accelerated since 2020 for obvious reasons.
How do we define clean skincare? In a nutshell, clean beauty and skincare refer to products that are clean of harmful ingredients. This usually means that the brands favour natural ingredients on the whole and reject the use of possibly dangerous ingredients such as parabens, phthalates, refined petroleum, and more.
PURAS is a Malaysian brand established by two ladies passionate about drug-free alternatives. Angie Chong and Michelle Kwok are no strangers to the Malaysian business community. Angie has had a fruitful and illustrious career in the premium lifestyle beauty, fashion and fragrance retail industry, while Michelle is the “Entrepreneur Extraordinaire”, whom many refer to as ‘the first lady of Soul Society Group’ which runs many successful F&B entities in Malaysia.
Beyond delivering the highest-quality essential oil creations and all-natural botanical skincare products, PURAS is committed to being a clean and responsible beauty brand, offering medical-grade essential oils, skincare and personal care products powered by essential oils and natural botanical ingredients that are not genetically modified or synthetic chemicals and are non-carcinogenic, so they are safe to use in the long term.
PURAS has grown into five stores with a steady eCommerce following within a few years. Co-founder Angie Chong shares with Asia Connects their passion for an all-natural approach to healing and offering its users the best.
AC: Please share with us the PURAS story.
Our journey in natural healing began with an intensive search for drug-free alternatives for our families. We have realised that our bodies have been subjected to tremendous stress due to our fast-paced lifestyle. It doesn’t help either that we are consuming genetically-modified food and regular usage of commercially-produced cosmetic products, culminating in the toxic build-up in our bodies.
In addition, climax change has further introduced additional stresses to our bodies.
Puras was founded out of our need for natural and good quality medical grade essential oils for ourselves and our families and clean skincare products with no toxic ingredients. We have therefore taken meticulous care to ensure the authenticity, integrity and quality of our plant-derivative products.
We believe we are one of the world’s pioneers in adopting a non-carcinogenic and non-toxic approach to formulating natural healing products. We import our essential oils and raw materials from all over the world. We do not use any plants that are genetically modified.
AC: How are you hoping to ‘improve’ the community with PURAS.
From the onset, we have conducted numerous workshops, educating the community on a healthy lifestyle, using natural healing products and the importance of avoiding toxins and carcinogens in food and consumer products.
As a business entity, we have also embarked on sustainability in whichever way we can. For example, the usage and recycling of glass bottles are among the “Go Green” initiatives we have undertaken. Our partnered factory in Australia teams up with an established leading recycling plant where all wastewater from our factory is recycled and treated.
AC: Knowing that other more prominent international brands have been well established in Malaysia, this is truly a David vs Goliath story. What’s your take?
Being small, PURAS can deliver total transparency in product development and day-to-day business management, which may be difficult among some more prominent brands. Having a small team also enables us to build a strong team culture very quickly and consistently; this has helped us to deliver trust and transparency, which are essential in today’s marketplace.
AC: What are some of the key highlights and milestones for PURAS?
The launch of Dragon’s Blood range of skincare care in 2020 has created a strong brand following and is an important milestone; and further strengthened the brand when we launched Dragon’s Blood Glow Serum, where 456 bottles of Dragon’s Blood Glow Serum were sold within the first 12 hours of launch.
The launch of our flagship store in December 2020 in The Gardens Mid Valley, especially amid the pandemic, was another important milestone as we were able to present Puras on the world’s stage and navigate the stormy weather despite being relatively new in the market.
AC: PURAS has been growing steadily. Please share with us your goals and projection for the next decade.
PURAS is setting up a Research & Development and Manufacturing arm in Australia in 2022. This strategic step marks the start of our journey in Australia. This significant step forward will also propel our growth trajectory within SEA from 2023 onwards.
AC: We understand that PURAS is adopting digital marketing strategies in your business, including social media sharing and promos. How important is digital marketing in PURAS’s growth? What are some of the unique strategies?
Product accessibility is imperative to the online selling platform, being able to shop our products anywhere, anytime, online or offline. We strive to align our communications in all these channels to ensure synergy in our campaigns.
The unique online strategy we have adopted is establishing a group of genuine users who have openly shared the goodness and effectiveness of the products.
AC: Where do you see the wellness industry heading? Malaysia vs international.
The wellness industry that started to pick up at the turn of the century has been growing exponentially. The pandemic has also accelerated the growth of wellness products, especially immune system-enhancing products. Many businesses and brands will jump into the wellness bandwagon in the following decades. It will be exciting to witness how the industry continues to evolve in the next decade.
AC: Is there any recommendation and advice you would like to share with the younger generation looking to start their entrepreneurial journey in Malaysia?
Dream, plan and execute with a big appetite for perseverance. Success takes time; one must persevere and continue to charge ahead to develop resilience and persistence in the entrepreneurial journey.
