Soanala: the lipstick of the future is made in Madagascar!

Who said you had to suffer to be beautiful? Yes, cosmetic products are harmful to your health. And yes, they even have a negative impact on our planet. However, and fortunately, there are more and more organic and ethical products on the market. Create a blog post subtitle that summarizes your post in a few short, punchy sentences and entices your audience to continue reading.

No, they are not necessarily more expensive. And no, Madagascar hasn’t been left behind. Meet Dina Valisoa, she is a jack of all trades and she founded Soanala, the lipstick of the future!

A few words about you...

My name is Dina Valisoa Ratsisetraina and I am the initial founder of Soanala. My journey was quite unstable *laugh*, or at least adventurous. I hesitated a lot on the career I had to follow. I studied computer science, Hispanic literature, multimedia, international trade and sustainable tourism development. I had the choice between continuing my studies and starting to make a living. Being an entrepreneur was my dream, but I was obviously scared at the beginning and wanted to avoid getting out of the comfort zone! After doing small jobs here and there, I finally had enough and realized I needed to start my own thing. Thanks to my companion’s support, I managed to start the show Point GG, dedicated to culture and video games. This was the first step towards many other projects, and so was born Soanala, the natural and artisanal lip balms and lipsticks I created with my partners Luana Karen Andriamamonjy and Jérémie Randranto.

A few words about your project…

Soanala is an ethical lipstick brand which produces and sells handmade lip balms and lipsticks that do not contain any preservatives or heavy chemicals, and are not tested on animals. They only contain natural products such as coconut oil, beeswax, baobab vegetable oil, beet powder, cinnamon essential oil, etc. Madagascar has plenty of natural resources that Soanala wishes to promote through its balms and lipsticks. The latter are precisely recognized for their restorative, moisturizing and protective properties.

We are a small and committed company, which adheres as much as possible to the sustainable development values and reconciles social development, economic growth and respect for environment.

What are Soanala's positive impacts on the society?

Not only do we sell eco-friendly beauty products, but we also try our best to protect our planet by constantly looking for responsible alternatives for our packaging and waste management. We for instance don’t use plastic bags, we also sort our waste, limit the use of paper, recycle our lipstick tubes, etc. We even have the goal to set aside a part of our profits to plant trees. Apart from our direct impact on the environment, we also try to have a positive impact on people's lives. We have just recruited a new collaborator in a difficult situation who, thanks to the Soanala project, can currently continue her studies. We offered her flexible hours and a much more reasonable salary than what is offered in this country.

We have no precise organization chart, no hierarchy either. We are all equal here at our old garage workshop. We really hope to contribute to a better life, by offering products that are not harmful to people’s health, yet at an affordable price.

How did you come up with this idea?

My favorite accessory is lipstick. As I hate the natural color of my lips, I wear it every day. And one day, I had the bad idea (or the good idea in hindsight) to do an internet search on what was in lipstick. I was scared discovering all the chemicals and heavy metals it could contain. Fortunately, I found out that there were new alternatives to the industrial and toxic cosmetic brands, but I found them relatively expensive. After some new research, I watched some tutorials and I wondered why nobody ever produced these ethical beauty products in Madagascar.

I tested them to see if I could do it. Well at first, I really couldn’t. I started working on the first prototypes in 2016. Then, on September 2017, I decided to participate in a start-up contest, keeping the goal of using a part of the profits to reforestation and creating employment. I didn’t win the contest, but I decided to carry on, and everything went really fast from there. Thus, we have officially launched Soanala on the market on October 2017.

What were/are your biggest challenges?

Financing the project has always been our biggest challenge. We started with very limited funds. Fortunately, we were highly motivated, and still are. Our current challenge is to produce more, without ruining the quality of our products and by always respecting our values, as the offer doesn’t keep pace with demand at the moment.

What were/are your best moments?

Our best moments are when we receive testimonials from satisfied customers and people who support our project by giving us some tips. It always makes us happy when we are told that our products and services are satisfactory. One of our best memories was also the day our collaborator thanked us and mentioned the positive changes Soanala has brought to her life.

How do you see your business in 10 years?

We would like to have more employees to improve the pace of production. Reforestation is still one of our biggest objectives too, as we didn’t have the chance to do it yet. In 10 years, we hope to contribute to improving the quality of life of many families by allowing them to collaborate with us on our various products.

How is it to be a social entrepreneur? Being a social entrepreneur, I always face different challenges. Finding sustainable alternatives in Madagascar is tough. For example, we haven’t found the right alternative to our plastic tubes yet. We recycle and reuse them though. Another issue is choosing between being profitable and sticking to values: paying your employees less and making more profits, or choosing to favor the human aspect and earning less; purchasing raw materials from a large industry at a lower cost or supporting local producers and risking to pay more. We face such choices every day. Obviously, Soanala always chooses the more impactful option. And in the end, despite the difficulties, we know that our various choices can grow a tree, decrease waste in a small area and even change a life! If reading this story made you want to consume more responsibly, order your Soanala lip balms and lipsticks on the brand's Facebook or Instagram page. Prices vary between 6,000 and 8,000ar (around 1,30€ and 2,15€). If not, read again!