Here is the 2018 Pure Cosmetics nature cosmetics online store interview with Triinu Karolin, founder of HOIA.
Text: Pure Cosmetics
Interviewee: Triinu Karolin
(HOIA homespa brand creator)
One of the most beloved fans of domestic natural cosmetics, and the brand that has won the hearts of Pure Cosmetics customers, HOIA homespa, has been created with great dedication in Saaremaa. Hoia’s range includes effective and natural products for the whole family. In addition, HOIA delights its admirers with the constantly expanding product range!
Next, we asked the founder of the brand, Triinu Karolin, how HOIA started, who the HOIA products are intended for and what the company’s future plans are. Read more about the in-depth interview!
HOW WAS THE BRAND NAME BORN?
“When I was expecting my first child, I started paying more attention to what I was eating and what substances my skin was exposed to. It turned out that it is very difficult to find clean products or even impossible for certain products. This prompted the start of experiments in the field of natural cosmetics and I made the first body scrub… And I was thrilled! I read about raw materials, experimented with making different products for almost three years, but never once did it make sense to make my own brand, because it seemed to be such a complicated bureaucracy. All this paperwork and legislation, responsibility, etc. Then a particularly successful friend came along and suggested that we take this journey, because he thought my products were very good. This recommendation came just at a very right moment, namely that by that time I had been at home with the children for almost 2.5 years and there was enough motivation to start this exciting project, at that moment I think the brand was born.
It was quite difficult to find a name for the brand, we bulged it several of us for several weeks. I wanted it to symbolize all the good I wanted to put into it, but we couldn’t come up with that name. A few weeks of futile brainscrating passed when one day we went for a walk with my sister and the children, handed her my coffee cup, which I often carry, and said, hold on for a moment. Sister screamed HOIA!
I didn’t quite understand and asked to clarify what this scream meant. “Keep it your brand name,” the nurse said. I thought through all the criteria for a moment and it worked! HOIA was perfect – it was short and kicking, symbolising all the basic principles of the brand: KEEP yourself, HOIA ENVIRONMENT, HOIA NATURE and HOIA’s neighbor. In addition, the word seems to be well pronounced in any language and has enough character and peculiarity when pronouncing it.
In addition, there is also a magical amount of mysticism in the HOIA word, which came out when I Googled the word online in the evening. Namely, in Romania, the Hoia Baciu Forest is located, where very peculiar trees grow, and in which many supernatural events are said to take place. Watch and google!
Somehow subconsciously, I myself had the HOIA brand associated with the tree symbol even before the word was Googled, and the designer also made a magical and asymmetrical tree with brush (symbolizing the wildness and peculiarity of nature) for HOIA. Everything was fine. I chose magical black, pure and sincere white and sparkly and hiccup gold as colours, which in conjunction convey the essence of the HOIA brand.”
WHO ARE THE PRODUCTS AIMED AT?
“HOIA products are aimed at everyone who wants to offer their skin only 100% natural effective products that have not been tested on animals and are produced by hand in Saaremaa in an environmentally sustainable manner. HOIA products are particularly suitable for nordic dry and dermatitis-prone skin, as there are many times more rich oils in products than in creams and water-based products, for example. We also use a lot of unrefined or raw shea butter, which is considered gold for African women, in HOIA products! It is precisely unrefined shea butter that has preserved all the best effects. Unfortunately, unrefined shea butter is also extremely rarely used in natural products, and information about whether or not any raw material in the product is refined is not found under the composition of the product information, because the Latin name for refined and unrefined shea butter (INCI) is exactly the same.”
WHERE DOES THE MAIN RAW MATERIALS COME FROM?
“HOIA has nearly 50 different raw materials, all of which come from different places. Argan oil, for example, comes directly from Morocco, i.e. where the only argan tree grows naturally in the world. Shea butter comes from Africa. Both pressing argan oil and making shea butter give Muslim belief in society the opportunity to work for women, especially widows, who can thus make money for the education of their children. At the same time, junag berries, tudra oil and hemp seed oil come from saaremaa right here!” Many other things come from suppliers in England.
HOW IS HOIA DIFFERENT FROM OTHER BRANDS OF NATURAL COSMETICS?
“I think one difference is definitely that we use a lot of unrefined shea butter well, which is just such a good thing that it would be a sin not to use it. Most manufacturers use it, but in a refined form that no longer has the qualities that are raw, genuine, slightly smoky-scented and yellowish in African gold. The difference between HOIA products and other Estonian manufacturers is that there is no water (except flower waters) in our products. In expensive creams, the first component is always water or aqua, because it is the most in the product (the sequence of ingredients must be in descending order), but water is known to cost nothing. In HOIA products, water has been replaced by valuable oils and fats, which means that for the same money you actually get more. HOIA products are concentrated and also without any additives that are usually added to creams to improve smell, consistency, color and preservation. HOIA products are indeed 100% natural and free of additives. All substances that are included in the products work 100% for the well-being of the skin, not for the cream to be snow-white or blue. Not so that the cream has a pleasant consistency and is preserved for 5 years.
WHY DO YOU THINK BABY WATCH HAS WON THE HEARTS OF MANY CUSTOMERS?
“HOIA baby foam has indeed been a bestseller from the very beginning both in the HOIA online store and at dealers. Why? I’ll tell you right now. The skin of babies is very delicate, and their skin is not accustomed to contact with many different synthetic substances, which, among other things, are even stuffed into diapers, for example. One example is the fragrances… What good does PERFUME do with baby cream, much less inside a diaper? This is only the first but very disturbing example that came to mind, but there are and more. It’s nice to note that a lot of moms have really started to watch what they put on their kids and what diapers they’re pulling on their kids, and apparently these moms have discovered a HOIA baby cream for themselves that consists 100% of vegetable oils and fats, it’s so natural that you could basically eat it too. In addition, it does not sting, effectively relieves dermatitis, dry skin and inflammation of the skin. It has antibacterial properties and protects the skin even in winter harsh weather conditions. In secret, I can say that it is not only used by babies and feedback to HOIA baby foam has really been very good! Many women use it in winter instead of face cream, I’ve heard it’s used on blisters and wounds, a braiding pepul and everywhere else on the skin where the problem is.”
WHAT ARE THE PLANS FOR THE FUTURE? CAN WE EXPECT NEW PRODUCTS IN THE NEAR FUTURE?
“I’m constantly researching new products. I read and experiment, give others tests, and I read it again. The plan includes herb masks, cellulite products, acne-relieving products, and you have to think about summer already! Perhaps tanning oil gets a little glittering girlfriend, kids and surfers with a sunscreen stick? Let’s see how much goes. It’s nice to promise, but life shows that you’re getting exactly half as much as you’d like. I tinked on deodorants for almost half a year, tested nearly 30 different recipes and wasted nearly 200 blanks!” So, this product development is not so simple and inexpensive for anything.