International beauty brand enters PHL

GOING by the phrase “ugly as sin,” surely beauty is its own morality. Flormar, a Turkish makeup brand (with Italian origins) acquired by a French group in 2012 has a touch of the good in it — and it doesn’t hurt that it works quite well, too.

BusinessWorld met with Flormar CEO Matthieu Gomart on June 7 at the Conrad Manila, who talked about Flormar’s parent group, Groupe Rocher. Known for the natural beauty brand Yves Rocher, the same principles that ground that brand also hold up its sister brand Flormar.

For example, Flormar recently released a line made with 97% natural ingredients, and which doesn’t use parabens or silicone in their products. They also do not test on animals, have reduced plastic packaging, and they strive to make their products with “clean and green” formulas.

“We are in the mass-market segment,” said Mr. Gomart. “To be able to develop these products at affordable prices for the consumer is really a challenge.”“Groupe Rocher’s mission is to reconnect people to nature. It’s very much about nature, respecting the environment, promoting sustainability at any stage in the product, in the social climate, in any aspect,” he said.

Flormar has its origins in Italy, with an Italian family developing a line of nail polish in the 1950s and naming it after their daughters, Floridita and Maria, (the company still enjoys a 45% market share in nail polish in Turkey). Later, it was acquired by a Turkish company (the brand’s headquarters are still in Istanbul, according to Mr. Gomart) and in 2012, was acquired by Groupe Rocher. “What we can conclude about what happened is that Flormar is very multicultural, very international. Istanbul is between Europe on one side, Asia on the other side. You feel this multicultural mindset in the way we approach the business,” he said.

There’s been a recent rise in the number of Turkish brands in the country (there”s appliance brand Beko, for one). “Turkish companies are producing strong products. They are eager to export their products. They see Asia as an opportunity market in many sectors,” he said.

Going back to nature, Mr. Gomart illustrates how the Flormar story fits in with the Groupe Rocher philosophy. “We believe that our colors are inspired by nature,” he said.

“We really believe that there is a joy… that people using our products really reflect joy,” he said. Going by their Spider Lash mascara (P399 on Shopee), which BusinessWorld tried, the mascara really opened up the eyes and lengthened lashes (we’re talking almost artificial levels), and left us with an expression of well, joy.

One of the brand’s taglines is “happiness is your color.” Mr. Gomart explains, “You have your own style. You use color to create joy in yourself; to treat yourself. You find your happiness in your own way, with your own colors.

“We believe makeup is an experience of joy. You will see the models in our stores: they are smiling, they are very natural; they are moving in their life. This is the kind of beauty we want to convey.”

Flormar is distributed in the Philippines by iFace, Inc., and is available online on Shopee, as well as some SM and Watsons retail outlets. — Joseph L. Garcia