Conscious Beauty And Beautiful Minds: Interview w/ Nechami Tenenbaum
Nechami is the Founder and CEO of Karmelacosmetics.com, a high-performance, long lasting beauty brand, flattering for all skin tones and dedicated to supporting women’s healing and empowerment. Nechami’s journey with conscious beauty began years before she launched Karmela Cosmetics. One of her earliest childhood memories is standing in front of her mother’s vanity as she experimented with different makeup looks. During her time in Makeup school, and having grown up with an appreciation of natural products from her health conscious mom, she realized that there was a need for high-end, natural cosmetics. Once she graduated with her MBA in Marketing, she went on to launch her brand, Karmela Cosmetics.
What was the first beauty routine you adopted as a child or teenager? Which emotions do you connect with this memory?
The first beauty routine I adopted was as a teenager, when I began experimenting with the smokey eye that was all the rage back then! I have such great memories and warm feelings associated with this memory, because my wonderful grandma treated me to my first eyeshadow palette. This palette was actually the first makeup product I owned.
CONSCIOUS BEAUTY — What meaning do you give this term?
I believe that there are a few aspects to the idea of conscious beauty. The products that we apply to our skin should benefit us, not only in the color and skin care they provide, but also in the ingredients they contain. I worked with a lab for over a year to develop a high-performance, natural lipstick product, leaving out toxic ingredients commonly found in cosmetics. Potentially harmful ingredients are not necessary in order to achieve flawless skin and beautiful makeup looks, so why not use products that are formulated with natural ingredients, minerals, and colorants, as much as we can?
Another aspect of conscious beauty is how, as brands, we give back and benefit society, not only with the makeup and skincare we provide, but also with purpose driven actions. As a conscious brand, we focus on giving back to women’s healing and empowerment, through donating 10% profits from each color collection to a specific non-profit, each of which is focused on women’s healing. This way, our customers know exactly who their money is helping, while at the same time, benefit from a natural, conscious beauty product.
Which aspects of sustainability in beauty are especially important to you?
Testing cosmetics on animals is completely unnecessary in product creation. As a brand, our cruelty free certification by both Leaping Bunny and PETA was extremely important to me. I wanted to make sure that people know that we would never hurt animals in the process of creating beauty products.
Another important aspect of sustainability is catering to a diverse consumer base, which is why we’ve worked hard to create products which cater to a variety of skin tones, as well as to sensitive skin. I know how frustrating it is for women with sensitive skin to find products which work for them, so we spent a lot of time and resources on developing products which would cater to dry or otherwise problematic skin. It’s so rewarding when I receive messages from women thanking me for creating a lipstick that they can finally wear. I’ve received many messages from women telling me that before our brand existed, they just didn’t wear lipstick because it irritated their skin. Now that they’ve tried ours, it feels soothing and is the only one that doesn’t irritate their lips, and so they can finally enjoy lipstick again.
In regards to catering to a range of skin tones, I believe that every woman can benefit from products that flatter and show up on their skin, even if their skin naturally has a lot of pigment. Our lipsticks were created with as much pigment as we could get into them because I wanted all women, even those with naturally high pigment skin, to be able to wear them and have the color noticeable on their skin.
When do you consciously feel beautiful?
As cliche as this may sound, I consciously feel beautiful when I look like the best version of myself, not trying to look like anyone else. As women, there’s so much pressure out there to look a certain way, beauty trends come in and out of style and there’s often an unrealistic idea of perfection. Authentic, conscious beauty is when we look like OUR best selves, no one else.
Did your approach to beauty change within the last 1–2 years?
I would say that my approach to beauty has changed within the past couple of years, as I began approaching beauty from the angle of natural beauty looks, versus the glamour and super “made up” beauty looks.
How would you like to see the image of beauty change within the next 5 years?
I would love for women to start focusing on beauty as skin deep, instead of focusing on covering “flaws” or imperfections. Focus on everyday beauty routines that will improve your skin and enhance your natural features. This will eliminate extra makeup and unnecessary products, and the need to “correct” whatever skin situation is going on.
Looking at beauty as a long term approach instead of short term will definitely help this idea as well, as women will begin to focus on what’s best for their skincare, and utilize natural products created without harsh or potentially toxic chemicals.
What or who inspires your beauty routine?
I don’t have one specific person that inspires my beauty routine but I can tell you that my “Why” for my beauty routine is for me to feel confident and knowing that I am presenting myself at my best. When I take care of my skin with the natural products that I use, as well as when I apply sustainable beauty products to my skin, I feel like I’m presenting myself as my best self and taking care of my skin.
What is your best beauty advice to others?
Makeup should be the second step of your beauty routine, not the first. The foundation of having your makeup look flawless and last all day is to start with taking great care of your skin. Start by developing a productive skincare routine every day; it doesn’t have to be complicated. Cleansing, toning, and moisturizing your skin can do wonders for the health and wellness of your skin! Once your skin is well taken care of and nourished, your makeup will apply easily, look beautiful, and last well throughout the day.
Secondly, have fun with your makeup, experiment with different colors and different looks! You’ll get to know your style and preferences as you experiment, and you will see how you’ll have a range of different looks you are drawn towards, depending on mood and occasion.
Is there anything you would like to share that we have not asked you here?
Often I get questions from women asking me what shades will flatter their skintone. There are definitely shades that compliment certain skin tones over others, and a lot of it has to do with undertones as well (this is something I often discuss on my Instagram stories). I would love for women to recognize, that as much as there are specific shades that work well over others, be open to new ideas, don’t box yourself in to specific colors. Be open to experimentation, try different looks, try different products, you never know what new ideas and looks you’ll discover!
THANK YOU!
Follow Karmela Cosmetics on Instagram.
Demee Koch about the MEDIUM interview series on CONSCIOUS BEAUTY:
Hello! I am a serial entrepreneur with more than 2 decades of experience in the health & beauty industry. This interview series is intended to create awareness about the movement of Conscious Beauty.
We are in a beautiful time of Conscious Beauty — you may have heard of this term, but what does Conscious Beauty mean, and why does it matter?
For us, beauty is a way to love — it is about self-care, art, nutrition, exercise, life, self-love. I invite you to become part of a movement that re-defines beauty. Let’s empower beautiful minds.
Thank you for being the change. I’m looking forward to learn from you. Reach out to me via LinkedIn.
Demee ❤︎
