Yemanja – Find out the story behind the cosmetic brand

Tue, 19.07.2022, 14:30

Yemanja is a pioneer in its field in Switzerland since 1995, and after more than 25 years of commitment, following an interview with the co-founders Kamila & Cleo, let’s take a look back at the beginnings of the brand and the development of its cosmetics and skincare rituals.

The foundation

Starting in 1995, the mother of Kamila founded the first Yemanja care institute in La Chaux-de-Fonds. Teresa was convinced from the beginning by the benefits that she proposes through traditional treatments integrating her Brazilian origins, in particular by producing certain cosmetic products used in her treatments herself.
 
Being an Amazonian Indian native, Teresa has passed on to her daughter the extensive knowledge of herbs and ancestral plants. It is in respect of these origins and by maintaining the philosophy of natural care that the foundations of the company are laid.

The name ‘Yemanja’ designates a Brazilian deity (with African origins), mother of the deities of nature and queen of the aquatic world. Respect for personality, nature and a holistic approach are the values that are still conveyed by Yemanja to this day.

As a result, Teresa applies all her care with her treatments whilst staying connected to her intuition and making good use of her unusual knowledge. 

The development

It is Kamila, the daughter of Teresa, who has really developed the Yemanja brand from the beginning of 2010. During our interview with IFJ she mentions that working by the side of her mother at the Yemanja Institute, she realized that there were many criteria that needed to be met in order to provide a quality care involving good technical and social skills from the caregiver, as well as high quality cosmetic products.
 
Inspired by the enriched knowledge in natural care of her mother, Kamila initiated the opening of the Yemanja School used in parallel the Yemanja cosmetics line, initially intended for the clients of the Institute.
 
Her reasoning is simple: convinced of the benefits of the care provided by her mother, as well as the importance of respecting others and the environment, she can’t find any cosmetic products that meet her expectations in shops. Similarly, she does not find a curriculum, certification or degree that integrates all the technical, social and environmental dimensions of learning how to provide good quality care.
 
In 2018, Kamila met Cleo, who comes from the field of industrial and product design. Cleo is very quickly won over by the values, quality and authenticity of the Yemanja universe.
Together, they opened the branch Les Cosmétiques Yemanja SA to the general public, redefining and shaking up the codes of high-end cosmetics. Yemanja asserts itself today as a precious, singular and committed product.

Teresa, Kamila and Cléo continue their commitment to deploy the Yemanja quality by offering customers and professionals authentic products and services that respect people and their environment. Original textures and scents offering a surprising sensory journey. Authentic products, without synthetic fragrances and with a strong character.

How do you produce your cosmetics in Switzerland ?

The production as well as the research and development of our cosmetic products are located in Switzerland, more precisely in La Neuveville in the canton of Bern.
Located in the upper part of the town, close to the vineyards and the castle, our laboratory straddles an industrial area and a green space. Research, development, everything takes place in this superb setting.
While respecting all the quality and safety standards established by the Confederation, we make it a point of honor to work as locally as possible, and therefore give preference to Swiss suppliers. 

Are your products safe ?

All of our products are organic and vegan and carefully selected. Our selection criteria is based on the properties and benefits of each ingredient, but also on quality, origin and production conditions.

Glass bottles, hydrolats and pure, non-denatured virgin vegetable oils also come from regions where respect for people and nature is guaranteed.

We are thus proud to say that 90% of the raw materials that make up a Yemanja end product come from Switzerland and Europe. Only the remaining 10% (buriti, urucum, etc.) come from controlled Brazilian (or Latin American) farms, as their cultivation is not effective in our latitudes at the moment.

How do you maintain sustainability?

With Yemanja, there is no depletion of natural resources.

The carefully selected raw materials for our cosmetic products are in abundance, and their cultivation is not harmful to the environment. No scarce resources are used. None of our products intended for use on the skin contain essential oils (only the room mist contains them), which in addition to being highly allergenic and photosensitive, are very resource-intensive during their production.

We do not use any materials of animal origin and do not test our cosmetics on animals. The respect of the fauna and flora is thus preserved.

How do you contribute back to the community?

SOS Amazônia is a Brazilian NGO that promotes biodiversity conservation and environmental awareness in the Amazon. Its main mission is to protect the Amazon rainforest and its inhabitants, both the indigenous population and the protected and endangered species.

SOS Amazônia is constantly fighting, educating and communicating about deforestation in the Amazon. They are dealing with this daily disaster both politically and on the ground; they are restoring deforested areas (already more than 110,000 trees replanted), managing protected areas (more than 100,000 hectares monitored) and are also directly involved with wildlife (more than 40,000 baby turtles reintroduced into the wild).

Les Cosmétiques Yemanja SA are proud to be recognized partners of SOS Amazônia, as the cause defended by this NGO is essential in our eyes and for the protection of our planet.

What is the Yemanja label ?

Our quality label is based on the commitments of the NGO SOS Amazônia.

We favor a global but precise charter for our products. Far beyond the requirements of contemporary organic cosmetics, we go further and consider every step of the production of our products: from planting to harvesting to packaging to the finished product, we think in terms of global and local environmental and societal impact.

During the development and production of our products, we take into account the production conditions of our raw materials in the same way as we minimise transport distances. We source locally wherever possible.

Yemanja is committed to developing products for the well-being of people, with respect for their health and the environment.

What is the mission of Yemanja ?
The fruit of a complex reflective process, the values conveyed by Yemanja cosmetics lead us to remain close to our customers and all our partners in order to accompany the evolution of human needs while preserving our planet.

Mission of Les Cosmétiques Yemanja SA is as follows: human, authentic and naturally healthy products for Humans.

Or, if we were to put it more precisely: luxury cosmetics, naturally healthy, organic, vegan, and free of essential oils, gluten and synthetic fragrances, which are designed for both men and women, deployed through a succinct range and beyond the usual marketing contingencies.

We firmly believe that this is the best way to produce natural cosmetics of the highest quality.

What do you use in terms of packaging & recycling ?
At Yemanja, there is no overpackaging. All necessary information can be found on the label.

Our parcels and packaging are limited to the bare minimum to ensure proper transport of the products, and of course no plastic! Even the tape is made of (reinforced) paper.

Our products are contained in miron glass, which is a high-quality violet glass that acts as an almost total barrier to UV radiation. It is a precious ally for the natural conservation of the product. As a niche product, it is not currently recycled in industry.

In general, glass has an almost infinite life span. That’s why we collect your empty bottles through our partners, gather them and put them back into the production chain to minimise the ecological impact of their use.

The accessories that accompany our products are governed by the same production and recycling requirements.

This global vision guides our daily choices and provides a solid foundation for the coherence that we value.

What do the Yemanja Rituals consist of ?
According to the team, the world of Yemanja Rituals combines the know-how of ancestral massage practices with the use of Yemanja cosmetics, in line with what Teresa proposed when she launched the brand in 1995.

The active ingredients in Yemanja cosmetics intensively stimulate cell renewal, and the treatment methods allow for optimal absorption of the active ingredients while simultaneously acting on the body’s vital energy.

The Yemanja Rituals awaken and revive the body by allowing the cohesion and connection between the different elements. Aesthetic treatments with health in mind, respectful of people and their environment, a harmonious approach to natural beauty.

The Yemanja School stands out for its demanding training and creative, cutting-edge course programmes, which guarantee the perfect blend of tradition and innovation for training in the health and beauty professions.
Cleo and Kamilla took the time to detail their mission during an interview with IFJ and proved to be an inspiring story with family roots. They aim to meet the high standards of their customers by guaranteeing transparency, authenticity and rely on their know-how handed down from generation to generation.

Les Cosmétiques Yemanja SA
cosmetiques@yemanja.ch
+41 32 555 30 33
Rue du Château 34
2520 La Neuveville
Suisse