Magdalene Lafontant is an esthetician and the founder of Nakai Skincare. She took time out to tell us about how she created her beauty brand.

What made you decide to set up your own beauty business?

I opened up my own aesthetics studio seven years ago mainly because I wanted a more comfortable schedule as I was now a Mother of two. Creating Nakai Skincare & Cosmetics was really because having been in this Industry for 21 years, you realise that there's not a lot of information out there for Black and Asian women and better understanding of skin and how different ingredients affect our skin. We now are starting to see more of it but there's still so much room for creation of skincare products that are favourable to Black skin.

What is the concept behind Nakai?

Nakai means "be beautiful" however, the beauty is defined by you. Tell and share your story. There is a lot you can tell by reading someone’s skin. So Nakai allows you to define beauty for yourself whilst daring to be unique.

What sort of research did you do to find out what sort of products your customers needed?

Being an aesthetician has helped a lot. I started off my career working on cruise ships where I'd treat at least seven to eight clients a day for six to eight months. So the amount of different skin types I have treated have really helped me narrow down what the biggest skin concerns.

How did you decide on the look and feel of your brand?

I am from Zimbabwe and proudly so - my roots remain there. The logo is a woman with the gear of the map of Africa. Everything that I am today began in Zimbabwe, so it was only fitting for me to have that as part of my logo.

How have you been dealing with the pandemic on a business and personal level?

Gosh! When I finished crying and feeling sorry for myself during the first month of COVID, I told myself to complain less and find a solution to deal with it. My studio was affected as I was not able to treat my clients. I held virtual consultations with clients and created at home skincare routine packages for them.

Over a video call I would spend 15 minutes showing them how to do their routine properly which helped me to stay connected with them. On top of that I launched Nakai in the middle of COVID. On a personal level it made me appreciate teachers even more. Having to have my two kids do online learning whilst I also taught from home (as I'm also a medical aesthetics instructor for a college here in Toronto) was such a challenge. However, we all pulled through it and everyone played their part well.

What are your future plans for the brand?

I want to take Nakai to Zimbabwe and other parts of Africa. The hashtag #nakaitotheworld is not for show, I plan to slowly build the brand around Africa especially, to like minded Aestheticians like myself in their respectful professional spas and skincare clinics. I feel Africa is underestimated in the skincare profession but a lot of the skincare experts are making waves. I dream of doing skincare masterclasses as well helping to educate people, not just on how Nakai works but mainly having a better understanding of their skin which in turn allows them to understand how the products work.

What advice do you have for anyone who wants to set up their own beauty business?

Just start. Be true to yourself and always define your own form success. Passion, consistency and vulnerability are all a part of being one step closer to your success.