What Alexander Nylander, Ewa Cosmetics founder, tells Infoprations about being beautiful, sustainable by 2030

What can you say about beauty?

There are many ways we can understand and appreciate beauty. Researchers have studied the concept using aesthetics, culture, social psychology, philosophy and sociology. So, people can decide to look at it from one or two of these perspectives. Whether beauty is being understood within aesthetics, culture, social psychology, philosophy and sociology, people must admire the person who possesses “an ideal beauty”. From developed to developing countries, beauty is one of the factors most men consider before approaching a lady for relationship or marrying her. That’s why women don’t play with their appearance. They commit a lot of resources towards bringing out their specific beauty features to the public.

You recently set up a cosmetic company. Can you tell Infoprations rationales behind Ewa Cosmetics?

Why Ewa as a brand name?

I see my mother everyday with minimalist make up and she is beautiful.  I also see my cousins and friends that have just powders on and they are gorgeous. One day I asked my mother why she does not use heavy makeup and she said the function of minimal makeup is to enhance own beauty from own perspective. Every woman is beautiful in her own way. That's how I became conscious of the real essence of makeup. I have equally learnt that beauty is a choice for a woman who believes in gaining confidence among her colleagues and other people around her. 

My mum also gave me the understanding of beauty in the Yorùbá way. She said in life “ÈWA le ÈWA” (beauty is deed).  That intrigued me that beauty is in a person so once you are beautiful inside it shows in your character. Ewa means beauty that is where I got the name from. I am Yorùbá and wanted to reflect my culture. 

Yes. Like I said earlier beauty can be understood in different contexts. Using Ewa as our brand name suggests that we are prioritising and promoting Yoruba’s concept of beauty. Our products enhance users’ natural beauty because we have tested them on different shades of darkness from light to the solid. So, they are all meant for all skin colours and income categories.

Alexander, thinking about the future of EWA Cosmetics and SDGs' attainment

By 2030, global leaders want everyone to be a responsible consumer in terms of making use of food and non-food products sustainable. How do you think cosmetics users could be responsible users?

The world leaders’ idea of making people and resources sustainable by 2030 is what every business needs to embrace. As the Ban Ki-Moon, the United Nations Secretary General, said companies everywhere need to “assess their impact, set ambitious goals and communicate transparently about the results,” our aim has been production of products with less chemical to align with climate action (SDG13) and responsible consumption and production (SDG12). We are also educating our customers on how to recycle the containers. In the next few years, we are planning to have agreement with governments in the area of converting our used containers into other useful products. This will be done by asking our esteemed customers to bring the used containers whenever they are coming to repurchase our products.  

We are also promoting SDGs by ensuring that every 10 cents is sent to schools of choice in Africa.  We are hoping Nigerians will patronise us so that we can each help a child to be educated and become powerful.

Why people in Europe and America should buy your products? What are the inherent values in your products?

Our target is not just Europe or America target is a global vision hence our distribution is all over the world. Our products are on par with the expensive brands. The quality is on the high end and not made in China. We want our customers to benefit from the quality and also at an affordable rate. The responses from customers have been positive.