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A pioneer in make-up for exotic skin, Caribbean
Exporter of the Year, Sacha Cosmetics, remains
ahead of the game through its premium line,
vibrant passion for quality and a boldness to go
where no beauty product has gone before.
“We design make-up that perfectly matches
the skin tone
of all women of
colour, whether
light or dark or
in between; we
ensure that their
natural beauty
shines through,”
explained Kama
Maharaj, the Managing Director and Founder of
the Freeport, Trinidad-based company.
It was the recognition of the differences in product
demand that led to Sacha bursting onto the
cosmetics scene 36 years ago and rapidly becoming
one of the top make-up choices for ladies with
exotic skin. Sacha, a globally recognised brand,
is distributed in 27 countries, among them
Australia, New Zealand, Puerto Rico, and South
Africa, and is now also available through online
retail giant Amazon. The exceptionalmakeup line
has made its way onto runways and into beauty
contests all over the world, beating competitors
to become the official cosmetics supplier to the
1999Miss Universe Pageant, the 2000Miss USA
Pageant, the 2011Miss Bahamas Pageant and the
2014Miss Panama Pageant. Currently seeking to
expand into the Dominican Republic and Latin
America, Sacha continues to reign supreme in
transforming the cosmetics world.
Fulfilling his dream of highlighting the natural
allure of African, Indian, and women of mixed
ethnicities, the story of the brains behind the
beauty is amixture of luck, skill and sheer resolve
to succeed. Coming
from “a beauty family”,
Maharaj recounted
the days he sat in his
mother’s hairdressing
salon in Trinidad,
listening to clients’
constant complaints
about how artificial
their faces looked with make-up. It was there
his obsession to create a product specifically
calibrated for their skin type and tones was born.
Despite making a comfortable living as a high
school Maths teacher with a degree in Economics,
Maharaj took to heart his mother’s advice and
Sacha Cosmetics:
By Jenique Belgrave
Bold fromFoundation
to Finish
We design make-up that perfectly matches the skin tone of
all women of colour, whether light or dark or in between;
we ensure that their natural beauty shines through.
Exporters’ Insights
116
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