Latest / Skin Anarchy / Tata Harper, founder of TATA HARPER Skincare

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Tata Harper, founder of TATA HARPER Skincare · Skin Anarchy

• 0:04
  SPEAKER_01: Hi guys, welcome back to Skincare Anarchy.
• 0:06
  SPEAKER_01: This is Ekta, and I am super stoked for today's interview because I have been in love with the skincare line since I saw it, basically, for the first time.
• 0:14
  SPEAKER_01: So without further ado, I want to introduce you guys to Tata Harper from Tata Harper Skincare.
• 0:19
  SPEAKER_01: Welcome to the show.
• 0:23
  SPEAKER_01: Hi there.
• 0:24
  SPEAKER_01: How are you?
• 0:25
  SPEAKER_01: I'm good.
• 0:26
  SPEAKER_01: How are you?
• 0:26
  SPEAKER_01: Thank you so much for making the time for this.
• 0:29
  SPEAKER_01: Of course.
• 0:30
  SPEAKER_01: Of course.
• 0:30
  SPEAKER_01: Thank you for having me.
• 0:32
  SPEAKER_01: It's my honor.
• 0:33
  SPEAKER_01: Um, Tata, can you get us started by talking about your whole journey?
• 0:36
  SPEAKER_01: I really want to know how you um, you know, just got to this point, how you created the concept for your line.
• 0:42
  SPEAKER_01: I want to know everything.
• 0:44
  SPEAKER_00: So the line evolved pretty organically.
• 0:48
  SPEAKER_00: Sorry to make that reference.
• 0:51
  SPEAKER_00: You know, it's like an organic line and it's like funny, but it is true.
• 0:56
  SPEAKER_00: I never had the intention of having a skincare line.
• 1:00
  SPEAKER_00: And it really started after my stepfather or when my stepfather got diagnosed with cancer, and then I ended up like learning so much about you know, uh, things that they were recommending for patients when you already had cancer, you had to clean up your act, reduce your stress load.
• 1:22
  SPEAKER_00: I I was kind of like commissioned by the doctors to help him find quote unquote better products that didn't have all this questionable, controversial chemicals that increase the toxic load.
• 1:35
  SPEAKER_00: And I remember thinking, like, I don't want any questionable ingredients also that are increasing my toxic load either.
• 1:42
  SPEAKER_00: So I became obsessed with it along with him of finding products.
• 1:47
  SPEAKER_00: So we first started with food, then cleaning products, like you know, we went all the way even to like uh dry cleaners.
• 1:55
  SPEAKER_00: Oh wow, yeah.
• 1:58
  SPEAKER_00: And um, and really like the last frontier for me was my skincare because I had been in love with skin, my skincare products for so long, you know, like you sometimes get attached to certain lines, and and um, and I was also someone that had also always bought skincare that is perceived to be very efficacious.
• 2:21
  SPEAKER_00: You know, my mom was always like, you need to invest in beauty, it's really important to take care of yourself, like buy good products.
• 2:29
  SPEAKER_00: So I was doing that, and but when I wanted to switch to natural products, I didn't find that technology that I was always used to.
• 2:39
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yeah.
• 2:49
  SPEAKER_00: Because that's the whole point of skincare.
• 2:50
  SPEAKER_00: It's like you need to see results.
• 2:53
  SPEAKER_00: And here I was trying to find uh natural skincare in a lot of like natural supermarkets and like little apothecaries, where it's not you know, where you necessarily find the best quality skincare products, right?
• 3:08
  SPEAKER_00: Like they look natural, but they have like four ingredients, and I think thinking to myself, like, okay, olive oil is natural, yes, but you know, is this gonna be the cornerstone of my eye cream?
• 3:19
  SPEAKER_00: Like, exactly, yeah.
• 3:22
  SPEAKER_00: You know, I don't know.
• 3:23
  SPEAKER_01: Um, like how much depth do I want to really dive into with olive oil?
• 3:27
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
• 3:29
  SPEAKER_00: Or like why you know, if natural materials are the best way to go, right?
• 3:35
  SPEAKER_00: Because they're not synthetically produced, because they're man-made, because they're not man-made, they're precious, they grow on the earth, right?
• 3:43
  SPEAKER_00: And a lot of synthetic chemicals are based on them, but a lot of brands can't afford them because they are expensive, then why are they represented in skincare in such a like a low uh like like a like uh you know what I mean?
• 3:59
  SPEAKER_00: Like it makes sense like format, you know, like why do you show and showcase the most precious materials in the world and they look like they're presented like this.
• 4:12
  SPEAKER_00: It's like the perceived, uh, the perceived technology, the perceived uh results and effectiveness of the line just weren't there.
• 4:22
  SPEAKER_00: And then the experience wasn't great either, right?
• 4:24
  SPEAKER_00: You try the products, the goop didn't smell great, like the products didn't look amazing, they were sticky, they separated, somewhere needed to like be refrigerated.
• 4:35
  SPEAKER_00: And then uh I would go to beauty stores and department stores where I mean I was used to buying my products, and I would be like, please help me.
• 4:44
  SPEAKER_00: Like, I want natural products, I don't want to keep using this stuff.
• 4:48
  SPEAKER_00: And then they showed me products that had algae, products that have orchids, products that have roses, you know, a lot of like natural ingredients.
• 4:57
  SPEAKER_00: But then you I turn around the box and I kept seeing the same industrial chemicals meet, you know, it's like, yes, I see the roses, but by the way, I see them mix with like petroleum and propylene glycol, which after I Googled it, I was shocked it's actually like antifreeze.
• 5:13
  SPEAKER_00: Like, why is this stuff like in my eye cream?
• 5:15
  SPEAKER_00: You know, like belongs in my car.
• 5:18
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, it's shocking when you first hear it.
• 5:21
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, when you first realize like this is what I'm putting on my skin.
• 5:24
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, not hearing, and then you're like, but wait, like, why?
• 5:28
  SPEAKER_00: And then I would ask the sales lady, like, okay, this is like great, this has all this amazing algae, but why do they have to have the synthetic chemicals?
• 5:36
  SPEAKER_00: And then there was always the stare, like, oh, but you need synthetic chemicals for this to work.
• 5:41
  SPEAKER_00: And I was really, and then like, so you know what I mean?
• 5:45
  SPEAKER_00: It's like, yeah, you need synthetic chemicals for this to work, but didn't you?
• 5:49
  SPEAKER_01: It's like you didn't buy it, you're like, No, I don't believe you.
• 5:52
  SPEAKER_00: Well, I was questioning everything because you know, a second ago, she said that it was the algae that gave the results, but then once I questioned synthetic chemicals that are there, no, it's like it's that uh that is giving me the results.
• 6:04
  SPEAKER_00: So I decided to take up on myself and really Google.
• 6:07
  SPEAKER_00: Like, I'm an industrial engineer, so I love like I'm very curious.
• 6:10
  SPEAKER_00: I love like I'm not uh intimidated by big inkies and like ingredient list and all of that.
• 6:17
  SPEAKER_00: So I was like, I'm gonna Google what this stuff is.
• 6:19
  SPEAKER_00: And what I realized is that the majority of the lines share the same raw materials that are all synthetic, and that they're actually in there to help with um other things than they're not actives, they're there to help either emulsify, you know, like the ingredients.
• 6:36
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, like preservatives, right?
• 6:38
  SPEAKER_01: Like they're like preserving or they're yeah, adding properties.
• 6:41
  SPEAKER_00: Emulsifiers, which is ingredients that help mix water and oil together.
• 6:46
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, they're not the ones taking care of your wrinkles.
• 6:48
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, there's also preservatives that are there to make sure that the product doesn't get contaminated.
• 6:54
  SPEAKER_00: They're not there to make sure that you your skin looks better.
• 6:57
  SPEAKER_00: They're pH adjusters, thickeners, you know, a myriad of things that you need to make great products, but they're not necessarily the ones driving the technology.
• 7:06
  SPEAKER_00: You know what I mean?
• 7:07
  SPEAKER_00: In the sense of active ingredients working on your skin, they're driving other things.
• 7:11
  SPEAKER_00: So I kept thinking to myself, like, wow, so they all, you know, like a lot of the natural ingredients are used, but they're mixed with this other functional ingredient because this is where we are today in the industry.
• 7:25
  SPEAKER_00: It's like mixing botanicals and synthetics because a lot of the functional work of formulas are relied upon in this cheap industrial chemicals.
• 7:34
  SPEAKER_00: And I was like, let me see if I can deconstruct the formula and uh and find natural ingredients to do all those things.
• 7:41
  SPEAKER_00: So natural preservatives, natural emulsifiers, natural thickeners, natural pH adjusters, you know, you name it things that we all need to formulate.
• 7:51
  SPEAKER_00: But instead of like using industrial synthetics, I'm gonna try new naturals that were pretty unknown.
• 7:59
  SPEAKER_00: They were pretty obscure when I started, and no one really knew how to use them.
• 8:02
  SPEAKER_00: That's what I realized, like after you know, having so many obstacles of like, you know, like you're never gonna make this happen.
• 8:10
  SPEAKER_00: It's not possible.
• 8:11
  SPEAKER_00: Like what I realized that a lot of people don't spend a lot of time like trying to work with them and trying to make it work and finding the right ingredients.
• 8:19
  SPEAKER_00: So that took a really long time.
• 8:22
  SPEAKER_00: And uh, and I had no idea how big, how small the brand was gonna be.
• 8:28
  SPEAKER_00: I didn't have that in mind.
• 8:29
  SPEAKER_00: I was just really into I want to solve this problem because I can't be the only woman looking for something that it's truly synthetic free.
• 8:38
  SPEAKER_00: And there's two that fulfills the role of skincare in your life, which is this soothing, amazing ritual that makes your skin look amazing with all this amazing amazing ingredients from all over the world.
• 8:53
  SPEAKER_01: Well, I love that I love that you're talking about how like there has to be this like you know, merger of like I get basically like lab work and organic ingredients.
• 9:02
  SPEAKER_01: And I want to dive more into that because um, you know, I I don't necessarily, I'm not a believer in, you know, a skincare line should have like three ingredients, right?
• 9:11
  SPEAKER_01: Like I feel like it should have uh what it needs to be a good product.
• 9:15
  SPEAKER_01: Um, you know, that's really but what I believe.
• 9:17
  SPEAKER_01: And I and I think you're doing that beautifully.
• 9:19
  SPEAKER_01: So, like how do you like going forward, how are you, you know, thinking about like in terms of like your, you know, like marketing, like with uh what you're using, your your uh main ingredients, how do you really approach that in the market?
• 9:33
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 9:34
  SPEAKER_00: So creating formulas for us is not a marketing exercise, it's really like a chemistry exercise and like a skin biology exercise.
• 9:43
  SPEAKER_00: And marketing comes later in the product.
• 9:46
  SPEAKER_00: We never formulate with marketing first.
• 9:49
  SPEAKER_00: We always formulate with like what are the needs of the client?
• 9:51
  SPEAKER_00: What is this product supposed to do?
• 9:53
  SPEAKER_00: And then based on what this product is supposed to do, we find a lot of ingredients that help do that.
• 9:59
  SPEAKER_00: So since the beginning, not now, but since the beginning, I was always obsessed with having product formulating products that were really like multifaceted and multi-benefit.
• 10:09
  SPEAKER_00: So it was never about the one ingredient, it was always about the mixture of ingredients.
• 10:14
  SPEAKER_00: So I think that our role has evolved to be kind of like a curator of technologies and ingredients that come from all over the world, and that we really bring them in dozens to our products uh so that you can get multiple results from one product.
• 10:31
  SPEAKER_00: Because I remember, even as a beauty consumer, yeah, no idea that I would ever have a skincare line.
• 10:37
  SPEAKER_00: I always felt that I had to buy so many products to you know to cover my bases.
• 10:43
  SPEAKER_00: Like I had to buy my vitamin C over here, my vitamin A over there.
• 10:46
  SPEAKER_00: What about nitrous?
• 10:47
  SPEAKER_00: Like, what about hyaluronic?
• 10:49
  SPEAKER_00: Where are the acids?
• 10:50
  SPEAKER_00: And exactly, yeah, so much stuff because everything is like single active.
• 10:55
  SPEAKER_00: And I had to like, I'm like, with our products, aside from the fact that of course we want them to be pure and come from the earth and have like a zero tolerance for synthetic chemicals, like I also want to make them like to work really hard for you, and that our clients find that it's it's doing a lot of things for them because also, in order to affect the skin like really deeply, you need to work things at multiple layers.
• 11:21
  SPEAKER_00: Like, for example, if you want the skin hydrated, you need multiple sizes of hyaluronic acid because smaller sizes go into the deeper layers of the skin.
• 11:29
  SPEAKER_00: Well, bigger molecular sizes of HA, of hyaluronic acid, sorry, stay more in the surface, and that way you create a real plumping effect.
• 11:37
  SPEAKER_00: You also need to make sure that all that water content is not going to evaporate from your skin.
• 11:42
  SPEAKER_00: So you need to have barrier ingredients, and you know, like it's it's really about a synergistic approach to formulation.
• 11:48
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, same if like if you're dealing with collagen, for example, you need ingredients that stimulate collagen production.
• 11:55
  SPEAKER_00: We have like 14 different types of collagen in the skin, so you know, all of that affected.
• 12:01
  SPEAKER_00: You also need ingredients that are there to counteract with enzymes that are part of your natural aging process that break down collagen to minimize the effects of that.
• 12:12
  SPEAKER_01: You also I love that you just said that.
• 12:14
  SPEAKER_01: I love that you're the first person I've spoken to that's like addressed these kind of things.
• 12:18
  SPEAKER_01: Like the skin is not just a, you know, like I'm just gonna go on a tangent, but seriously, it's like I feel like people think the skincare is just something that, you know, you need to dump as many, like, you know, products onto your skin and hope that you know, all those ingredients are going in and you're almost creating this reservoir, but from a scientific perspective, that makes no sense.
• 12:36
  SPEAKER_01: And then nobody talks about that.
• 12:38
  SPEAKER_01: Nobody talks about, well, these things break down in your skin, you know what I mean?
• 12:42
  SPEAKER_01: Like the different layers.
• 12:42
  SPEAKER_01: So I really like that you have that like kind of built into the core of your brand.
• 12:47
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, and also not only that, but it's like you need to make sure that if you want to create a really like multitasking product, like how do you make sure that all of those ingredients that you're selecting are working with one another, which was always my concern as a customer.
• 13:02
  SPEAKER_00: It's like, should I mix this with that?
• 13:04
  SPEAKER_00: Is that a good idea?
• 13:05
  SPEAKER_00: And I remember like I would sometimes put myself in a really bad situation, just doing too many things that shouldn't be used together because you know, it was starting, like I remember that the culture of like the hero products was beginning at the time when I was starting the line and you know, I was just like a regular like beauty consumer, and it was like you wanted the hero from this line and the hero from that line, and then the hero from that line, and the hero cleanser over here.
• 13:29
  SPEAKER_00: But who was making sure that all of this stuff could be mixed and used together on a daily basis?
• 13:35
  SPEAKER_00: Like I was using it, like no one are these ingredients like really working well, like you know, when I combine them and layer them, and and that's why at the cornerstone at the harper, like the formulation of our products have been really like the most important aspect.
• 13:50
  SPEAKER_00: Like, we're really not a marketing company, we're a product company.
• 13:54
  SPEAKER_00: Like, first and foremost, it's our products, and marketing comes later, and uh, and also we are a different type of skincare brand.
• 14:03
  SPEAKER_00: I didn't want to make more of what's out there, which is a lot of like private label brands.
• 14:08
  SPEAKER_00: Like, I know that a lot of consumers are not really familiar with this, but a lot of beauty is just private label that everything is outsourced.
• 14:16
  SPEAKER_00: And a lot of companies, when you look at their interior, even like team makeup, they look more like an advertising agency than a skincare company.
• 14:23
  SPEAKER_00: And I kept thinking to myself, like, if there's a job that I need to fulfill, is to make our products.
• 14:30
  SPEAKER_00: Number one, I we need to formulate them from the ground up so that they're really unique combinations that our customers cannot find anywhere.
• 14:37
  SPEAKER_00: Because more and more, because beauty brands are just like bases with one or two new ingredients, all those bases are around in multiple brands.
• 14:46
  SPEAKER_00: It's like everything is just looking and feeling and performing the same.
• 14:51
  SPEAKER_00: And I didn't want to do the more of that.
• 14:53
  SPEAKER_00: I thought that the customers really deserve a unique product.
• 14:56
  SPEAKER_00: So we formulate all of our products always from zero and always thinking about like, okay, every product needs to do multiple things.
• 15:03
  SPEAKER_00: So, what are those multiple things?
• 15:05
  SPEAKER_00: Like, if we're gonna be, for example, formulating a product for like I'm I'm starting to formulate a product for like oily skin, like a moisturizer.
• 15:13
  SPEAKER_00: So you need pore reducers, C bone reducers, uh, you know what I mean?
• 15:19
  SPEAKER_00: Like you need that you need seriation because people, even if you're oily, well, it's not one cure, you know.
• 15:24
  SPEAKER_01: I I totally get what you mean.
• 15:25
  SPEAKER_01: And I think as a scientist, I can really appreciate it.
• 15:28
  SPEAKER_01: And I just I want to send this message out there for everyone listening is that you know, you cannot have like if you're trying to put something on any organ, you know, like, and this is not about being medical grade, but like in general, if you're trying to create a effect or have like an effect, you have to have multiple ingredients.
• 15:44
  SPEAKER_01: You know what I mean?
• 15:44
  SPEAKER_01: Like, you one thing, like putting orange peels on your skin is not gonna make your skin brighter.
• 15:49
  SPEAKER_01: You know what I mean?
• 15:52
  SPEAKER_00: Guys, that's actually like a really bad idea to put orange peels on the skin.
• 15:56
  SPEAKER_00: Like, yeah, you know, when I started, people thought that this was like things that I was like making smoothies in my kitchen, like mixing this and that.
• 16:03
  SPEAKER_00: Like, it's really not like that.
• 16:04
  SPEAKER_00: Like, skincare ingredients are very uh scientific and technological.
• 16:09
  SPEAKER_00: And I know that we have never thought of them as real science, but that's what a lot of like the synthetic ingredients are actually inspired by.
• 16:17
  SPEAKER_00: It's a lot of things that nature produced in the first place, but then it's hard for us to find it in scale at the right price point to meet a lot of like, you know, different uh the demands for different products.
• 16:28
  SPEAKER_00: So um I I I, you know, since the get-go, it's this has been at the cornerstone, and that's why we bring like now we end up like bringing ingredients from like 80 something different countries the last time we checked, and we stock just in our own lab, uh, where we also, you know, like we are based in Vermont in my farm where we have our labs and we also have the factory there because I also wanted to make the products.
• 16:55
  SPEAKER_00: So we stock like the last time we counted, a total of like 680 different raw materials that we use.
• 17:02
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, wow, for 40-something products.
• 17:06
  SPEAKER_00: So you can only do the math and realize like the amount of ingredients that are there per product.
• 17:11
  SPEAKER_00: Um it's really fun, it's really fun.
• 17:15
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, our world is like the world of natural skincare is just on fire right now.
• 17:20
  SPEAKER_01: And it's well, that's what I want to know more about, also, because I feel like your brand is truly one of those, it's very, very rare to find something like your brand because I think you guys, the fact that you're not like exclaiming off the rooftop rooftops, oh, we're an organic brand, or we're you know, I love that.
• 17:35
  SPEAKER_01: I think it's it makes more sense if you make you know if you know what I mean.
• 17:38
  SPEAKER_01: Like it's it's like you want to be able to appeal to everybody, but you don't want to go over the top with your claims.
• 17:45
  SPEAKER_01: And I think right now, well, with a lot of skincare brands that are organic or natural, it's like that's the focus of their their entire thing.
• 17:53
  SPEAKER_01: But it's you know, it's almost like working against them.
• 17:55
  SPEAKER_01: So I'm glad that you're not, you know what I mean?
• 17:57
  SPEAKER_00: You're saying the beginning, we've known that we are not a brand for everybody, like we truly aren't.
• 18:05
  SPEAKER_00: Like, I think that we are a brand for someone that it looks for like really like hardworking products, like multi-band products, like really not because there's also people that love it simple, and there's nothing wrong with that.
• 18:19
  SPEAKER_00: And but I do feel that there's a lot of options, like if you want like single act products, like if you want it more simple, there's a lot of solutions.
• 18:26
  SPEAKER_00: But what about like if you are not that?
• 18:28
  SPEAKER_00: What about if you're someone that likes it concentrated, like really, you know, intense, you know?
• 18:34
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yeah, you want to see results, you want to see the results of your money.
• 18:38
  SPEAKER_01: I totally get that.
• 18:39
  SPEAKER_01: And I here's the thing, you know, for me, I will say this.
• 18:41
  SPEAKER_01: Um, you know, when I really fell in love with your products, I think was on this trip.
• 18:45
  SPEAKER_01: I had gone to New York for a weekend for a work trip, and I only put um, I think it was like a moisturizer that I took um that was from your line.
• 18:54
  SPEAKER_01: And that's all I took with me.
• 18:55
  SPEAKER_01: Um, it was one product, I know that.
• 18:57
  SPEAKER_01: And I remember when I got back, because trips are always the hardest for my skin personally.
• 19:01
  SPEAKER_01: Like, you know, I break out a lot if I'm like, you know, in airplanes and stuff.
• 19:05
  SPEAKER_01: So for me, that trip, I did not have skin concerns.
• 19:07
  SPEAKER_01: I was very happy with like, you know what I mean, just the balance of my skin.
• 19:10
  SPEAKER_01: And I think that's when I realized, like, you know, this is how you tell the quality of a line, right?
• 19:15
  SPEAKER_01: When you can throw it in your bag last minute and you know that you can count on it for your skin concerns, you know, that like that's that's really what matters.
• 19:22
  SPEAKER_01: And I think if you can say that at the end of the day, you've created something worthwhile.
• 19:27
  SPEAKER_01: And I I, you know, I don't think, like, for me, it was like a no-brainer.
• 19:30
  SPEAKER_01: You know what I mean?
• 19:31
  SPEAKER_01: I was like, let me just grab this because I know Tatra Harper has great products.
• 19:34
  SPEAKER_01: You know what I mean?
• 19:35
  SPEAKER_00: So like exactly, that's exactly what I'm saying.
• 19:37
  SPEAKER_00: Like, I think that we're there for you know, the community of people that are not necessarily looking for the best deal, but they're looking for the best product, you know, because it's hard for us to be a deal because of all the parameters that we have, you know, like all the ingredients are natural, our packaging is super sustainable, we make it all under one roof so that we can certify the quality, like we also reduce our carbon footprint, like all of that is our expensive decisions, right?
• 20:07
  SPEAKER_00: Like they're not like they're not easy decisions because they're expensive decisions that sometimes double the cost of things, you know, like to have like a paper for your boxes that it's forest certified, like that costs double.
• 20:21
  SPEAKER_00: If you want inks that you know that are soy-based, like that comes costs 40% more.
• 20:27
  SPEAKER_00: If you want to use plastics that are recycled and have post-consumer content, especially if you want 100% post-consumer, you know, that costs double than burgeon plastic, you know.
• 20:38
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, also decide to be clean to the extreme, as we are, you know, when we launched, there was no such thing as clean.
• 20:45
  SPEAKER_00: We were we're just 100% natural and we had our organic content.
• 20:49
  SPEAKER_00: But now, but if you want to be clean and really draw the line, that what your definition of clean is, is that we have zero tolerance for synthetic chemicals, that is very expensive, you know.
• 21:01
  SPEAKER_00: Also, so it's that's what I'm saying.
• 21:03
  SPEAKER_00: It's like we're and also you want a product that has multi-actives, you know.
• 21:08
  SPEAKER_00: It's like yeah, you want something that you want everything, you don't want to feel bad about your purchase, so you don't want to feel guilty.
• 21:14
  SPEAKER_00: You want that peace of mind that it comes in things that are sustainable, you want to make sure that the products are also made in practicing responsible manufacturing and transparent manufacturing.
• 21:25
  SPEAKER_00: You also want your products to be totally pure.
• 21:28
  SPEAKER_00: You want, and then on top of that, you want to make sure that you have the latest green technologies and that you have them all combined because we're not aligned that it's just about algae or just about the microbiome or just about vitamin C.
• 21:41
  SPEAKER_00: We're about like everything that it's good for your skin that would be good for those benefits that we're looking for.
• 21:46
  SPEAKER_00: So it's like if you want all of that, this is the, you know, this is this is this is what you know, this is what we do.
• 21:53
  SPEAKER_01: So, you know, let me ask you something, Tata, in in the spirit of International Women's Day today, because I I really, you know.
• 22:00
  SPEAKER_01: I love everything you're saying.
• 22:01
  SPEAKER_01: And I want to ask you in terms of as you grew your brand, what were some of the biggest hurdles you had?
• 22:06
  SPEAKER_01: And especially, you know, like feel free to tell us freely, like as a woman, too, because I think in the skincare realm, it's extremely interesting for me as an entrepreneur to see how somebody comes into this space, creates something, and then laughs, you know what I mean, throughout all the chaos and all the new products and stuff.
• 22:23
  SPEAKER_01: And I really feel like your line does that, you know, like I can still to this day go to any Sephora or wherever and say, I'm gonna invest in Tatcha Harper's line because I know it works.
• 22:32
  SPEAKER_01: So I want to know from your entrepreneurial side, um, some of the hurdles in your journey.
• 22:36
  SPEAKER_00: Lots of hurdles, lots of hurdles.
• 22:38
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, since the get-go, I mean, it's was obstacle after obstacle, even starting with the fact that people thought that, you know, if you are catering to that client that loves like really world-class in products, right?
• 22:51
  SPEAKER_00: And formulation like that, that that client's not interested in naturals, like first and foremost.
• 22:57
  SPEAKER_00: They were like, no way, like she's not looking for natural products, she doesn't care, you know, of what you're making.
• 23:03
  SPEAKER_00: Number two, like the products.
• 23:06
  SPEAKER_00: Everybody thought that I was nuts, that this was not possible.
• 23:09
  SPEAKER_00: Like, I need like maybe I could be paraben-free, but I could not have everything natural.
• 23:14
  SPEAKER_00: Like, I'm gonna replace the pegs and all the natural, you know, the synthetic emulsifiers with natural things.
• 23:20
  SPEAKER_00: Like, that's just not possible.
• 23:22
  SPEAKER_00: Who do you think you are?
• 23:23
  SPEAKER_00: Like, no, no way.
• 23:24
  SPEAKER_01: Um, really, like it was like um hurdle.
• 23:27
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah.
• 23:28
  SPEAKER_00: Like, this is not possible, especially because you know, the landscape of beauty.
• 23:32
  SPEAKER_00: If you want to start a beauty company, it's like everything it's outsourced, and a lot of the the the your partners that you outsource things with, they're used to making products in four months, you know, because if it's from a base, you uh oh Tata, you're Colombian.
• 23:49
  SPEAKER_00: We're gonna add this like rare fruit from I don't know where, and that's it, you know, like this rare melon, and you know, and then we're gonna add hyaluronic acid and it will be paraben-free, you know.
• 24:01
  SPEAKER_00: But then what?
• 24:03
  SPEAKER_00: But then they would add another synthetic chemical that it's less known, that's called phenoxyethanol, that it's also synthetic, and then I didn't want it.
• 24:10
  SPEAKER_00: So no one was you, no one wanted to invest the time to create the know-how that we created, right?
• 24:17
  SPEAKER_00: Like it was all like, you know, it's like who make this is not possible, you're nuts, you know.
• 24:22
  SPEAKER_00: Like, go find the team that can help you, and that's what I ended up doing.
• 24:25
  SPEAKER_00: I had to go find a team of many, many people that ended up helping me in many different parts uh of our brand.
• 24:32
  SPEAKER_00: And then I think that the moment we launched though, yeah, a lot of obstacles were, you know, then you realize if those obstacles were imaginary or they were real, and then you start seeing the sales come in, people buying again, and you're like, oh, people actually love what we're making.
• 24:51
  SPEAKER_00: You know, they're buying again, like they're they're loving it now, they're buying more things.
• 24:55
  SPEAKER_00: We're adding, you know, we're educating her on things that were not talked about before.
• 25:01
  SPEAKER_00: Like I remember when I started, I've always been obsessed with doing like spa parties and doing beauty parties where a lot of my clients would learn about the routines, how to layer, what to put first, what was the right order of layering.
• 25:14
  SPEAKER_00: None of these things were discussed before.
• 25:17
  SPEAKER_00: Um and that, and I've always been fascinated by that, you know, personal connection with my client and that education with my client because I feel that when I was a skincare, you know, just like a skincare customer, I didn't get this sort of information.
• 25:33
  SPEAKER_00: If anything, everything was mysterious and it was.
• 25:36
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, we still don't get it.
• 25:37
  SPEAKER_01: Honestly, we still don't get it.
• 25:39
  SPEAKER_01: That's why I made this podcast because we still don't get the information.
• 25:43
  SPEAKER_01: And I think that, you know, for somebody like you to like say that, I I it means a lot because I think right now everyone thinks, okay, skincare is a dumb deal.
• 25:51
  SPEAKER_01: We have so many products, everyone can figure it out.
• 25:53
  SPEAKER_01: There's something for everyone.
• 25:54
  SPEAKER_01: And I don't think so, Tata.
• 25:56
  SPEAKER_01: I think that, you know, more than anything, it's a lot of clutter in this space, you know what I mean?
• 26:01
  SPEAKER_01: And I think, you know, and and it's important for people to realize that brands such as yours are the ones that are paving the way.
• 26:07
  SPEAKER_01: And I think, you know, you have to you should build on that, but you should always try to be more, you know, like look, how can we make the discovery even better, right?
• 26:15
  SPEAKER_01: Instead of just copying it and being redundant and being like, well, this brand has this, this, and this ingredient.
• 26:20
  SPEAKER_01: Let me just make my own line with the same ingredients and call it a dupe.
• 26:23
  SPEAKER_00: That kind of thing.
• 26:24
  SPEAKER_00: Totally, and and I actually we are not a line that it's trendy in the sense that, you know, it's all about the Jinsen.
• 26:32
  SPEAKER_00: You know, ginseng is trending, and now we're gonna make a line about Jinsen.
• 26:35
  SPEAKER_00: Like, we don't operate like that.
• 26:37
  SPEAKER_00: If anything, we add Jinsen to something else that we're doing whenever it's relevant for it to be added.
• 26:42
  SPEAKER_00: But we don't just like make products like that, we make products that actually people are needing that make a difference.
• 26:48
  SPEAKER_00: Like, I agree with you.
• 26:49
  SPEAKER_00: I feel that because of the amount of money that it's been poured into the industry by so many like venture capital and funds that have been backing up a lot of entrepreneurs that all that they want to do is just make a quick book.
• 27:03
  SPEAKER_00: The industry is filled with a lot of irrelevant products, you know.
• 27:06
  SPEAKER_00: Like, do we need more vitamin C products?
• 27:09
  SPEAKER_00: No.
• 27:09
  SPEAKER_00: Do we need more CBD products?
• 27:11
  SPEAKER_00: In my opinion, we don't need more of that.
• 27:14
  SPEAKER_00: Like, we don't like we need products that make our lives better, yeah, and that truly make our skin better, and that are true innovation, you know.
• 27:23
  SPEAKER_00: A lot of times in skincare, when they talk about innovation, they talk about like a lot of things that are like marketing uh disruptions and communication disruptions, you know, like oh, they're selling they're selling like that.
• 27:37
  SPEAKER_00: But what about like true product innovation, you know, like technological innovation?
• 27:42
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you.
• 27:43
  SPEAKER_00: Yes, like yeah, no, a hundred percent.
• 27:46
  SPEAKER_00: I think all this technology that now it's fostered from all over the world and that it's there, available for us to use and to put in our products and to benefit from you know all the amazing things that they do for your skin.
• 28:00
  SPEAKER_00: Like it's actually like a great time to be doing what we're doing because there is so much.
• 28:04
  SPEAKER_00: And and I know that we are still kind of like in love with ingredients from the 80s, you know, like the vitamin C and the skin.
• 28:13
  SPEAKER_00: And those are great.
• 28:14
  SPEAKER_00: I love them and I use them, but they're not like the end-all be all of skincare, you know, either.
• 28:20
  SPEAKER_00: You know, there's so much more.
• 28:21
  SPEAKER_00: Like now there's ingredients that help you with neuroaging, ingredients that help you with thickening of the skin and bringing density, ingredients that help you relax wrinkles.
• 28:31
  SPEAKER_00: Um, you know, there is so much, you know, so much that it's uh that it's been developed in the last decade that it's actually like really exciting because we, you know, like we shamelessly take advantage of all of the technology from when we don't acknowledge it.
• 28:48
  SPEAKER_01: I 100%, I totally get it.
• 28:50
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, I think that you know, people are just overwhelmed with tech the word, you know what I mean, technology, but it's like they that's what I'm picking up at least.
• 28:57
  SPEAKER_01: You know, correct me if I'm wrong.
• 28:59
  SPEAKER_01: Um, you know, people are just like, okay, well, there's this new skincare technology, and then you have all these devices that come into the picture, you know?
• 29:05
  SPEAKER_01: But it's like when you talk about technology and innovation, it doesn't have to be this crazy, it could just be, you know, you're using the right ingredients, like you said earlier, the right way.
• 29:15
  SPEAKER_01: You know, it like to be able to scientifically say, I this is why I'm doing this, and this is why these ingredients work together, that is technology, that is innovation.
• 29:23
  SPEAKER_01: And, you know, we need a lot more of that, especially now instead of you know coming out like I said earlier with lines that are just redundant, you know, we don't need more redundancy.
• 29:32
  SPEAKER_01: And and I think the best way to avoid that is basically, you know, it is to apply what you've been applying for so many years now, you know.
• 29:39
  SPEAKER_01: I I and I I just don't understand where the confusion is in the skincare space.
• 29:44
  SPEAKER_00: Well, the thing is that you know, a lot of people don't you they they don't know these things, and it's easily to get confused sometimes, and uh, and and then you hear over and over the same ingredients and you think that they are a must in your routine.
• 29:59
  SPEAKER_00: I I honestly, when I was just like skincare consumer, I thought that there was like a must, you know.
• 30:05
  SPEAKER_00: Like I I is if I don't have vitamin C, my or retinal, like I am gonna age.
• 30:11
  SPEAKER_00: Uh like I'm not gonna age that well.
• 30:15
  SPEAKER_01: No, I I hear you, it's it's uh brainwashing, you know what I mean?
• 30:18
  SPEAKER_00: That people are just yeah, it's just like we need to be more open to new things, like like now we're like we preview so much stuff.
• 30:25
  SPEAKER_00: Like I am just amazed of like how many amazing things are out there to make your skin beautiful, whether it's from liquids inside of dormant bulbs that we bring from Israel, or like a lot of like the microalgae technology that it's like all the new plankton that it's been used, and how it's been used, and what are the superpowers of like the different uh species of algae that are out there, and then there's also ingredients that are done, like you know, like all the biotech ingredients that are done via fermentation and with bacteria eating different things and creating new raw materials, like it's fascinating, it's amazing, and it's ingredients that do things that you wouldn't believe.
• 31:08
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, and and you know, I I love that you're I love that you're so open-minded to all of this.
• 31:12
  SPEAKER_01: I think that's that's one of my favorite things about your line is that I always saw products that were like new, you know what I mean?
• 31:18
  SPEAKER_01: Like I'd every time I'd like look for something, it was always like this amazing new area of skincare that you were addressing.
• 31:25
  SPEAKER_01: It wasn't just like okay, here's another clay mask, you know.
• 31:28
  SPEAKER_01: I already have two clay masks.
• 31:30
  SPEAKER_01: And then that's what I really like.
• 31:31
  SPEAKER_01: And I think that the spirit of what you just said really exists in your products.
• 31:35
  SPEAKER_01: And everyone listening out there, you know, if you haven't tried Tata Harper at this point, I urge you, please go try the products because they're truly, truly innovative and beautiful.
• 31:44
  SPEAKER_01: And you know, they it's almost like you know, I think of jewelry, right?
• 31:48
  SPEAKER_01: It's like good jewelry lasts throughout the trends, like no matter what.
• 31:52
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and then you know, no matter what's coming out.
• 31:54
  SPEAKER_01: So that's how I see your line.
• 31:56
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, thank you so much.
• 31:57
  SPEAKER_00: And yeah, and and you know, we we have reinforced our skincare concierge team so that when people want to do naturals and they're confused about where to start, like they're a great resource to educate them, tell them how to start, what are the basic steps, how much layering do they want to do, if they want to keep it more minimal in their steps, like what is those essential steps and so on?
• 32:21
  SPEAKER_00: Because I do feel that there is some hand holding that needs to be done, even in a concise line like ours.
• 32:28
  SPEAKER_00: Like, what's the right moisturizer for me?
• 32:30
  SPEAKER_00: What's the right serum for me, especially when there's multiple options in a brand?
• 32:34
  SPEAKER_00: And it's and it's uh it's nice to have someone that can guide you through that.
• 32:38
  SPEAKER_00: And uh, and our team is an expert in doing that.
• 32:42
  SPEAKER_01: I love that.
• 32:42
  SPEAKER_01: I love that so much.
• 32:43
  SPEAKER_01: Tata, I want to thank you so much for your time.
• 32:45
  SPEAKER_01: This has been amazing.
• 32:47
  SPEAKER_01: Um, I I really, really enjoyed learning all about your line.
• 32:49
  SPEAKER_01: And I hope everyone listening out there, you learned something new about the line.
• 32:53
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and you will go check them out.
• 32:55
  SPEAKER_01: So leave us some comments and feedback.
• 32:57
  SPEAKER_01: If you have any questions for me or Tatto's team, leave them in the comments.
• 33:00
  SPEAKER_01: I will definitely pass them along to you.
• 33:02
  SPEAKER_01: Um, thank you so much again.
• 33:04
  SPEAKER_00: Bye, big kids, mwa.
• 33:06
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you for having me.
• 33:07
  SPEAKER_01: Thank you.
• 33:08
  SPEAKER_00: Bye.
• 33:14
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• 34:21
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