Inner beauty is great but fabulous hair never hurts.
Life would be so amazing if we could all be like Ezwana. To her, being able to fulfil her passion in the hair care industry has certainly been a blessing in disguise. It all started off when she was doing her final year research thesis on the male skincare industry in Malaysia that led her to further understand the market. One of her first jobs after graduating was at a local makeup and beauty company and ever since then, she has never looked back.
When asked about what it was about developing your own brand, she shared with us that she has always brought the idea up with her husband.
“I am beyond thankful that he took me really seriously and both of us brainstormed on the ideas, formulation and business planning and started MIES HAIRCARE together,” Ezwana expressed her gratitude enthusiastically.
Besides being an avid lover of the industry, one thing that is most integral to the work of a hair care formulator is to constantly do your own research. Not everything works the same for everyone as there are different ingredients and formulations hence why you should always learn, understand and then try. Ezwana tells us that she also works really closely with her product development team that includes certified chemists on formulating her signature hair mask treatment, Cocomint.
It was only when she became a mother and had to leave the corporate world, she decided it was time to start up her own business. Fun fact: MIES is actually the abbreviation of her name, her husband’s and son. What a creative way to tie the business to the family, making it a homely brand.
Ezwana always takes care of her hair and has been religiously using a hair mask as her daily conditioner as well as coconut oil. As time went by, she kept getting frequent questions from people about her hair care regime and that was when she came up with the idea of including coconut oil in Cocomint. After giving birth, she struggled with severe postpartum hair loss until she discovered that peppermint oil helps with rejuvenating the scalp and eliminates hair loss.
“I met up with our chemist and discussed how to incorporate these two main ingredients to create a 2in1 product that is able to work on both hair and scalp. Long story short, we came out with the formulation and Cocomint is born!”
Review: All about the hair
Being someone who is very particular about the products I use for my hair, I was doubtful at first when it came to Cocomint. I found the cooling sensation of the peppermint a bit too strong for my scalp at first, but eventually, I got used to it.
Advertised to be a magic potion to improve hair growth, I personally don’t see any change to my hair yet. But then again, I did only use it for a month so that might explain things. On a bright side though, this has certainly worked for me in terms of moisturising my dry locks and giving life and shine to it. I can happily say that my hair now is looking much better and Cocomint does help keep the dryness at bay.
One thing I’m looking forward to using it more is to see whether it does help improve my hair growth. ‘Cause honestly if it does, I’ll be marking Cocomint as a holy grail from now on.
The hair mask treatment is enriched with peppermint, avocado and virgin coconut oil with shea butter that works marvellously. On top of that, it just has the freshest fragrance ever.
Would I make a return purchase after this? I just might.
Anyways, Ezwana is currently working with her team to create unique products like hair mask drops and scalp exfoliator so do stay tuned. Those interested to get their hands on Cocomint (RM50) can purchase it via Instagram, Shopee and soon on Good Fit.
Get to know Ezwana
How did your parents influence you to be the person that you are today and what lessons and values can you share with us?
My parents taught me to work hard and never give up. Take responsibility and automatically being careless on handling and managing a business is never an option.
Share with us something that you’re working on improving about yourself and the business.
I have learnt to push myself beyond my limit and always try to work outside of my comfort zone. Taking risks and never procrastinating. This is because I have seen clear results when I keep pushing myself to work harder!
How do you cope with rejection?
Well, it was hard at first. But after a while, I summed it as constructive criticism and work my way to further develop and improvise the product. Giving up is not in my life vocabulary, hopefully.
What makes your brand stand out more than the others?
I believe we provide a transformative product that is multifunctional, perfect for users that want to take good care of both their hair and scalp. Using the Cocomint can also be a very relaxing and calming experience as the scent and cooling sensation is one of our selling points.
How do you stay true to yourself and what’s your definition of success?
Always keeping it real, staying humble and close to god. My personal definition of success is to have financial freedom, the ability to work creatively and also being able to do what you love as a career.