Marzea Skincare Products and some advices for skincare business~

I can't believe dah berapa tahun dah buat business ni :') I have been through so many ups and downs as an entrepreneur, and have learnt so much along the way. If anybody thinks doing any type of business is easy, pshhhh!! Or if you're an entrepreneur yourself and people don't respect that, pshhhh! Leave them be ok. Wait till they start their own. Hehe!

I can emphatise with business owners and i respect everyone's hustle(s). It isn't easy. I bet those big businesses pun struggle with so much in terms of financial well-being and on top of that, making sure that they have projects and jobs so that their employees have a job and earnings to support their livelihood.

There had been so much unprecedented and unexpected circumstances thrown to us these past few years, and it definitely took a toll on my own business. I had trouble trying to adapt, negotiate and think on how i could salvage my business' situation. Everything started to cost more. Materials, bottles, everything 😢

I'm not the only one though. 

But then, as an engineer, learning something unrelated to my field was one of the best opportunity i have. I learnt about marketing, copywriting, finance (albeit very basic), working with people, trying to fix problems, PR skills, and so many other soft skills i'd never thought of learning, i got them while doing what i've been doing. I am grateful for this different knowledge gained and for being able to survive this long =')

Now, let's see.. Do i have any advices on people who wants to start a skincare business?

Here are some i can think of =)

1. Do your research. 

A lot of people go on the bulk stuff, like apa nama benda tu.. You know, the bulk cream from factory kat china or malaysia or mana mana la because they're cheaper, available and ready to sell. Cuma letak logo brand je.

To be honest, I think it's ok, but find out the ingredients. As long as the ingredients are not harmful to the skin, halal, can give good and realistic results, it's ok la. Whatever it is, must do research. 

2. Be honest.

Honest to yourself and your customers. If you won't use your own products, then don't sell it. Won't ye, bukan don't. Just because you takde ezcema, doesn't mean you cannot sell ezcema cream kan. Boleh je. Tapi sekarang, you tanak pakai sebab you sendiri tak percaya effectiveness of your product on your own self, so then don't sell it to others.

3. Know your products.

In anything pun, are you trying to solve a problem or prevent it?

Words like 'anti-aging', 'moisturising', 'for sensitive skin', miaomiaomiao are important in defining the purpose of your product.

And then there's 'vegan', 'natural', 'paraben free', blablabla are important in order to show your belief and stance when it came to how your products were made.  

4. Know your manufacturer.

If you're going through that route. Most manufacturers already have chemists and product specialists, so don't be afraid to ask for their samples and know their products as well. Most of the manufacturers i've visited have their samples but of course had to be purchased. So i did that and also gave the products a fair try.

You can also have your own formula to be manufactured. Plus point about having a manufacturer is that they will do everything, from production, to bottling and packaging. Minus point, need to be in bulk and kena ada modal duit kaching kaching.

You can look for manufacturers at npra.gov.my

5. Know the shelf life of your products and ingredients.

I think this is one of the top priorities when it comes to skincare and beauty products. Everything has a shelf life. Know how you can extend the shelf life, like maybe use a dark bottle to avoid sun exposure, put a disclaimer or how to store the products on the product label. Some ingredients memang will not last long, so either it will make your skin worse, or has no effect at all. Therefore, be careful and learn about the ingredients you're putting into your products.

6. If it's homemade, make sure to have a safe and clean place.

Cleanliness and hygiene is important. It is best if you can have a separate place from home to make your products. If not able, just make a special space specifically for your business and products in your home.

7. Finding suppliers.

If you need suppliers, i suggest try look for local suppliers first. If takde yang memuaskan or maybe competitive in price, you can also look at alibaba or amazon etc. The good thing about having a local supplier is that you can get your stuff ASAP, and if anything, you can exchange or whatever immediately. Buying from overseas maybe can be way cheaper but the shipping cost is crazy expensive now, so consider that. And if there's any problem, it'll be costly and time consuming. "Time is money", ya know. Hehe!

So i think that's all the advices i can think of. I hope that it will somewhat help you in a way. 

Kalau ada lagi yang pops in my head, i will add on.

Other than that, for all business owners, entrepreneurs, solopreneurs, i wish everyone the best and let's hope our hurdles, hardships and struggles are only stepping stones and turning points for our success, inshaAllah. May Allah help us, provide for us, reward us and open doors of opportunities and rezeki for us 👐 Amiiinn~

Oh, and do come shop at Marzea.com sementara tengah SALE ni!! Email us your order at marzeashop@gmail.com 💋

Update Avatar

I think we all have some kind of folder in our brain where we store avatars of people we've met and know.

For example, i have an avatar of my family members, along with their personalities, their likes and dislikes, their tendencies, preferences, and things i don't like about them, what to avoid, how to react in certain situations, and all that.

It's all these data about people that we've gathered throughout knowing them.

It might be a little and a lot.

These avatars we've made of people, they're based on our observation and experiences with them, and they are our impressions of these peeps.

Also, they need to be updated once in a while. Just like our computers & phones.

I'm saying this because i am absolutely positive that my kids have an avatar of me in their mind and their impressions of me are mostly not positive.

My daughter sees me as a kill-joy, because i put limit on the time she can play with her friends.

It's really hurtful because we will meet people who likes to ungkit past occasions to justify their disagreements, bad behaviours, bad choices etc. Imagine tengah argue, and then orang tu ungkit kisah berapa tahun dulu. Padahal banyak je banda lain kita dah buat for them that should be able to 'cancel' out that bad impressions kan?

Benda baik tanak ingat. Nak jugak ingat yang buruk kan.

The other day, my daughter did this to me la which made me so hurt. I just couldn't make her change her mind about me no matter what i do, and it is frustrating.

I told my husband about it, so he did his best to educate her. But then the fear of being hurt again by my child lingers around me.

She is still a child, but the part of me that imagines how much harder it'll be when she gets older, gets me.

It's weird to think about how when i see tiktok videos about how parents could harm a child's future, yet here i am on the opposite side, scared of how my kids could potentially destroy my kokoro. My kokoro is very soft & sensitive hehee..

Because no matter how 'best' we try to give and provide for them, selagi diorang tak update their avatar of me, selagi tu la i will always be the witch in their lives.

And thus, i often tell myself to update my avatars of people i know and hold dear. 

It's best not to only hold on to bad impressions, but remember that people have different opinions, preferences, experiences, circumstances, and everyone is different. People are also allowed to be emotional, irrational, forgetful, careless, just as they are allowed to grow, improve and change.

Of course i don't claim that i am consciously changing my impressions of people. 

But i must hold myself accountable la if because of my not-updating my avatars, i may have hurt people.

Huhh..

Kisah descaling cerek

 To be honest, i tak pernah basuh my cerek bersungguh sungguh sebelum ni.

Basuh gitu gitu je sebabnya nampak ok je kan.

Until haritu i saw macam white-ish crystals at the side of the corong mulut. It was limescale. Dun Dun Dunnnnnn...

So i googled on how to clean up limescale~

Banyak je cara dia. Ada yang suruh scrub pakai baking soda, pakai ini pakai itu, i mean google je la if you need it hehe.

But i used the coke way.

My husband ada beli sebotol coke pastu dia tanak habiskan sebab "dah tak gassy so tak sedap", which is true btw. Takde gas, coke tu hanya air + gula je..

So my advice kalau sesape yang wondering if you should de-scale your cerek: yes, you should especially when you see the white stuff forming on the bottom of the cerek, at the corong, at the coil. And all you have to do is boil a bottle of coke in your cerek, pastu dah siap boil, bukak top dia tu and let it be for about an hour. After dah buang air coke tu, basuh betul betul dengan sabun and inshaAllah your cerek will look good again. 

ps: yes, menjadi heheeee tapi still kena basuh la cuma tak perlu sental sental. Normal wash.