Today, cosmetics, shea butter and recognition with Kaël cosmetics. This is the story of a family dedicated to shea butter. Michaël Guezodje’s mother works with shea butter using ancestral know-how and passed on her interest in shea butter to her son. With Kaël cosmetics, Michaël Guezodje combines the richness and benefits of nature with the effectiveness of dermatological formulas.
There is no business without creation, I think. In my case, creation is central, because even when we have a formula that exists, when we improve it, for me, that’s creation.
Michael Guezodje, founder of Kaël cosmetics.
“I wanted a name that inspired shea, so I wanted there to be a K at the start, the K and the A. My first name is Michaël and here is Kaël, it’s rather simple and practical. »
Michael Guezodje, originally from Benin, arrives in France to attend a business school. After his higher education, he worked in an insurance company, but he, who had always seen his mother work with shea butter, began researching this plant material. He discovers that the shea butter produced in Benin is one of the best in the world. Kael cosmetics was launched in 2015. The products offered are based on certified organic shea butter from women’s cooperatives in northern Benin, but the formulation is provided in France.
“In terms of beauty products, France is recognized worldwide for being a land of reference, in terms of quality, in terms of specifications. The infrastructures, the laboratories in France are renowned throughout the world for the quality and their know-how. And I wanted to bring to the market products of high quality, without pretension, and that they meet the concrete needs of the consumer, whoever he is. We work on types of needs or in any case skin problems and not on skin colors. I am not for ethnic marketing, it does not correspond to my convictions. This is why I chose from the start to work on skin issues because the objective was to meet needs based on skin profiles and name to do ethnic marketing. My business is not activism, it’s a choice to meet consumer needs in a pragmatic way. »
The French brand was born from a desire to transmit to as many people as possible this plant material with remarkable virtues.
“It’s a butter that is colored, that is to say it is not bleached, it is not flavored, it is not treated. It is in its most natural form possible and therefore, it is difficult to exploit, to integrate into a formula. It has a smell which is very particular and which is not very pleasant. It really takes a lot of manipulation to come up with a formula that is acceptable to the consumer. We integrate into each of the Kaël formulas small natural scents which allow us to achieve an overall harmony in terms of the result, but without distorting the product, or artificially scenting it. I think the consumer, whether Asian, African or European, wants cosmetic care that is pleasant, that doesn’t have an overpowering or unpleasant scent. We want to put on our skin a product that is nice, that makes you want. I think it’s a universal problem. »
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