In 2017, Sarah Shahnor was diagnosed with postpartum eczema, which led to an interest in gentle skincare. At that time she had a multi-label modestwear store in Bangsar called Modvier, and thought beauty items of this nature would be a good addition to the boutique. As she began to research gentle skincare, she came to realise there was a huge gap in the local scene.
“Almost everyone was doing whitening products which can be harsh on sensitive skin,” says Sarah. “Many brands were doing the ‘putih (fair) in three days’ type of branding.” This led to Sarah pivoting from fashion to beauty, establishing the homegrown skincare brand Cuura, popular for its quality formulations.
Tell us why creating clean skincare crafted from natural ingredients matters to you. I wanted to be different but it was a huge challenge. As a consumer myself, I pushed, sought education about skincare, actives, usage and such.
I guess because of that, we attracted a different kind of crowd which took a lot of convincing to convert them from using international brands. But once they were hooked, they stayed. In the first few years, I tried to find any local manufacturer who would use certain actives or ingredients (used by international brands for sensitive skin) but I was often rejected because they are costly and no one would cater for a small brand.
So we resorted to handmade. We learned everything and did everything ourselves. My aim is to target people with sensitive skin so I always look f.