DUBAI: One of the first to embrace 100 percent natural, non-toxic beauty, Tata Harper’s eponymous skincare line has revolutionized clean beauty, gaining cult status for its whittled-down ingredients that are biodegradable and toxin-free.
Her skincare range is sustainably made from start to finish on her Vermont farm, and the Colombia-born entrepreneur’s farm-to-face products are testament to the fact that you can both be a conscious consumer and passionate about your beauty routine.
“I didn’t ever believe in beauty minimalism,” Harper told Arab News. “I am the exact opposite. More is more when it comes to beauty. Life is stressful and for me, my beauty ritual is such a place to go for comfort and soothing.”
Portrait of Tata Harper. Instagram/@tataharperskincare
But it wasn’t until her stepfather was diagnosed with cancer and Harper started becoming more conscious about everything she was putting in and on her body that she decided to launch her own beauty label.
“You are made of what you ingest,” Harper said. “Your skin is the biggest organ and it reacts to everything,” she added on why women should be selective with the products on their bathroom counter.
“I started Tata Harper skincare out of personal need. I didn’t know what to use. I didn’t know how to replace the products that I was using that were super advanced, super high tech, really efficacious, really efficient for the skin. And all of a sudden I’m confronted with natural beauty that it’s very simplistic and very basic. And I am not a basic beauty girl,” she said.
The beauty entrepreneur couldn’t find anything that was made of high-quality ingredients and effective, so she decided to create her own range of formulas in 2010.
The Colombia-born entrepreneur launched Tata Harper in 2010. Instagram/@tataharperskincare
The result was a line of cleansers, serums, moisturizers and eye creams that fuse natural ingredients such as calendula, arnica, alfalfa, chamomile and varieties of mint with technology for products that are not only organic but work.
The cult-favorite Elixir Vitae Serum, for example, uses neuropeptide technology so that it relaxes wrinkles and serves as an alternative to injectables.
In addition to being organic, Tata Harper aims to be completely sustainable and end single-use packaging. Each formula comes in recyclable glass, and the little plastic they do use for their tubes is derived from sugar cane, which means it is made from a renewable resource instead of petroleum. Even the packaging’s labels use soy-based ink for printing.
“My hope for the beauty industry is that it becomes more sustainable for real,” Harper said. “Sometimes, a lot of the things that people call sustainable, are not really — and if you’re not sustainable, that means that you’re unsustainable,” she said. “I believe in refillable packaging. If the pump still works, if the bottle isn’t broken, then why are you throwing it away? If every customer reuses it, even once, they’re saving 12 from those packaging going into the landfill every month.”
The Water-Lock Moisturizer can be refilled with a product pod once it runs out. Instagram/@tataharperskincare
Her cult-classic Water-Lock Moisturizer can be refilled with a product pod once it runs out.
Ingredients are also upcycled when possible.
Recently, Harper collaborated with the Mandarin Oriental hotel in the UAE on three face and body treatments exclusively available at the Dubai hotel’s award-winning spa.
“I’ve always been a huge Mandarin fan. And I just thought that this was the right venue to have our facial experiences,” Harper said, adding that they have plans to launch in other parts of the region as well.
The treatments include one anti-aging facial, a full-body scrub and a skin-brightening ritual that leaves the limbs illuminated and smooth.
Hotel guests and day spa guests are able to experience Harper’s 100 percent natural and all-organic, custom-created treatments and rituals, as well as purchase a full range of products from the spa’s boutique.