Clean, minimal and meaningful – this is Iehana, a Romanian brand, family owned, which takes its name from the Japanese language. Iehana means “House of Flowers” which perfectly translates their day to day activities. In their lab they’re growing lots of plants used in the skincare and beauty products.
You definitely need to know more so scroll down to read our interview with Medeea Haruki.
Three principles that define your brand identity.
Nature. Sustainability. Innovation.
We deserve to enjoy the nature from within. The planet gives us so many resources, and our desire is to give back as much as we can. We are doing our best to take care of our planet, to be sustainable, to recycle, to plant most of our ingredients in our greenhouse, in Breaza. We are constantly looking for innovative ingredients and formulas that can help our skin stay healthier and youthful.
What is the founder’s background and what lit the idea of launching a skincare & beauty brand in Romania?
We are two co-founders in our business, my mother & me. My mother used to be a teacher back in the days. Also, she was an Olympic in mathematics, chemistry and physics. She discovered her passion in formulating cosmetics 18 years ago.
I am passionate about fashion, art, business, and I always thought I would have my own fashion brand one day. We launched Iehana just after I finished the Fashion Design University, in 2013. During the high school years, I used to work as a reporter.
Back in 2012, while participating at a local fair, we discovered the Kangen Water.
We were intrigued by the benefits of this clean & pure water and basically, we thought, “we should make skincare products with it”. If we are stepping into the cosmetics industry, we should bring an innovation. We have to stand out. We also, innovated using the alkaline water while extracting the active principles from our plants.
Skincare ingredients/plants that you grow locally and are perfect for the skin in the winter season.
Thanks to our carefully acquired experience, we are able to grow unique plants such as: edelweiss, Tibetan gentian, moringa, schisandra, aronia and goji. Each plant has been acclimated by providing its native needs like soil composition, mineral substrates and climate variation. We only use vegetable fertilizers to support our crops.
All of the ingredients mentioned above are powerful for the winter season, when our skin needs even more moisture than usual. These ingredients stimulate the production of Hyaluronic Acid and prevent collagen degradation, thus reducing the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles.
What was your first product and do you still sell it?
Our first products were the Perfect Skin line & the PROlift anti-aging moisturizers which are still the best sellers since then.
The Perfect Skin is a moisturizer trilogy formulated for: dry & sensitive, oily and normal & mixt skin, while the PROlift addresses to the mature skin, made to prevent wrinkles and to erase the effects of time. Each product has between 20 and 30 powerful ingredients. Regarding our formulas, we always believe “more is better”.
For how long are you testing a product before launching it? Take us through the process.
Before launching a skincare product there is a minimum of 1 year until you can bring it to the market, depending of course, on the product type. The moment we find the final formula, we test it in our laboratory, using special kits. After this process, we send our products to be tested in specialized laboratories. The time may vary depending on the product.
For example, we had a face mask, which is now one of our best-sellers – the Purple Mud which is made with 3 types of clay: green, white & purple. Clays are very difficult to work with. To be stabilized. This product took us almost 3 years and numerous tests until we could launch.
Find their products online at www.iehanacosmetics.com or follow @iehanacosmetics on Instagram!