How entrepreneur Sarah Shahnor’s encounter with eczema changed her career course

Sarah Shah Nor of Cuura says that her aim is to target people with sensitive skin, so she is always looking for gentle but effective formulations. Photo: The Star/YAP CHEE HONG

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 for gentle but effective formulations. During the time we were developing Cuura, no other skincare brands were focusing on this.

Her postpartum eczema diagnosis led Sarah to establishing her homegrown skincare brand. Photo: The Star/YAP CHEE HONG

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What goes into sourcing ingredients for your products, and what is the process like for each product from conceptualisation to production?

Cuura used to be 100% handmade by our team and our formulator.

After our business grew at a very active rate during the peak Covid period, we decided to empower our formulator’s business and helped her open up her own manufacturing practice.

Following that all of our products were Halal certified (which is an almost impossible feat for local brands) because brands need to be audited thoroughly to get this certification.

We always produce things that our customers need and all of the products are used by the whole team for months or years before it is launched in the market.

How did you get the certifications needed for your products?

We did not want to compromise the whole formulation by using common, poor grade actives because that would make it difficult to get a Halal certification.

But we were confident in our formulations and the business still grew slowly because so many of our customers kept coming back.

And after few years, our actives/ingredients supplier and chemist managed to open their own manufacturing practice because of the brand’s growth and we finally managed to get certified.

What’s your skincare routine like?

It’s very elaborate, but I would always recommend, even if you’re too lazy or in a hurry, to cleanse, moisturise and apply sunscreen as a very basic routine.

And then, focus on your night routine where you can really rejuvenate your skin.

Mine is always: cleanse, exfoliate (once a week), followed by a toner, essence, eye gel, serum, moisturiser, face oil, a sleeping mask or retinol.What tips do you have for people with sensitive skin?Always be gentle to your skin. Piling up actives into your skin doesn’t mean your skin will become flawless faster.

You want your skin to improve gradually, so what matters is consistency.

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What are some causes that are important to you?

We try as much to inject sustainability (although this is not a cheap endeavour), and recently we have converted all of our packaging to use post consumer recycled materials (meaning they are not from single used plastic or glass).

We were the first local brand to use biodegradable edible courier bags made from corn and we continue to pioneer these movements too.

For us, ethical has always been the key. By being purely transparent to the customers to the way we conduct business and to the most simple thing like how we treat our team members. It all counts.

How would you describe your personal style?

I am pro-comfort so a relaxed, chill style represents me the most. I only wear fashionable pieces for special events and even those looks also have to come with a comfort factor as the main priority.