Making it in the Middle East: Meet the make-up brand for Arab women, by Arab women

By Sarah Parsons | Published: 19-Feb-2019

In an interview with Cosmetics Business, Areej Sultan Al-Essa, founder of K7L make-up, discusses why western brands need to up their game in the Middle East

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When Kuwaiti-based Areej Sultan Al-Essa, founder of K7L, established her first venture distribution company Beautilicious in 2005 she realised that western make-up brands neglected Middle Eastern women. Despite importing successful brands, there was consistently one third of the collection not picked up.

“We had everything from skin care to hair care and body care, but our talks with colour cosmetics brands were falling flat,” Sultan Al-Essa explains to Cosmetics Business ahead of Beauty World Middle East. “When you import a make-up brand it is made and geared for the western market.

"Which makes sense; the US is the largest territory, followed by Europe, but there was always 30% of the line that couldn’t be used in Arabia. It made me think and I knew that I needed to create my own brand for women here.”

Today, K7L is making waves in the region. Launched in 2015 into Kuwait and Dubai, with an

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