We were lucky to catch up with Salina Tewelde recently and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Salina thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Do you have a hero? What have you learned from them?

Hello and thanks for reaching out to us. My personal hero and Red Sea Beauty’s hero is my grandmother Sunny. I received a diagnosis of malignant melanoma (skin cancer) in 2016 and began a centering self-care routine that focused on skincare. I studied healing botanicals traditionally used by my Eritrean ancestors and was introduced to me by my grandmother Sunny. I integrated natural ingredients and practices into my daily skincare regimen and adopted a more holistic lifestyle including prayer. I basically modeled my life after my grandmother’s holistic lifestyle. My grandmother taught me a lot about cultural resilience that protected my wellbeing and helped me find spiritual renewal. My experience is the foundation for my small skincare business, Red Sea Beauty, which was cultivated to provide that same renewal to anyone looking to feel better— naturally.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I am a part of the Eritrean diaspora and always wanted a way to maintain my connection to my homeland. I created Red Sea Beauty, an all-natural, handmade cosmetics company inspired by the wisdom of African women. We honor their ancient rituals and put them into practice – even today. Red Sea Beauty encourages customers to unmask their true selves and function at their highest frequency. Red Sea Beauty pays homage to the Eritrean culture, which is one of resiliency and unity. Our products are formulated to trigger memories of our oneness and power to overcome adversity. Red Sea Beauty products alleviate the stress and pressure we all feel from daily life. They draw upon the healing power of nature, allowing us to take a moment to look inward, gain clarity, and serve as a reminder of our endurance.

I have always been interested in natural remedies and in the different ways people use natural resources. I’ve achieved all my skincare goals using natural resources to create Red Sea Beauty cosmetics. I shared my products with friends and family and they also saw results and then I knew I wanted to share my line with anyone that would like to try natural cosmetics for healthy skin.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

Back in 2020 I remember searching for a graphic designer to create the brand guidelines for Red Sea Beauty. After searching online for weeks I finally found an Eritrean graphic designer, Banna Tesfay, and knew she was the one after I saw some of her past work. I knew I wanted to work with an Eritrean designer because I wanted to talk about our lived experiences as an Eritrean American and the importance of how our Eritrean culture influences our lives as Americans. I never had the chance to work with another Eritrean in a professional capacity and wondered what our untapped potential could create. Creative-arts is not strongly encouraged in the Eritrean culture and my goal was to highlight our talents.

After months of revisions and zoom meetings, Banna finalized the Red Sea Beauty branding. She wanted to submit it as artwork in the design exhibition Best of AIGA Arizona 2020. Red Sea Beauty was voted second runner up and Banna received an AIGA Best of 2020 award as a national designer. I was very happy that by the end our our time together we both benefited.

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?

After I received the branding for Red Sea Beauty I knew the next phase was production of the visual concepts. It was extremely hard to communicate with manufactures because they used technical terms that I had no idea what they were talking about. I also didn’t know where to begin with sourcing containers, packaging and labels.

I sent Red Sea Beauty brand guidelines to several local manufactures and I received quotes for nearly $60K to produce packaging for one product. I was so overwhelmed, but never gave up because I knew that I have a set of skills that could help me recreate the product mockups, but I would have to sacrifice a lot of details because I had a collection of products. After several tutorials and prayers I was able to finally hold the products and sell several over the months. It was important for me to figure out a way to have a beautiful product at a very low cost and it was all possible by cutting out the middle man.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.RedSeaBeauty.com
• Instagram: RedSeaBeauty
• Facebook: RedSeaBeauty
• Twitter: RedSeaBeauty
• Youtube: RedSeaBeauty
• Other: Apple Music, Youtube Music, Spotify, – Red Sea Beauty music

Image Credits
Salina Tewelde