Despite the multi-billion dollar cosmetic industry in the United States, one area of the beauty market remains wide open: skin care formulated specifically for dark skin.
At least that was the thinking behind Aloe for Mocha, a company founded in 2008 by Danna Johnston, a Newcastle resident and Seattle native.
“As a young person, I was a label reader and I could never find anything that addressed my skin needs,” said Johnston.
Though Johnston’s products work for anyone with dark skin, marketing has been focused primarily on the African-American community.
According to Jim Johnston, their primary demographic is African-American women of 33-years and older.
“When Danna says, ‘I have made this for African-Americans’ you get a physical reaction, like ‘finally,’” he said. “They are always interested that someone has finally done this.”
He also says that Johnston was involved in every part of the formulation process.
“In the formulation shops, I don’t think that they were used to anyone being so picky,” Jim Johnston said. “But she wasn’t going to sell anything that she didn’t personally love.”
Danna Johnston has chosen not to place the line in stores, but instead to focus on trade shows and in-home events.
“A lot of our marketing effort involves connecting with the clients,” she said. “This product has a real educational piece tied to the sale.”
Because of her hands-on marketing technique, the majority of Johnston’s clients are currently Washington-based.
Johnston said that part of the reason she stayed in the Seattle area to launch her company was to give something back to the community.
She founded the Successful Young Women’s Project, a mentoring program for teenage girls. She first focused her efforts on Rainier Beach High School in Seattle.
“After looking at WASL scores and teen pregnancy rates, I determined that maybe there was a need for successful role models to come and mentor the young girls down there,” she said.
The program brings in successful women to speak to the girls, and sponsors study skills and wellness workshops. This past school year, the project mentored 22 girls from Rainier Beach including four seniors, all of whom are attending college next year.
Jim Johnston said that the efforts will not stop with Rainier Beach.
“Rainier was selected because we felt that was maybe one of the bigger needs. It is not going to be Rainier focused, it is going to be Seattle focused,” he said.
Aloe for Mocha is hosting ‘Indulgence 2010 Dinner and Dessert Auction’ at the Sorrento Hotel in Seattle on July 9 in order to raise money for the program. Auctioned items will include a flight in a vintage plane and a seat at the governor’s annual holiday dinner.
“I don’t think that I would feel comfortable bringing a business into the world without giving some of it back,” Danna Johnston said.
http://www.darkskincare.com/
Kirsten Smith is an intern with the Bellevue Reporter. She is a student at Northwestern University in Illinois.
