HERLA, the clean naturally smart skincare line, is known for its ability to help women reduce an overdependence on makeup by nurturing healthy and great looking skin. The company was founded by Natalia Bednarek and her grandmother Krystyna, with the purpose of spanning the age gap in skincare. Herla offers a full line of clean and natural skincare products in three categories: Gold Supreme, Damask Rose and Kakadu Plum.
Herla believes you deserve to pamper your skin with the best ingredients available. Taking inspiration from local skincare secrets, Herla sources an unprecedented variety of the finest natural ingredients being used around the world. Since 2013 they have been providing botanical ingredients to well-known beauty brands in Europe and are now offering them directly to their consumers.
Herla leverages the unique knowledge of women across cultures and generations to deliver the highest quality cosmetics. Every place on Earth has rich flora with unique benefits — female chemists at the family-owned Herla lab in Poland harness these natural resources to create safe and effective skincare formulas they’re proud to use themselves.
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Founder, Natalia Bednarek is a young millennial and aspiring entrepreneur, Natalia is passionate about travel, beauty, and friendship. She’s a courageous type A, and a fierce supporter of women and the freedom of choice. Natalia’s grandmother and Herla co-founder, Krystyna, is a world traveler with a passion for nature, science, and beauty. She’s an ambitious and successful entrepreneur, and a vocal advocate for women’s career advancement. She oversees manufacturing of products and ingredient sourcing and leads the family-owned lab in Poland.
At Herla, Natalia and Krystyna put women first every step of the way, which is why they are committed to primarily employing women at their lab, and above all, supporting their growth. Working with The Savannah Fruits Company, Herla also works with local Ghanaian women on producing hand-crafted shea butter, while providing jobs to local villages and ensuring cultural integrity. Natalia is leaving her mark on the beauty industry by empowering women, creating superlative skincare products, and proving that beauty is more than skin deep!
BELLA chatted with Natalia on HERLA and how they are doing just that!
What inspired you to create HERLA with your grandmother, Krystyna?
Herla Beauty was inspired by my grandmother’s travels. As a world traveler, she was always interested in skincare ingredients and techniques of women in different countries and cultures. Over many years of traveling, she has been gathering “beauty secrets” that women have developed to take care of their skin. Oftentimes, these beauty secrets have been passed down from generations of women, just as my grandmother brought them home to share with me. This is the foundation of our formulations and all the innovations that we’re working on. Our goal at Herla is to democratize natural skincare and ensure that these beauty secrets from around the world are accessible to all. We want all women to love their skin, regardless of age. We want to help women achieve their best skin ever in a natural and smart way.
How do HERLA products enhance and/or fill a void in the beauty and skincare market?
From the product perspective, the thing that sets us apart is that we formulate products in our own lab. We have a small team of amazing female chemists and work with female dermatologists. We do not outsource that process or buy formulations from generic labs (which is what the majority of companies do). Another benefit is the richness of clean botanical ingredients that we use in our products. Before we started Herla, my grandmother already had a business supplying natural ingredients to beauty companies in Europe. Over the years, she has built great relationships with different plantations and ingredient suppliers around the world. It felt like a natural next step to create a business following our passion for skincare and beauty and leverage our repository of clean natural ingredients. We focused the brand around beauty secrets and named product collections after the leading ingredient.
Do you have a favorite , most popular, or signature product in the HERLA Beauty line?
Personally, I mix and match all three collections depending on my current skin condition and its needs. Throughout my recent pregnancy, I’ve been obsessed with our Gold Supreme collection with 24k gold due to its benefits of preventing hyperpigmentation, hydrating and anti-bacterial properties. The Revitalizing Mask with 24k Gold Flakes makes me feel super luxurious and I’m confident that I’m giving my skin the best ingredients out there. The mask contains red poppy, one of our secret anti-aging ingredients. Red poppy contains alkaloids which relax and smooth wrinkles as well as soothe dry, irritated skin.
You also work with The Savannah Fruits Company, a company that empowers rural Ghanaian women. Tell us about that partnership and how HERLA is giving back.
Sustainability, fair trade and transparent ethical sourcing is at the core of our business. The Savannah Fruits Company has been a wonderful partner. Savannah Fruits empowers rural Ghanaian women, engaging over 18,000 women from local communities to produce hand-crafted shea butter – providing jobs to local villages, securing career opportunities and ensuring cultural and social integrity. By purchasing fair trade shea butter and baobab oil at a fair price we support those communities and contribute to their well-being.
Lastly, let our readers know where they can follow along, find more information about your products, and begin their experience with HERLA Beauty products.
We recently launched our entire line at Macys.com which we’re really excited about. This Spring we’re launching two products from the Gold Supreme collection (Illuminating Body Oil and Lifting Serum) in Soft Surroundings stores and catalog. You can learn more about Herla and shop our products on our website herlabeauty.comas well as Amazon. Follow us on facebook and instagram @herlabeauty!
To learn more about HERLA visit herlabeauty.com and follow on social media: www.instagram.com/herlabeauty/
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