Coralai Announces Partnership with Brand Ouli’s Ointment, Founder Stephanie G-M
By Kate Schwab
The partnership between Ouli’s Ointment and Coralai is already bearing fruit across our community of clients and skincare professionals — even branching to our Esthetic Advisory Council — as we can’t seem to get enough of the two planted-based products. Just in time for the bustling holiday season, Coralai’s shop is trimmed with the All in One Balm and Ola Oil. This interview was a time to connect with the founder and former makeup artist and reflect upon the five-star ratings her inspired items are receiving. We celebrate this woman-led and sustainable-packaged brand as she shares her rich story, honoring her native Greek heritage. Please read below for Stephanie’s full Q&A. Topics include the slugging skincare trend and mompreneurship …
KS: We’re delighted to meet you. Please share more about your brand’s story and point of differentiation in the marketplace?
G-M: The idea of Ouli’s came to me when I was pregnant with my first child. Not the most ideal timing or circumstances in terms of my energy level, but I felt compelled to create a brand based on my 15+ years’ of experience as a makeup artist. My eyes have been opened to ingredients and what gets marketed as what. I’ve had a lot of experience with different skin types, colors and tones.
A cornerstone “Promise” of Ouli’s is sustainability, which sits at the core of all business decisions, but especially product packaging, shipping materials and ingredient sourcing. As a makeup artist, I have encountered plenty of waste in the form of beauty trends, unnecessary packaging, expired products — the waste list goes on and on and, I didn’t want my brand to contribute to the seemingly endless cycle of waste.
Throughout my career, I had countless models come to me with raw, inflamed skin that was crying out for a fast-acting, soothing barrier, especially from the layers of makeup about to be applied. Having worked with many faces and skin types, it was common sense to create a product that was adaptive for all and could meet a diversity of skin needs. The formula needed to be simple, quickly absorbed, nourishing and comforting while leaving a beautifully healthy glow. And opa! Ouli’s Ointment was born. Ouli’s products can be applied to humans of all ages and skin types. We encourage people to get creative and have fun applying Ouli’s anywhere on the body!
KS: How do you envision the Coralai platform supporting you to better serve your clients?
G-M: I believe Coralai is going to support us in our mission to reduce waste in the beauty industry by supporting customers and connecting them with professionals who can recommend the appropriate products that solve their skin concerns. With the option of a professional consultation, they will waste less time searching for appropriate products and will connect us with customers that truly want to reduce the quantity of ingredients they apply to their skin and use our products in more ways than one. This, in turn, reduces waste of packaging and product.
KS: What is your skincare & wellness philosophy?
KS: What do you feel is missing from the skincare conversation in terms of reaching those who identify as men or beauty shoppers experiencing rapid hormonal changes associated with transitioning, pregnancy, menopause, oncology care, thyroid disease?
KS: What communities do you support who are helping to add to the conversation?
G-M: We proudly contribute proceeds from every sale to The Foundation for Living Beauty, a cancer non-profit in my home state of California, supporting women living with cancer along their journey with free support services, wellness retreats, educational workshops and events.
KS: What skincare/beauty / wellness associations are you involved with or a member of?
G-M: I’m so glad you asked. Ouli’s is affiliated with several wonderful organizations, our partnership with Coralai being the most recent addition.
Conscious Beauty Collective, a traveling pop-up of indie beauty & wellness brands.
BuyVerde, making it easy to support businesses working for change. This tool aggregates products certified across multiple impact areas: environmental, social and giving. Sort by your impact concerns and easily find products that match your values.
Betterworld, cutting-edge technology beautifully designed to make online fundraising easy for nonprofits.
Additionally, within our first year of opening in the United States, Ouli’s Ointment became available in The Detox Market. This was amazing to be so small among better known brands, and through them, we really have grown our network of customers that care about the truth behind their products.
KS: What is a skincare / beauty / wellness trend you are seeing?
KS: What other roles or events have helped to get you where you are today?
G-M: I believe my role as mother has influenced how I run my business. Both are a constant learning experience! My experience as a makeup artist, working closely with people, has helped me to understand it’s all about the customer for me — and without our customers, we wouldn’t be where we are!
KS: What are your areas of expertise? Specialties?
G-M: I’d say customer service, listening to people, thinking creatively and mompreneurship!
KS: That’s wonderful. And we wholeheartedly agree. As a way to close our conversation, what’s ahead for you and Ouli’s in 2023?
G-M: We’ve got so many exciting things happening at the moment.
Recently, I’ve been interviewed for The Wild Feather and Word of Mom podcast! Being a homeschooling mom and entrepreneur, I have also recently launched my site aiming to support moms on their journey to becoming mompreneurs while schooling in a non-traditional way.
As for Ouli’s, we are currently part of a Conscious Beauty Collective taking place in Natick just outside Boston until the end of December, then we’ll be at some markets across Los Angeles! Plus, I’m excited to share about the launch of a new limited- edition product!
Coralai community, please stay tuned …