Christine Esposito, Associate Editor07.02.12
Some families pass down recipes—Great Grandma’s apple pie, Aunt Millie’s string bean casserole, second cousin Bob’s secret barbeque sauce. But a treatment for sun burned skin?
That’s what Monique Predovan’s family has done.In fact, her clan has been treating sunburn the same way for about 100 years—using an all-natural concoction a relative created generations ago.
Now, this entrepreneur has formed a new company to sell her family’s well-honed recipe.
“I am now the 4th generation that it has been passed down to,” Predovan told HAPPI, noting that the formulation she is now selling online is basically the same as has been stocked in her family’s medicine cabinet for as long as she can remember.
“The only thing that we have updated is the packaging, otherwise, the recipe has remained completely the same,” she said.
The basic recipe for Alivea is simple: olive oil, beeswax and water. But Predovan says it packs a powerful punch.
“It really does work wonders,” said Predovan. “It can help to treat some of the worstsunburned skin, skin that needs to be hydrated, eczema, and also hasbeen used by many woman and men in my family as a daily face cream to moisturize and keep wrinkles away.It's our bit of gold.”
But is her family happy about her spilling the beans on their secret salve?
A natural sunburn remedy is now available to the general public. |
“My family is very proud about what we have done; they are so thrilled to see the website and the jars that we've created.They hope that customers will love our cream they way our family has for years, and most importantly they hope that people will benefit from the cream,” Predovan said.
Having launched this May at the start of the summer sun care season, the company is currently selling Alivea cream via its website (aliveacream.com). But Predovan has plans to expand, and is beginning her marketing endeavors at the grassroot level, pitching beauty bloggers and creating a presence on Facebook and Twitter.
“Eventually we will approach stores and also networkthrough contacts and friends for future sales opportunities,” she told Happi.