MeetTheBrand is a window on the world of emerging and independent brands in Italy. The time of a break from work or the evening appointment you’ve been waiting for, to hear the voices of the founders. Everything you wanted to know about cosmetics and the world of beauty entrepreneurship. A column that stops the hands of time, new discoveries and insights.
Today the MeetTheBrand lounge hosts Adamà Skincare, a brand born in Amsterdam from the passion for well-being, in all its facets, of Federica Perissinotto, founder and CEO.
When i met Federica, about this interview via video call, with her there was also Irene Marchesano who deals with brand communication & PR. We talked about wellness, skin products and their connection with proper nutrition, but also about Amsterdam and how a new skincare brand is born. You just have to read us.
Hi Federica, thank you for accepting my invitation. When did you start developing an interest in the field of cosmetics?
I would say always. I had a wellness center in Italy, where we have always tried to create wellness treatments from scratch, without relying on specific companies, developing it ad hoc for each type of customer, with natural products. The goal in 2012 was already a 360 ° holistic treatment. At the time, the center was in Ivrea, a small town near Turin, and I lived in Milan with my husband, so it was actually difficult to manage the distance between work and life. In addition, I had begun a personal journey of in-depth study of holistic well-being, from nutrition to cosmetics, passing through the formulation of products.
How and when was Adamà Skincare born?
After studying Naturopathy and Holistic Medicine I realized that I wanted to create a product that fully reflects my interests: natural, sustainable, quality and with a minimalist approach. Few products, but of quality. While looking, I never managed to find the product that reflected my research, so I thought “I’ll try to create a line myself”, which reflects me and the people close to me. Thus was born Adamà. I started creating products based on the people around me. Natural, also because I wanted to eliminate preservatives of chemical origin or processed in the laboratory. In fact, the current line is made up of oils and no product contains water in its formulations, just to try not to use preservatives.
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When did you decide to leave Italy? What has brought this change for you, from a personal and brand perspective?
The brand was born in Amsterdam, and I left Italy mainly for a personal matter, not so much for work. More than anything else because we were looking for a more stimulating environment for both of us, both for me and for my husband. Holland for those who want to start a Start Up or a company from scratch, is an environment in which it is very easy to be creative and provides a lot of stimuli. This transfer marked the moment when I actually managed to launch what I wanted, while in Italy I always struggled a bit. Both from a bureaucratic point of view and from a creative point of view.
In Amsterdam, the competition is considerable, every week new brands and products appear, a context that stimulates the need to create something new, a personalized product, which has a “strong” history behind it.
Today Adamà is becoming Federica in all respects, I feel I have combined all my interests and the pieces of my life: from cooking, to beauty, to obtain complete well-being. I am really happy with what we are doing together with Irene!
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Do you feel you have a similar approach to that of your competitors in Amsterdam, or do you think your business strategy reflects your flow of thought more?
Irene: I think Fede has a lot of ideas and she manages to keep up with the dynamics of Amsterdam too. Being two, however, it is difficult to easily achieve everything you imagine. Furthermore, the budget aspect is equally important and considerable economic resources are needed, so it can sometimes determine the choices. Among millions of ideas, we make a selection, we go to choose those that we believe feasible in the short term and effective even further on. Then maybe we bite our hands because we are making something and soon after we see it come out.
Federica: In the Netherlands, there is a very fast approach, if we want to talk about speed and slowness in this sense. Something new comes out every day. I find, however, that in Italy the process and approach are much slower, you have much more time to enter the market.
What is the product of your brand that you have a particular bond with?
Definitely the detox mask. Both for the research that preceded the creation of the product, it was the first product that I have formulated 100%, and that I have tried and tested for a long time. But also because there is Italy inside, it contains, in fact, spirulina, the same one found in the capsules. The result of collaboration with a company that produces controlled, organic and sustainable spirulina. I wanted to include it, since I had already used it often in my center in Ivrea and I believe in the strength of spirulina and in the search for quality ingredients. Easy to understand and functional.
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What do you think of the beauty world today? What is changing and what should change?
What I see is that the competition is vast, there is a feeling of having to do as much as the others in order to stand out. What I would like, as we have said so far, is to have a different approach to skincare, complete in all senses and I hope to be able to pass it on. Regardless of the amount of products that will come out. Adamà has no products in the pipeline for now and that’s okay. The thing that matters most to me at the moment is to transmit our mission.
Do you have any new projects in mind? If you can reveal it to readers.
Yes, the new project, which will be launched through the official website, is “MyHappyPlace”. It is a platform, where you can access video recipes and live cooking lessons, to promote conscious nutrition and get closer to skincare through food.
So there will be some teachers who will be part of the project and will create content for us and the community we want to create.
People will be able to take advantage of a reserved area, by paying a fee that is accessible to all and have the opportunity to be inspired by all the teachers present, who follow a philosophy similar to ours. We are trying to pursue this goal, even with Adamà, we will go more and more towards the food-skincare connection.
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What would you say to those who still don’t know you? What distinguishes the brand in three adjectives?
Irene: You can use as many skincare products as you want, but you need to pay attention to what you choose to eat and introduce into your body. There is no miracle product, but it is all part of an ecosystem to be taken into consideration, it is a holistic approach, as we have said, whose ultimate goal is to make you feel good. Adamà and HappyPlace are research and quality of ingredients.
Federica: We believe in the connection of food and skin care, for a well-being that starts from the inside and is reflected on the outside.
Irene and Federica:
Sustainable, as in the case of Spirulina;
Minimal, in the formulation and in the pack;
Sought after, because it is the result of research into the ingredient that is as similar as possible to us, which, once identified, transmits our values and tells a story of its own.
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The word of the Beauty Editor:
Adamà Skincare is the answer to a specific need in the beauty universe, we no longer want to hear that for every need there is a miraculous product that is right for us. Federica, with her brand, teaches us the importance of a path that embraces every aspect of our daily life, to achieve well-being and cultivate it over time.
What we have learned so far is best summed up with Bright Wellness Routine, a box consisting of:
– Spirulina detox mask
– 60 vegan Spirulina capsules
– e-book containing insights, tips and recipes
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The main ingredient is Spirulina, which, as also explained in the very useful e-book, is a cyanobacterium, that is a single-celled organism with a blue-green color. The key ingredient marks the storytelling of a box that acts as the ambassador of an entire philosophy, in fact it is the perfect summary. It passes from the inside through the capsules, to then reflect and heal the outside with the detox mask. All with the support of an e-book that explains the many properties of Spirulina, how and when to take it, but also how to use it in the kitchen.
Info & Contacts
Website & shop: shopadama.com
Instagram: adama.amsterdam
MyHappyPlace Website: Available soon
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