Words by Jumana

It was around October of 2020 when Maldivian beauty got its splash of blue. Komas Beauty gained meteoric popularity practically overnight and soon, the first ever makeup brand in Maldives was the talk of the town.

The brand gave us dazzling azures and midnight blues on Maldivian melanin for the win! And we are here for it. Have you seen the buttery contrast of ‘fattaru’ shade on brown skin? Mesmerizing! With color payoff and quality to boot, the brand also launched one of the best highlighter palettes we have ever seen, with Monsoon in July 2021.

Well, we the people have spoken! and we are getting more of Komas Beauty with the launch of their third palette Kamana. We at Ka Leo were lucky enough to chat with the creative genius behind Komas Beauty, owner Sarah Ibrahim and get a sneak peek into the newly launched makeup artist’s best friend.

This is the story of how the eyes of an intern at Nada Salon in 2018 caught the eye of Urban Decay’s ‘Beached’ palette and set her eyes on her very own Everest. How does someone with absolutely no history or knowledge of cosmetology or manufacturing and production launch their very own, uber successful brand? You may be looking for a technical answer here. You would be amiss. The answer is simple! You have to want it! “I couldn’t stop thinking about it”, Sarah said.

“I wanted that palette to be real”.

While the ‘Beached’ palette dropped names that instantly transported you to your next beach vacay, it got our protagonist thinking, “Why don’t we (Maldivians) have a product like this?”. She then turned to intensive research with the aid of Google, on how to start a makeup line and picked three potential laboratories to produce the perfect formula for the palette. These labs in Canada, Australia and Singapore then sent samples.

Being a rookie also didn’t mean Sarah didn’t know what she wanted, or that she wasn’t fully prepared. “I wanted my product to be very pigmented so it actually shows up on our South Asian skin tones”. She also knew the ingredients she wanted by cross-referencing those in melanin-friendly brands such as Juvia’s Place, Huda Beauty and Fenty. While the product is cruelty-free, Sarah’s cousins also went through a rigorous wear testing process.

Sarah beamed at the way the business brings out her creative side. “I started getting some of my creative side back during this process, the artist part of me came out and I really enjoy that side of me”. Even when Covid-19 reared its ugly head right when the perfect samples arrived, Sarah and Mandy from the lab in Singapore worked avidly through business video calls amidst the backdrop of a world-wide pandemic. A drawing made by Sarah in 2018 during a tough time then became the face of this hard-labored palette.

October of 2020 arrived, and it was time for the launch. The rest -as they say- basically made history as the first ever Maldivian makeup line.

“At first I just wanted a souvenir-like product. But when I released it, it just blew up and I couldn’t even keep up with the orders. It was quite overwhelming at first, where I thought, ‘Woah, what have I done’? but it was also kind of cool”

Sarah humbly admits that it was a learning process. While taking on deliveries herself, she teamed up with an old friend, and legend of the photography world, @lejazphotography to do product photography and enjoy every step of the creative process. Soon, the palette grabbed the attention of makeup artists and the began working its magic everywhere.

While this may appear to be that happy ending moment, the story just keeps getting better and better. Sarah has also since launched the buttery, elegant ‘Monsoon’ highlighter palette with swoon-worthy shades. Flash forward and today marks the launch of her second palette, Kamana- paying homage to the Maldivian women that enliven all of us. This palette features neutrals, reds, pinks and warm corals as well as a dark-skin friendly purple shade called ‘Ameera’ and glides on smooth with a rich color payoff. The sixteen shade palette is adorned with graceful artwork by Zaya Ahmed of @zayadraws, capturing the essence of the Maldivian feminine.

While Sarah wears the entrepreneur hat very, very well, she is also extremely good at collaborations, “I just wanna get as many Maldivian creators involved in this as possible. That’s why I try to work with different people because every makeup artist I work with has a different style, same with photographers. I wanted to show their work”.

Looking to the future, makeup aficionados can keep their eyes peeled for Komas Beauty’s lip products early next year. Her advice for those that look up to her? “I would say, just get started on your goals! I had no idea that this would take off the way it did so once you start, get ready for your life to change very fast if you are really committed to it so.. just start, even if it is a little bit, just start”. Smart, creative, talented and humble to boot, Sarah and Komas Beauty is here to stay and our glam diaries are all the better for it.