By Melanie, Local Contributor – Brazil

Melanie is 21-years old and lives in Brazil. She has brown eyes, brown and curly hair, and cool-toned, fair skin. She’s a future journalist, vegetarian, feminist, and the boldest Aries you’ll ever meet. One of her life goals is to be free of prejudice and hate as much as possible. She would love to work at a cultural magazine or write a cultural column.

Melanie attributes her interest in beauty products to Japanese men, because she was a big fan of J-rock, specifically Visual Kei, when she was younger. It inspired her to try to replicate some of the makeup looks the musicians wore! Her philosophy is simple: everyone is beautiful–every size, shape, hair, nose lips, hands, everything! You can follow her on Twitter or check out her blog!

Cityscape of Balneário Camboriú by emarquetti

Brazil’s Must-Have Brands

You probably know Brazil for Carnaval, bossa nova, Rio de Janeiro, and our football NT, but did you know Brazil is the second largest consumer of cosmetics in the world (recently passed Japan and now only behind USA)? There’s probably much more to see than you expected!  Besides loving international brands like Avon (which is extremely popular around here), Maybelline, Lancôme, MAC, and many others, we have a huge variety of our own brands, each with something different for the beauty market.  My mission here is to introduce you to this new world and show what we do best. These are some of the Brazilian brands I love and recommend. Enjoy!

Natura

Natura is our giant; it’s a market leader and international success (available in other seven countries in Latin America as well as France). What makes Natura special is their eco-friendly philosophy, use of local ingredients, and being cruelty-free. Their skincare and bath line named Natura Eko is a great example: all of its products have ingredients (fruits, seeds, herbs) specially picked with Brazil’s biodiversity in mind. I believe using a Natura Ekos product is like experiencing a little piece of Brazil!

Mahogany

When you think Mahogany, you think delicious and memorable scents, retro packaging, and a ‘chic’ feel. The brand is always aiming for international standards by investing in research and technology. They specialize in skin care, hair care, and fragrances. I love that we have a brand like Mahogany in Brazil, which is so quality-driven and is definitely able to surprise even the most demanding consumers.

Contém 1g

Variety, quality, pretty packaging, and innovation: Contém 1g has it all. Brazilian makeup brands are, most of the time, just trying to catch up to international trends. Of course, Contém 1g does that, too, but they’re always developing new products and doing it their own way. The downside is that their products are inconsistent; most are amazing but others just don’t work. The products they do get right are quite worth the try, though, and courage always deserves praise.

Duda Molinos

This is a new brand that has already won the hearts of Brazilian women. It’s named after one of the most famous makeup artists in Brazil, and it really seems to use his expertise to create great products at rather reasonable price. The key words for this brand are: potential, quality and boldness.  So far, it is really promising.

Hits! Specialità

With its cute, slim bottles and well-picked colors, Hits! is the brand of fashionable women. You won’t find a plain red or a baby pink on their shelves. Hits! focuses on trendy, different, and classy colors as well as glitter nail polish (which are really hard to find here), to make the collections of Brazilian nail polish addicts complete.

O Boticário

This is the second largest brand of cosmetics in Brazil, which is also present in Portugal, Mexico, Japan and sixteen other countries. Although o Boticário has great makeup, skincare (including ‘Fun’, an indeed fun and surprising themed line), bath, hair care, and many other lines, their fragrances are the products that are the most influential and remembered for their quality. It’s almost cultural: most Brazilian girls get their first perfume from o Boticário. And, of course, the brand’s fragrances follow many of them through their lives.

Vult

I’m always impressed with the quality of Vult products. I love their eyeshadow: pigmented, buttery, long-lasting. Even though they’re a drugstore brand, and their prices compatible with the category, the makeup line specially can easily compete with our mid-end brands. How cool is this: to buy great products at great prices?

What caught your attention? What do you like the most about Brazil?