Zowena
founder: Zahra Mazanderani
course: Diploma in Organic Skincare Formulation + Diploma in Organic Haircare Formulation
Graduation year: 2020
location: South Africa
Hero product: Skin Barrier Support Oil
Brand overview
Zahra Mazanderani is the founder of Zowena, a brand created to offer beautiful, natural, and effective skincare solutions that help people feel more comfortable and confident in their skin.
Zarah formulates her products using natural, clinically-tested plant-based ingredients, carefully balancing them for efficacy. As a formula-led brand, Zowena aims to provide an accessible and affordable alternative to over-complicated skincare routines and single-ingredient formulations, purposefully addressing their customers’ therapeutic needs.
The brand places a strong emphasis on sustainability, supporting and sourcing directly from farms and rural communities in South Africa whenever possible. With African origins, Zowena harnesses the incredible biodiversity of the region, benefiting from its rich soils that yield plants with powerful properties for skincare benefits.
Zarah acknowledges Formula Botanica for providing her with a foundation to learn and improve her understanding of formulation in all its complexity. In her own words, “This enabled me to challenge assumptions about the skincare industry and is a platform I continue to learn from and grow with.”
