Green Life, a beauty brand emerged from an oasis

28-year-old Amina Chrif is an entrepreneur with a strong future. In 2020, in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic, she launched her natural cosmetics brand, Green Life, and opened a store in the region of Kebili.

A native of Tombar, a small village in the south of Tunisia, Amina studied French after High School. Despite being gifted in her field, she knew that she was not meant to follow this path. Since childhood she had dreamed of creating her own beauty products. After graduating, Amina didn’t think twice and embarked on a journey into the production of natural cosmetics. First she developed her knowledge through self-learning, then through technical training offered by the project Mashrou3i.

“I joined Mashrou3i through the business centre in Kebili. Together with a project expert  we identified my needs and the assistance I needed to improve my skills and develop my business project.”

Amina received technical training in the extraction of essential oils and the manufacture of natural cosmetics in a technical centre in Gabes. Then she built on these skills with a training course in saponification and another one in the conditioning of aromatic and medicinal plants.

In parallel, Amina attended a Mashrou3i training course on taxation and the Tunisian Investment Law, which enabled her to understand the different tax systems adapted to her business.

She adds: “I recently completed a communication and sales training course with Mashrou3i. It helped me understand how to improve my customer relations. I also learned how to identify my customers and tailor the right messages to each target audience.”

“I am lucky to have a good network, so my loyal customers have followed me until now. At the same time, I continue to target new customers and build loyalty.”

Located on the main road intersection between Tozeur and Kebili, the town of Tombar offers Amira a strategic location for her business activities. Inaugurated a few months ago, the shop is specialized in natural cosmetology and aromatherapy, and offers a variety of products to its loyal customers and passersby. Amina obviously offers the products of her brand Green Life, such as essential and vegetable oils of all types, floral waters, and some body care creams. But she also completes her range with creams and perfumes that she doesn’t produce yet, which enables her to respond more easily to her customers’ demands.

Next step, the young entrepreneur from Tombar is in the process of obtaining organic certification for her main cosmetic products such as lavender essential oil. Mashrou3i continues to support her in her journey to obtain these certifications.

“I am not thinking of exporting my products immediately, as my production isn’t big enough for that. But I hope to have this opportunity in the future. I am now focusing on developing my activities in the region of Kebili and opening a second store.”