Created in South Africa. Malée Natural Science (pronounced Mah-lay) – an indulgent and sensorial range of premium fragrance, bath and body care products inspired by the scents of the diverse landscapes of Africa and it’s peoples’ rich connection to nature and their land. Created in South Africa in 2010 by Zeze Oriaikhi-Sao, and driven by a powerful vision to share her love for Africa, its nostalgic scents and its age old African beauty rituals, Malée is an expression of “Beauty with Soul”.

With a successful track record in South Africa, Malée launched in the UK in December 2015 with 6 of our ‘Hero’ products in Verdure, our award winning fragrance in a Moisturising Oil, Nourishing Hand Cream, Conditioning Body Scrub, Conditioning Body Cream, Room Mist, and Eau De Parfum.

Each Malée product is formulated with 100% natural active ingredients, and as well as being plant based, each product is paraben, silicone, mineral oil and animal originated ingredient free.

Malée delivers healthy luxury with a unique at home aromatherapeutic spa experience of Africa and its powerful landscape scents.

Beautifully packaged and diligently formulated paying homage on our packaging to the different tribes and landscapes that Malée’s formulations are inspired by.

The recession, I gave me time travel more of the African continent, change of climate, being very allergy prone, very sensitive skin, it pushed me to search for alternative solutions, discover and explore old meets new, science and natural ingredients, scent, emotions and create Malée.

Market research, I spent time trying to find answers in the market place to the questions I thought Malée would address.

Feasibility study; I needed to know if my idea/ business was possible to create. So,I called the Cosmetics Science Society. Silly now to think that is what I did, knowing what I do now of the industry but for me I felt that was the most logical step. The best cosmetic chemists have to be part of the cosmetics science society no?

From there, I built a business plan around the yes answers I received and created version 1 of the Malée business plan and hit the ground running. I am on version 1.4 now.

With no experience in the cosmetics industry but a lot of discipline from a Bsc (Hons) in Informatics and Masters in International business from Grenoble Graduate business school. I learnt on the job.

My experience in a process driven role in a corporate job really helps with supply chain management.

I gifted product a lot in the beginning. Tradeshows and word of mouth early on really helped. Each new question and critique I received that I had no answers for, I went back and worked to make myself and Malée better. I am so passionate about Malée, the ingredients, the products, the story and how different we are as a brand a company, once I get going you can’t stop me. BT’s “its good to talk” campaign rings true when I really think about how I got started to be honest.

Then, we had lucky breaks, the media was so kind, I think they enjoyed the authenticity of who we are as a brand and the fact that our products really did live up to the claims we made.

We started supplying some of the top 5 star hotels in Sub-Saharan Africa with their guest amenities and that really opened the world to Malée. We started growing a customer base.

We won and where shortlisted a few consumer awards along the way for some of our ‘Hero’ products like the scrub, hand cream, body cream and Eau De Parfum and that really gave the brand clout and helped share our products with a wider audience much larger than my immediate network.

What I have learnt thus far is that challenges are the things that make my job exciting and no day the same. The continuous and evolving customer landscape is exciting, it really stretches you and your team to be better each day.

None the less, we face the same hurdles as any other small niche brand that is trying to grow. Currently growing from just a Southern African brand to a brand that has more reach in other markets is exciting. We will be launching with Harvey Nichols in the coming months and a few other amazing retailers across mainland Europe.

I always take a step back, breathe, sleep on it if I have to. Spend time understanding how and what I need to over come the challenge, I take away learning lessons from it and implement changes immediately so it no longer is a challenge that we will encounter as a business and tackle it one task at a time.

Remembering that momentum is the thing that keeps a business alive and Rome wasn’t built in a day. (Something my Dad said to me every time I would get frustrated when things didn’t go my way).

The positive impact you have on the team, customers and even well wishers that support Malée and help me live my dream everyday.

It needs to be fun even when you are being tested. Always, always, give your best.

It takes time, patience, persistence and the ability to learn fast and fail even faster is important. Rest, it is important. Remain true to your vision.

Created in South Africa. Malée Natural Science (pronounced Mah-lay) – an indulgent and sensorial range of premium fragrance, bath and body care products inspired by the scents of the diverse landscapes of Africa and it’s peoples’ rich connection to nature and their land. Created in South Africa in 2010 by Zeze Oriaikhi-Sao, and driven by a powerful vision to share her love for Africa, its nostalgic scents and its age old African beauty rituals, Malée is an expression of “Beauty with Soul”.

With a successful track record in South Africa, Malée launched in the UK in December 2015 with 6 of our ‘Hero’ products in Verdure, our award winning fragrance in a Moisturising Oil, Nourishing Hand Cream, Conditioning Body Scrub, Conditioning Body Cream, Room Mist, and Eau De Parfum.

Each Malée product is formulated with 100% natural active ingredients, and as well as being plant based, each product is paraben, silicone, mineral oil and animal originated ingredient free.

Malée delivers healthy luxury with a unique at home aromatherapeutic spa experience of Africa and its powerful landscape scents.

Beautifully packaged and diligently formulated paying homage on our packaging to the different tribes and landscapes that Malée’s formulations are inspired by.

The recession, I gave me time travel more of the African continent, change of climate, being very allergy prone, very sensitive skin, it pushed me to search for alternative solutions, discover and explore old meets new, science and natural ingredients, scent, emotions and create Malée.

Market research, I spent time trying to find answers in the market place to the questions I thought Malée would address.

Feasibility study; I needed to know if my idea/ business was possible to create. So,I called the Cosmetics Science Society. Silly now to think that is what I did, knowing what I do now of the industry but for me I felt that was the most logical step. The best cosmetic chemists have to be part of the cosmetics science society no?

From there, I built a business plan around the yes answers I received and created version 1 of the Malée business plan and hit the ground running. I am on version 1.4 now.

With no experience in the cosmetics industry but a lot of discipline from a Bsc (Hons) in Informatics and Masters in International business from Grenoble Graduate business school. I learnt on the job.

My experience in a process driven role in a corporate job really helps with supply chain management.

I gifted product a lot in the beginning. Tradeshows and word of mouth early on really helped. Each new question and critique I received that I had no answers for, I went back and worked to make myself and Malée better. I am so passionate about Malée, the ingredients, the products, the story and how different we are as a brand a company, once I get going you can’t stop me. BT’s “its good to talk” campaign rings true when I really think about how I got started to be honest.

Then, we had lucky breaks, the media was so kind, I think they enjoyed the authenticity of who we are as a brand and the fact that our products really did live up to the claims we made.

We started supplying some of the top 5 star hotels in Sub-Saharan Africa with their guest amenities and that really opened the world to Malée. We started growing a customer base.

We won and where shortlisted a few consumer awards along the way for some of our ‘Hero’ products like the scrub, hand cream, body cream and Eau De Parfum and that really gave the brand clout and helped share our products with a wider audience much larger than my immediate network.

What I have learnt thus far is that challenges are the things that make my job exciting and no day the same. The continuous and evolving customer landscape is exciting, it really stretches you and your team to be better each day.

None the less, we face the same hurdles as any other small niche brand that is trying to grow. Currently growing from just a Southern African brand to a brand that has more reach in other markets is exciting. We will be launching with Harvey Nichols in the coming months and a few other amazing retailers across mainland Europe.

I always take a step back, breathe, sleep on it if I have to. Spend time understanding how and what I need to over come the challenge, I take away learning lessons from it and implement changes immediately so it no longer is a challenge that we will encounter as a business and tackle it one task at a time.

Remembering that momentum is the thing that keeps a business alive and Rome wasn’t built in a day. (Something my Dad said to me every time I would get frustrated when things didn’t go my way).

The positive impact you have on the team, customers and even well wishers that support Malée and help me live my dream everyday.

It needs to be fun even when you are being tested. Always, always, give your best.

It takes time, patience, persistence and the ability to learn fast and fail even faster is important. Rest, it is important. Remain true to your vision.