Hearing that an entrepreneurial project is called D’Brujas [Of’Witches] certainly generates confusion about what it responds to. The history of this business is a journey in which the will and desire to do something good and useful, were strong. “I had the certainty that I wanted to make handmade soaps and I thought that name because of the legend of witches making magic potions with natural ingredients, they make you fall in love, they have the power to regenerate themselves, to transform themselves, and that’s what I wanted to achieve with the product”, Sandra Aldama, project leader, explained to Negolution. From the space where all the magic happens, her workshop, these 21st century’s sorceresses prepare their potions: incredible quality soaps, perfumed with the most unsuspected natural products combinations. Approximately seven years ago, Sandra took the first steps along the road that would lead her to success. After trying hairdressing, this young defectologist took advantage of the situation of the private work approval and decided to do something new: make soaps with organic methods and ingredients. With the advice of her paternal grandmother, an economist passionate about cosmetics, she began exploring the possibility of creating something related to the world of beauty. “I gave myself the task of looking for something new in Cuba”, says the young entrepreneur. After two years studying the techniques to make handmade soap at an international level, in 2013 she enrolled in Cuba Emprende [Cuba Undertakes] to set up a similar business in the country. “The course gave me the bases to focus on what I wanted to do, especially in terms of accounting”, Sandra says. With the clear desire to set up her business, she tells that she started making the soaps initially at home and selling them with the help of her friend Eyleen, who is currently in charge of the store. Thus, selling the product almost door to door, D’Brujas emerged.
Soaps for all tastes
Working with completely natural ingredients is the project’s fundamental premise. “We don’t use any type of chemical, only a neutral soap base that we enrich with natural ingredients”, Sandra says. Undoubtedly, the young woman masters soap making techniques. Hers usually carry coconut oil, and even olive’s or almond’s. In addition, they add elements of dissimilar origins, such as honey, chamomile, daisy flower, rosemary and oats, forming irresistible combinations. Thus, they captivate pairings of coffee and eucalyptus, basil and herbs, sage with mint, zeolite and tea tree, as well as foreign products such as rose clay and lavender, among others. The results are grouped into three main lines: one aromatic, one for sensitive skin and another line of essential soaps. Although D’Brujas turns five in 2018, for three years its growth was boosted by changing the sale point to San Jose’s Storehouse in Habana’s Avenida del Puerto, which was a challenge for the young entrepreneurs. “We have the concept that it’s a place not only to sell, but a space where customers can relax, in contrast to the fair’s hectic dynamics”, she says. During the first year, D’Brujas’ public was mostly Cuban, in spite of being products more known abroad. According to Sandra, this happened because initially they didn’t believe that in Cuba they made completely natural soap. Even so, just two months after opening the shop in the Storehouse, sales tripled. “There is a lot of foreign public there and the fact that we have a different product is good for us”. However, the soaps are designed for all types of public, which is why the project doesn’t depend on tourism to survive.
Welcome women
Currently, D’Brujas’ handmade soaps are elaborated by eight employees, of which seven have children. Sandra is one of them, which motivated her to create a private business that, in addition to being lucrative, allowed her to have the freedom to be her own boss, manage her schedules and attend the family. “Being a woman is not a requirement to work in D’Brujas, it’s just that it is a more attractive work style for us”, she adds. They are responsible for creating attractive products for customers, who can use them, and if they prefer, give them as presents. The delicacy of women’s work is evident in every soap they produce; from the shape to the packaging is the imprint of the ladies. On the other hand, private work has allowed them to create alliances with other private initiatives, in order to add value to the finished product. Such as the bags and boxes produced by the Workshop d2, of crafts and design, and the collaboration with the artisan Asela Hidalgo, who works basket weaving, among other alliances. Likewise, hostels have become new customers. “We started with ‘The Gargoyle’ and as the project to personalize soaps for the hotel industry has been known, we already work with fourteen of these businesses”, Sandra says, adding, “this line of work has helped D’Brujas a lot with the sales, in addition to giving us the possibility of creating and leaving the usual productions”.
The charm of D’Brujas
The love with which Sandra and her team work is undoubtedly the key to their success. To ask her where they want to go with the business, intensifies in her that light that probably illuminated her when she first thought about this business. “To reach all the national territory”, she replies, “we have a country to sell to and we are only in Havana”; although she clarifies that these are not immediate goals. “I would love to have a place to grow medicinal plants, the same ones we work with, and to unify the workshop with a sale place. A space of meeting rather than learning”. I wish the conditions would allow it. This team of women doesn’t lack of willingness and disposition, they always smile of satisfaction of having fulfilled their dreams and doing something that people enjoy. That is the charm of D’Brujas.