Sabahan creates own brand of lipsticks in UK
Published on: Sunday, March 26, 2017
Kuala Lumpur: Penetrating a product into the global market is not as easy as rolling off a log but Tuaran-born Jameson Juwily made it happen by creating his own cosmetic brand MYJ Beauty in London.The 37-year-old Sabahan said hard work, patience and positive vibes along the journey from scratch made his dream become a reality. Passionate about making women to look their best, Jameson started doing research and development on lipsticks after graduating from London College of Fashion in 2011.
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"I wanted to study make-up and learn about the techniques...later on I was working for Stila (make-up brand) and then I furthered my studies in marketing communication to learn on branding and creating my own products," said the graduate of Bachelor of Arts (Hons) in Advertising and Marketing Communications from University of Greenwich, United Kingdom.The idea to create his own brand was mooted from his studies and working experience with some famous brands, including Smashbox, he said in an exclusive interview here.Jameson said advice from his three sisters who had joined beauty pageants in Sabah a few years ago and his mother on the importance of lipstick, also pushed him in coming up with the beauty product."I went through a lot of procedures and processes according to European standards in order to get approved by UK laboratories. It wasn't easy at all," he said, adding that in 2013, he started to market his products online and at a pharmacy in London.
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Coming from a big family with six siblings, with his father only working as teacher and his mother a housewife who sometimes works at a paddy field, he had to work hard to fend for himself.He made his way to London in 2003 to find better opportunities, and after a decade he managed to set up MYJ Beauty.
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He said the lipsticks cater for both European and Asian skin tones and that 16 vibrant colours were available of which eight are lipsticks the others lip glosses.In his appreciation of London which had in a way assisted his dreams to come true, Jameson named each of his lipsticks and lip glosses after the popular streets and bridges in London, such as Albert Bridge, London Bridge, Regent Street and Carnaby Street.The products were also made available in Malaysia since last December at the Parkson chain and three other shopping malls, namely MyTown Shopping Centre, Sunway Velocity Mall and IOI City mall.The products were launched Friday at NU Sentral Mall here and are slated for another launch at Gurney Plaza in George Town, Penang next week."Malaysians like western brands and the response has been very positive. People feel that it's good too. So far, we have brought in more than 5,000 lispticks and lip glosses to Malaysia since late last year, and we are hoping to reach at least 50 stockists by end of this year," he said.Jameson said his lipsticks, which were of the same quality as imported brands, are sold at RM45 each which was very affordable by Malaysians."The specialty of those products is the mineral ingredients used... we use vitamin E and titanium dioxide to help prevent lips from drying and causing pigmentation," he said.Sharing his struggle, the soft-spoken entrepreneur said that creating a brand would be easy but not the process and financial part as it took time and hard work to make it a success."Money is very very important... While the process is going on, sometimes you tend to overlook certain budgets. That's where you get stuck and cannot progress. "If you have extra savings and family can support you, that's okay or else your progress will stop half way," he added.Experiencing schemers along his journey to create MYJ Beauty, Jameson claimed he had been cheated of £3,000 by a China-based company in UK during the process of laboratory testing.Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express’s Telegram channel.
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