Recently, I - Petra Klimscha, founder of the Anakena brand - happened to come across a photo from 2013 of the beginnings of my own cosmetics production on Easter Island (Chile). At the time, I had opened my organic store on Easter Island and, just between you and me, I sold the products I made myself without meeting the legal requirements. Nonetheless, I naturally made all the products very carefully and even "dragged" many of the ingredients from Germany, 14,000 kilometers away.
Due to the small production quantities and the novelty that these DIY products represented on the island, the rotation was also pretty good. For me, it was a great way to fully realize my zest for action. With the help of several excellent books on cosmetics making for 'self-stirrers', any recipe I had the ingredients for was now being made and sold. These were the beginnings of the Anakena cosmetics brand.
I am often asked if I made the formulas of today's Anakena cosmetics myself. That is not the case. You can compare it to making a marble cake at home as a hobby baker, but that doesn't make you a pastry chef who can make a five-tier wedding cake. I am not a specialist, but have acquired the (basic) knowledge myself.
I have told the so-called "contract manufacturers" in Chile and Germany which ingredients I would like to have in the large-scale productions, such as guavas, algae and various tropical plants and active ingredients, but the development and production is then left to the professionals. During the development process, you keep receiving samples of the product, and when everything fits (this can take a very long time), all the tests and the safety assessment have been carried out plus the containers, labels and a few other 1000 "little things" are ready, a cosmetic product only goes into production.