The pandemic and stressful lifestyle have great impact not just on our health but also on our appearance. Inna Orlova, co-founder of the leading Cyprus wellness brand Kypwell, shared with “Successful Business” how consumer preferences in cosmetology have changed recently and what the body needs to maintain beauty and health.

How do you see the year 2024? What new technologies and innovations in beauty and health do you consider most important today?

I think that in the beauty industry, the world has been divided into “pre-COVID” and “post-COVID.” The same has happened with consumer mentality. If the leading philosophy before the pandemic was “beauty at any cost,” COVID has seriously changed consumer views. Now, enormous attention is paid to the origin and the safety of skincare ingredients, their impact on health. It can be said that health is the new wealth in the modern world.

Following modern researches, it has become clear that more than 80% of women’s overweight issues are related to insulin resistance – an excess of glucose – the energy they receive. This is the cause of many other problems, including autoimmune diseases.

In Cyprus, we have two studios, in Limassol and Nicosia. We can see that thyroid disease is a prevalent issue of the modern woman, especially among our Cypriot clients.

In recent years, our eco-products have become even more in demand. Because people are looking for an ecological product, created using plant-based on bio-actives, not synthetic means. Natural ingredients have proven their effectiveness over centuries, unlike synthetic beauty products, the long-term consequences of which are still unknown to us.

Another factor affecting changes in our industry is mental health. More and more people in the so-called “civilized” world are concerned about their emotional state. Therefore, soothing phyto-teas and anti-stress ingredients in cosmetics are attracting increasing consumer interest.

Do you grow and produce all your products in Cyprus?

Yes, we launched our company 9 years ago, based on over 40 years of research and development by the Head of our laboratory professor A.Katsos (PhD biochemistry) and an international team of doctors, including oncologists and technologists. Cyprus is an absolutely unique place for growing medicinal herbs. This was mentioned even before our era by Pliny the Elder, who considered Cyprus the best place in the Mediterranean for cultivating medicinal herbs.

This is mainly due to the volcanic soil on the island, a unique climate with a very high number of sunny days per year, etc. All this, combined with the absence of harmful manufacturing, makes Cypriot medicinal herbs among the best in the world.

The quality of medicinal herbs is assessed by the volume of essential oil they contain. The higher the oil content, the greater the effect the herb has on the human body. In Cyprus, herbs with the highest volume of essential oil in the Mediterranean region grow. They are more potent than in Greece, Turkey, and other Mediterranean countries in this respect.

Based on the latest research in aesthetics and beauty, what innovations do you foresee in cosmetology and skincare?

The market will move in three main directions – genetic developments, integrative cosmetology, and microbiome. Scientists are already developing mechanisms to control bacterial colonies on the face, for example, in the treatment of acne.

Regarding genetics, each person has a certain predisposition in terms of collagen, elastin, vitamin D. We’re talking about some changes in genes, so-called polymorphisms. Personalized cosmetics based on genetics is the future.

Integrative cosmetology is the future of beauty services. Our company has always been a market innovator, and our more than 23 international awards confirm this, so we are the first to start developing integrative cosmetology in Cyprus. In short, integrative cosmetology is the correction of appearance through modifying health from within.

In Cyprus, for example, many are mistaken in thinking that skin pigmentation is due to insufficient use of sun protection. In reality, pigmentation is directly related to iron deficiency and various microelements in the body, as well as the functioning of the thyroid gland.

This is the essence of integrative beauty. When we see some problems on the face, it means that the body is already sending us signals, and these problems need to be solved from the inside.

What would you like to emphasize for our readers, summarizing the interview?

I want to reiterate the importance of caring for both your physical and mental health, especially in our extremely stressful times. Many chronic illnesses in humans arise precisely because of an improper lifestyle – the modern “diet” with an abundance of fructose and alcohol has replaced the traditional Mediterranean diet, lack of quality sleep, absence of balance between work and personal life, etc. All these lead to the undermining of human health. It’s very important to minimize the number of toxins in our life and strive to use natural organic products, and this includes cosmetics and household chemicals as well.

Concluding our conversation, I would like to emphasize once again that it’s impossible to become truly beautiful without taking care of your health and mental well-being.

Inna Orlova
Chairwoman, Co-Founder of Kypwell, Integrative Nutrition Health Coach, Chopra Health & Ayurveda Instructor. Inna gained an MBA in strategic marketing management and has over 25 years’ experience in entrepreneurship, business consulting, as well as health & wellness coaching with focus on metabolic health and insulin resistance.