Today we’d like to introduce you to Aliett Buttelman.
Aliett, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
I grew up in Palm Beach, FL, but at the age of 15, I was traveling down to Miami to pursue a career in modeling. I lived in NY, Paris, Berlin, and Sydney and worked for major beauty and fashion brands as well as top fashion publications. I decided to go back to school and attended Columbia University to study economics and art history.
During college, I started a consulting company (Alouet, alouet.com) to help emerging brands distinguish themselves in saturated markets such as fashion, beauty, and tech. I met Nina LaBruna (my business partner) in NYC and became a partner at her brand LaBruna Skincare, a “farm to face” plant-infused skincare line.
In our first year, we launched at Nordstrom, and sold out in 24 hours. We are now available at Anthropologie in stores and online and at labrunaskincare.com. I now split my time between Palm Beach, FL, and New York, NY, and work with other beauty and wellness companies such as Suntouched and Remedy Plant Lab.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way? Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
This past year, we launched Fazit, our second skincare brand. Fazit, “faces everyday imperfections” with branded affordable dermal patches.
We wanted to provide people with an accessible and effective product backed by an empowering social community. With over 30 million views on TikTok, we are normalizing acne in order to create a positive and inclusive space in the beauty industry.
Working in the beauty and fashion industry, I have seen how social media has evolved and placed a toll on people’s mental health.
Research has shown that acne itself may lead to self-isolation, as people are embarrassed by their skin. In addition, depression is 3x more common in people who have acne compared to those who don’t. Bullying online and at school can lead people to depression and often suicide among adolescents and teens.
We are using our platform to help reduce the stigma and normalize acne, we’ve all dealt with at one time.
Our first product launch was our Zit Zapper Acne Patches. They are large multi-shaped patches for those with cystic acne, larger breakouts, and clogged pore regions. These large patches help people from picking, popping, and poking at their pimples, reduce the size and redness, as well bring the gunk to the surface into the patch. Removing the patch is a hygienic and also satisfying way to clear breakouts!
Have you learned any interesting or important lessons due to the Covid-19 Crisis?
During the pandemic as people are spending more time at home, self isolating and increasing their screen time specifically on social media, we’ve seen the rise of depression and anxiety. Instead of being an acne brand focused on pushing glowing perfect skin as a result of using our product, we wanted to create an acne and body positivity community, embracing spotty, textured skin as normal and beautiful. This has given people a space to talk about the stigmas and misconceptions about having acne, which impacts mental health.
In fall 2022, we are connecting with local schools in our community, as well as mental health organizations to create more acne awareness and the impact skin and body imperfections have on mental health.
Contact Info:
- Website: letsfazit.com
- Instagram: @letsfazit
Image Credits
Gaby Epel
