Today we’d like to introduce you to Carla Collado.
Carla, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
Collado Cosmetics started way before I even realized it. My mom instilled this love for holistic living and traditional practices in me from a young age. I still remember her gentle facial massages that would lullaby me to sleep when I was little—that’s where it all began for me, you know? That connection between touch, intention, and care. She was also making fresh juices for us that, not gonna lie, I found pretty nasty at the time. But looking back, she was really teaching me that inside-out approach to wellness, even when I didn’t appreciate it!
Fast forward to my work as a massage therapist, and I’m working hands-on with clients every day. It really hit me how much what we put on our skin matters. I wanted to bring that same holistic approach my mom taught me—that inside-out philosophy where what we put inside our bodies reflects on the outside. It became super important for me to use products with natural, clean ingredients that I could actually feel good about.
I’ve always been into DIYs and experimenting with natural stuff, so learning to formulate products myself just felt like a natural progression. I started making everything by hand in small batches, using high-quality, ethically sourced ingredients and putting a lot of intention into each product.
And I have to say, my boyfriend, Tevin Jackson, has been incredible through all of this. He helps with the design, branding and distribution, which has been huge because it lets me focus on what I love—creating products and working with clients. We’re really building this together.
Now, Collado Cosmetics is all about simplifying self-care with ancient practices—facial massage, traditional practices, and simple ingredients. All these techniques people have used for centuries. My whole goal is helping people reconnect with these natural approaches and discover that healing power that’s already within them.
It’s been such a journey from those childhood facial massages and nasty green juices to actually building a brand that’s organic, plant-based, and cruelty-free. Everything I believe in.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
There have been many learning curves along the way. Specifically the business side of branding, marketing, and advertising. We wear many hats as a small business, so staying consistent with posting on social media and content creation has been a struggle. However, being creatively inclined has made the formulation, design, and packaging process super smooth and enjoyable. Even though we’ve struggled with online marketing we’ve had much success building our community in person while vending at local markets and pop-up shops.. It’s an awesome feeling to witness positive reactions to our products in real time and seeing what products people gravitate to. These live interactions help our marketing strategy by providing real life insight into who our real target audience is.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
So I’m Carla Collado, the founder of Collado Cosmetics, and honestly, my whole journey to creating this brand comes from my two other careers—acting and massage therapy.
I’ve been a licensed massage therapist for seven years now, working with everyone from athletes to people dealing with chronic pain. That hands-on work with clients is really what inspired me to create this line. When you’re working with people’s bodies every day, you see firsthand what their skin needs, what products actually work versus what’s just marketing hype. I wanted to make something quality that I could genuinely recommend to my clients—products I’d actually use myself.
On the acting side, I’ve been performing for over ten years in theater, commercials, and film. That experience has been huge for building the brand because I’m comfortable being the face of Collado Cosmetics. I know how to connect with people on camera, tell a story, and really communicate what makes these products special. It’s helped me with everything from social media content to how I pitch the brand—I can speak authentically about it because I know both sides, the product development and the performance aspect of marketing.
So it’s this cool combination where massage therapy gave me the ‘why’ behind the brand, and acting gave me the tools to actually get it out there and connect with people.
Can you talk to us a bit about happiness and what makes you happy?
The pursuit of truth and freedom makes us happy. In a world where happiness is manufactured, bottled up and sold to us we thrive from creating our own authentic path. This joy is reflected in the ethics we promote: living clean, sustainable, simple lives is success for us. Our favorite places are in nature. A lot of the inspiration behind what we do ties back to a very specific place in the Dominican Republic called Salto de Jima in a city named Bonao. There you can find beautiful water falls, natural cleansing clay, and cacao trees lining the trails. This is the essence of our brand and we’re super pleased to be able to share that slice of nature that we love with others.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://ColladoCosmetics.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/colladocosmetics/
Image Credits
Carla Collado, Tevin Jackson
