Washeema Shaheem has bagged Outstanding Women Entrepreneur of The year Award

Before diving into my story, I personally, and on behalf of FaceScrubs Pvt. Ltd., my company, would like to take this opportunity to thank Women Icon powered by Times Women for this wonderful recognition and opportunity to compete for this award. I think what the Women Icon Award is doing to bring hard-working women into the limelight and give them the support that they need is timely and tremendously inspirational.

I have no doubt that this endeavour will lift not only the winner but all the other participants as well to greater heights than they have achieved previously. I believe that this award can be a stamp of approval that will bring much welcome validity to my growing company. The prestige that goes hand in hand with this award will certainly improve the company’s brand recognition, exposing its products to an entirely new market. This, I’m sure will translate to future growth in sales, client retention as well as employee loyalty. Most importantly, it sends a message to our existing and future clients that we are the best at what we do.

The foreseeable opportunities and possibilities that could arise through this recognition are endless and I am overly grateful for it. My name is Fathima Washeema Abdul Rahman and I am the Founder/ Managing Director and Skin Care Consultant at FaceScrubs Pvt. Ltd. I am currently following a Professional Diploma in Ayurveda Cosmetic Products Manufacturing at the Asian Institute of Keraliya Ayurveda. I also hold a Diploma in Montessori Education from the London College of Higher Studies. Since my early childhood days, I have always had a passion towards holistic cosmetic products. As I grew, my passion turned into a dream of achieving renown across the cosmetic industry. In this competitive modern market, mine has not been an easy dream to manifest.

But I never gave up. My vision was always driven by my drive to become an empowered woman. Throughout my journey, I have worked hard not only to empower myself but also other women around me to start their own businesses and achieve their own dreams. In 2018, after what seemed like a very long journey, albeit one with rich experiences, I was able to found FaceScrubs Pvt. Ltd., my very own cosmetics business. FaceScrubs Pvt. Ltd. is a woman-owned, Sri Lanka- based, organic, herbal cosmetics product manufacturing company. We take delight in offering our beloved clients the very best of mother earth, organic, luxury beauty products made from ingredients taken directly from nature.

I like to think we create magic here, harnessing the healing and beautifying essence of earth’s roots and turning them into simple and ready-to-use cosmetics that enhance the lives of their users. We believe that our products give wings to our customers’ dreams, enabling them to express their kaleidoscope of moods. Our extensive collection of tested products is of the finest quality and comes tied up with a guarantee that they are 100% safe to use. For the hard work that we have done in the cosmetics industry in Sri Lanka, I have received a New Generation award for entrepreneurship - manufacturing (2022) and a Glorious Iconic Award by the Al Haseena Bridal and Academy for “best herbal skincare” (2022) As stated before, I started my company in December 2018. I started the company with one product - a cleanser/ facemask product which I called “Whitening Mask”, made from besan powder, wild turmeric and clay. It was a homemade concoction of mine which I had been using with great results for a very long time.

I felt that due to its good results, it would be something that other women like myself would love to use. As an additional benefit over regular cosmetic products in the market, this product was completely made of natural ingredients and was manufactured with love and care using natural methods. Naturally the “Whitening Mask” was an immediate hit and a booming success. Before starting FaceScrubs, I used to run a reselling business for a variety of products and had created and grown an Instagram platform for it. I used this existing platform to sell my new Whitening Mask product under FaceScrub. As we started getting in more orders, my husband helped me to form a delivery network using his connections. It did not take long for us to launch our second product, the “Whitening Serum”. While my first product was something that I had mastered over the years, this second product was something new and was created on demand.

We had more and more inquiries asking for creams, but at that point, I didn't know how to create creams. This led me to do a lot of research on my own and I developed my own base for the cream aloe vera. The cream also had turmeric while its main ingredient was saffron. This second product became more popular than the first product, and slowly with the increasing manufacturing workload and also the research that went into it, my business started to take shape. Facescrubs now sells over 40 different natural cosmetic products. We also do specialised bridal products as well as acne solutions. During the first year of the company, the manufacturing, bottling and labelling were carried out solely by my husband and myself at our house. As our client base grew we started hiring more people to help with manufacturing. Now we have 3 more staff members working with us on production apart from our admin and marketing staff.

We also expanded our house and allocated a floor for FaceScrub processes. This enabled us to invite our clients to see how manufacturing is done which was great for improving transparency. Currently, we even operate a small retail outlet from our house. For increasing brand awareness and reaching out to a wider client base I have always tried to think creatively, with a focus on sustainability and community growth. Naturally, I have used my social media platforms from day one. We also used online sellers such as Daraz to give more potential clients access to our products. I also worked hard to create a functional website with an online store, with multiple online payment options as well as an instalment payment option to encourage client retention and loyalty. Due to our online presence, we were fortunate to not take a hit during the covid pandemic. On the contrary, we were getting more orders and managed more deliveries, which led to a boom in our business during those trying times.

However, our real marketing breakthrough came through my idea of utilising local resellers from different parts of the country to reach a wider audience. Through this system, we have been able to not only grow our business but empower many other women like me, allowing them to earn an income. Currently, we have 78 resellers working with us covering all parts of Sri Lanka as well as a few other countries which include some Middle Eastern countries. At FaceScrub Pvt. Ltd. our mission is to develop and manufacture natural products of the highest quality that help change lives. Our cosmetic products promote innovation, maximum efficiency, competitiveness and social responsibility to ensure the complete satisfaction and well-being of our clients. We believe in self-care made simple, moments of mindfulness, and peaceful thoughts, all while nurturing your skin from within. We create unique products using only pure natural ingredients because we understand that what you put on your body is equally important as what you put into it. Throughout our journey, we are guided by our vision to be recognized as a company that leads the curve in our industry by the quality of our natural products.

Now that we have established ourselves well within Sri Lanka, my next goal for FaceScrub’s future is to expand our presence internationally. We have chosen Dubai in the UAE and Qatar as our next locations. I believe setting ourselves up in these countries will not be a difficult challenge as we already have resellers of our products in these areas, and there is an existing market for our products there. FaceScrubs is still a very young company, but it has grown rapidly even during the pandemic and the adverse economic situation of the country. I believe we have a long road ahead of us and that we are only now scratching the surface of our fullest potential. For giving me the chance to showcase myself and my company, I once again thank Women Icon powered by Times Women for giving me this wonderful opportunity.