UK Glossier Grant Recipient And Upscale Body Care Brand Koba Skincare Launches At Moda Operandi and Goop

Body care is a blossoming category, but Koba Skincare founder Thérèse M’Boungoubaya points out it tends to stop at the ankle.

The foot care products that did exist disappointed her when she was hunting for products to help the dry and hard skin on her feet. She says, “Everything I was trying was either too thick, very greasy, I didn’t like the texture, I didn’t like the smell or I didn’t like the packaging.”

M’Boungoubaya set out to create products that delivered on her preferences and results. She launched the brand Koba Skincare in May last year with $45 Bottom Up Foot Cream, $50 Feeling Myself Lip Balm and $35 Touch Me Hand Cream. M’Boungoubaya says the three products, part of the brand’s Edges collection, center on “tackling the dryness that you can experience on the extremities.”

A year after its launch, Koba enlarged its assortment with $95 Get Whipped Body Balm and $70 Gold Drip Nourishing Body & Hair Oil. Last month, $50 Milk It Body Lotion and $25 Soak Me Up Soap Bar were added to the merchandise mix. M’Boungoubaya is working on a face care range that’s scheduled for release in the second half of next year.

“We just want to have a product that makes sense for each key area of your body and face,” she says. “I want to enter people’s bathroom and be the one essential product whether it’s for your feet, your hands, your lips or your face.”

Koba’s products are formulated with Safou oil, a natural vegetable oil that M’Boungoubaya refers to as one of the best-kept secrets in Central and Western Africa. It’s long been used to treat skin diseases and fever. M’Boungoubaya says, “It is really rich in fatty and amino acids and vitamin C and vitamin E, which makes it a good ingredient for a cosmetic line because it has really nourishing hydrating properties, but also antioxidants properties, antiseptic and anti-inflammatory.”

M’Boungoubaya’s mother, who works as a chemist, recommended she consider the ingredient for Koba. It’s the first brand to incorporate the ingredient in a cosmetic formulation outside of Africa, according to M’Boungoubaya. She and her family recently bought land in Congo, where M’Boungoubaya’s parents are from, to produce Safou oil. They’re training a team on the extraction process.

“I like this idea of bringing this African secret to the world and giving room for progression in African countries because the extraction of the Safou oil is very artisanal, and it’s very manual,” says M’Boungoubaya. “This is not really an industry that exists in Africa.”

M’Boungoubaya emphasizes Koba is focused more on skin type rather than skin tone. Specifically, it’s focused on people with dry skin and hydration. Koba means “turtle” in Lingala, the most popular language in Congo, and the name is meant to be a celebration of what the brand’s products do for the skin, explains M’Boungoubaya.

“Turtles have this shield, which is going to protect them from external aggressors the same way our products are really reinforcing the barrier protection for your skin and protecting your skin against all external environmental aggressions,” she says. “Turtles live long years, and our products are really boosting, prolonging hydration of your skin and turtles also have dry skin. There were so many parallels between the two that I just thought it was a nice nod to the language and the animal.”

Koba is M’Boungoubaya’s second beauty venture. She started the beauty box Boudoir Privé almost 13 years ago. It was acquired by JolieBox in 2011, and JolieBox was sold to Birchbox in 2012. She also held digital marketing and e-commerce roles at L’Oréal and Sarah Chapman. Even with more than a decade of beauty industry experience under her belt, M’Boungoubaya welcomes the chance to learn more.

When Glossier extended its grant program for Black-owned beauty businesses to the United Kingdom this year, Koba, which was born in London, became a grantee. A longtime admirer of Glossier, M’Boungoubaya says, “They really help you step back from your business from the day-to-day to think about the big picture. How can you accelerate your growth? How can you address all the challenges that you are going to face in the lifetime of your company? I felt more equipped at the end of it.”

Glossier UK grantees receive 10,000 pounds or roughly $12,150. In contrast, award winners in the American program get $50,000 in funding. M’Boungoubaya hopes to allocates the money toward hosting a pop-up shop either in London or New York, where she’s currently based. Her long-term goal is to open a permanent Koba shop. She envisions a treatment room and African art on display.

Koba’s main distribution strategy at the moment is steady expansion in the United States. The brand recently launched at upscale e-tailers Moda Operandi and Goop. M’Boungoubaya is interested in Koba being placed in retailers that prioritize quality and value. She says, “Being a premium brand, people are quite sensitive to prices, so the products needs to be next to products with similar price points otherwise they’re going to appear too expensive and that’s going to be quite discouraging for customers.”

M’Boungoubaya appreciates Goop’s rigorous vetting process. “They have really, really high standards, and I like the idea that we got the seal of approval from one of the toughest retailer when it comes to clean beauty,” she says. “It gives credibility and reassurance to customers.”

Beyond Goop and Moda Operandi, Koba is sold at pharmacies, boutiques and salons. It’s in a boutique in Congo and M’Boungoubaya is looking into growing the brand’s presence in the country. She’s invested 200,000 euros or about $212,000 into Koba and mentions DTC alone can’t accomplish her objective of building its business. She says, “I need to join forces with other people who are going to help us spread the word and gain additional visibility.”