Whether you’re a salon owner, salon professional or cosmetology student, one of the most important tools in your salon or at your station are the products you are using on your clients. Depending on the product, they can do a number of wonders if you know how to use them properly. However, have you ever wondered what the process is for creating these products? Have YOU ever wanted to create your own product line?

This dream recently came true for Theodora Ntovas of YASOU (Greek for “to your health”). After one and a half years of planning and producing her new skin care line, YASOU, she has officially launched her new Lux Body Cream that’s made with 99.5 percent natural ingredients including certified organic extra virgin olive oil, certified organic jojoba oil, certified organic aloe vera, among other natural ingredients.

Ntovas recently held a Meet and Greet launch at the Prasino, where Chicago salons and friends gathered to try out the product first hand.

YASOU’S STORY

Living in Feneos, Greece, as a child Ntovas remembers her grandparents making concoctions using natural remedies for health and skincare. Later in life, she went back to Greece, and visited a small, local village on the outskirts. While in the town she visited a shop where she found a Bees Wax product that contained 10 essential oils (which were created directly from that village). Falling in love with the product she tried out in the store, she decided to order some for when she returned to the states. However, when Ntovas received the product, it wasn’t the same as the one she tried out in the store.

Feeling disappointed, Ntovas came up with the idea of starting her own product line, focusing on skincare. “I felt like it was a way to reconnect with my Greek heritage. I decided that I wanted to create a product that used organic ingredients and would make anyone using it feel luxurious,” says Ntovas. After doing personal research on different ingredients and oils that she wanted in her skin care line, she found a formulator (a chemist) that was willing to create her product. “We did a number of testings, and he came up with several samples that I personally tried out,” says Ntovas. “It took one and a half years in the making, but I finally decided upon the product I wanted and it went into testing.”

However, when creating a product line, like Ntovas did, there are other crucial parts to the process besides the researching and formulating. After the creation of the product, Ntovas found a packaging manufacturer and worked on its design herself. To market the brand, Ntovas partnered with Switchfast Technologies who helped her create a website and blog. “They took my designs and translated them into a website format. It’s really cool to see everything all fleshed out now,” Ntovas says.

Ntovas has announced that she will be launching face creams in August 2013, a day treatment containing antioxidants to protect against free radicals, and a night treatment that focuses on cell renewal in the evening.

For more information on YASOU natural organic skin care, visit www.yasouskincare.com. Retailers interested in carrying YASOU skincare products are invited to call Theodora Ntovas at 630-956-4163.