Entrepreneur Sandys Charmaine Russell will be featured in Essence next month along with several other local businesses (Photo provided)
When entrepreneur Sandys Charmaine Russell got an Instagram message asking him to feature her in Gasoline magazine, she thought it was a hoax.
The post purportedly came from Jill Dill, head of public relations projects at the Bermuda Tourism Authority.
He said, in part: “I got a story in Gasoline magazine about Bermuda beauty products and the black entrepreneurs behind them and I need to put you in touch with their beauty director for an interview.
“I thought it didn’t sound real,†Ms. Russell said. She runs the Charmaine Nicole Hair Loft, on Hook and Ladder Lane in Sandys, and a natural beauty company, Surishae + Co.
She ignored the message, until her daughter took care of her business.
“She said, ‘You have an email in your inbox that you haven’t replied to, and it’s big,” “Ms. Russell said. “Mrs. Dill contacted her when she couldn’t reach me.”
The email was real. Gasoline was doing a broadcast and wanted to include his story.
“I don’t know how they heard about me,†Ms. Russell said. “I had sold some products to Jill Dill. Maybe it was like that.
Then she thought, wow, that’s pretty big. She is a fan of Gasoline.
“I said I’d better respond because it might not happen again,†she said. “So I responded and accepted the request. “
The interview was part of a collaboration with the BTA to put Bermuda on the map of local entrepreneurs in the beauty care industry.
“I think it was to raise awareness of Bermuda,” said Ms Russell.
Other companies featured include The Pink Lotus Skincare, The Sweet Place, Salt Spray Salt Co, and Dove & Butterfly.
Gasoline reporter Blake Newby flew to Bermuda a month ago and Ms Russell had an interview with her.
“I’m a bit of an introvert,†Ms. Russell said. “I thought, I don’t know if I can do it, but it went well. The feature seemed to be mostly about running a small business in Bermuda and how we collaborate with other women’s brands so that we can spread our brands together. “
Gasoline asked him what it was like to run a business on the island. The reporter appeared surprised that Ms Russell regularly ships products to customers overseas.
She had good followers in the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom until the pandemic struck. With the raging global health crisis, overseas orders have plummeted. Now, she hopes the article will help her win back her international clientele.
At one point, an entrepreneur in South Africa even asked her if she could sell Ms Russell’s products in her store. But at that time, Ms. Russell was not equipped to ship large quantities of her items overseas. Now she is ready to do it.
She thanked Ms Dill for organizing the report.
“Bermuda’s small businesses need more help,†she said.
Ms Russell said there are challenges in running a small business in Bermuda.
“I was paying 25 percent duty on every ingredient I brought in,†she said. “Then my Sea Venture shipper said, ‘Charmaine, did you know you are now being offered 10% and less on things like bottles and ingredients? This has helped us to reduce the prices of our products a bit. I would like to distribute it, but I need resources and help.
Ms Russell opened her salon in 2009 and Surishae nine years ago when her son was three.
“Her skin was really dry and cracked,†she said. “He had alligator skin on his legs.”
She tried different products from the drugstore but they didn’t work.
So she started making her own whipped body cream, using shea butter, unrefined coconut oil, almond oil and organic lavender essential oil.
“It was only then that I saw improvement in her skin,†Ms. Russell said. “No commercial product has worked.”
She started selling whipped body cream and started a brand, Surishae + Co.
“I only had one product for the first three to five years,†she said.
Then she started to grow, adding other skin care products as well as hair care items for sale in her salon.
Soon she had nine or ten different products. Now she is trying to create new products to focus more on what sells well. Her body whipped cream is still popular, but people also love her shampoo, conditioner, and hair oil.
Ms. Russell now works part-time in the salon and devotes two days a week to manufacturing her skin care line. It also benefits from external aid to manufacture a small part of its products.
In 2018, she won a Best of Bermuda award from Bermuda Magazine in the Products and Services category.
For more information, see @surishaeco on Facebook and Instagram www.surishae.com or by e-mail to [email protected]
