Caress and charm in a bar

Susan Flores, owner of Karissma, treats hers as a millionaire’s business. They’re now on their 5th year in the industry; yet, it’s their first time in the Negros Trade Fair.

Although it may sound ironic, the Yolanda incident in Tacloban paved way for Susan’s business. She has an American friend who gave her a call that time, asking her if she was affected by the typhoon. This friend of hers who’s a chemist and dermatologist in the USA wanted to extend her help to Susan. She gave her a formula in creating chemical-free soaps. Susan said that her friend is a chemist who hates chemicals that’s why she exerted effort in researching for fruits and vegetables in the Philippines which are good for the skin. It was only through Skype where they communicated to produce the soap.

Susan also shared the story behind the name of their brand. She said that during her younger days, it was very easy for her to gather people and she was always told by people that she has charisma. That incident gave her husband gave the idea of naming their brand “Karissma”. At the same time, it also means caress and charm.

Karissma soaps are all natural and handmade. Susan herself is the one who processes them in her small laboratory. The physical appearance of their products proves that they are using natural products. They include fruit and vegetable peelings in the soap.

Susan only started with 3 kinds of soap – banana, radish, and cucumber. Within a year, they were able to come up with more such as guava (anti-bacterial), avocado (moisturizing), charcoal (detoxifying), and many more. Their bestseller is the radish soap which has a bleaching effect. Each of their soap (150 grams) costs 180php.

The owner remains very down to earth. She understands that her business won’t flourish at once. “It’s slowly growing”, she said. Susan has been to many places because of Karissma. She’s been getting invites nationwide.

What’s more inspiring about the owner is she shares her success to other Filipinos. She welcomes distributors. They have packages for resellers, especially OFWs. This is her way of helping other people.