In the middle of 2008, Farah Kharen A. Orosco, owner of OA Sweets, started looking at “another business (to venture into) – something that is unique or not yet available in the market,” she says to Enterprise Magazine. Inspiration came from “my friends, as well as clients, who were pregnant,” she adds, as she invested around P100,000 to establish Sweet Curves (SC), a luxury safe hair, skin and body care line “especially created for women who are wishing to become pregnant, expectant mothers (and fathers, too), and those who are breastfeeding.”

SC’s mission is to “provide safe and healthy body care products for you and your unborn baby, which do not contain harmful chemicals and ingredients typically found in many beauty products. Our products are formulated with almost organic ingredients and quality essential oils safe for pregnant women,”

Orosco says. While still early in the establishment of the business, Orosco is already finding some success. “(Many) inquire (about SC),” notes the owner of SC, which is displayed in trade fairs and expositions, and on the Internet, among others. “At least they inquire – meaning, my products have a great potential of success (of breaking into the) market.”

The biggest challenge, obviously, is in making SC known. “It is hard to introduce my products since they (the potential clients) are not very familiar with these kinds of product,” Orosco says, then adds with a smile: “How was this faced? I take my challenges one day at a time to solve and introduce my product in the market.”

Orosco has a company working on missing the products she sells under SC, including essential oils of chocolate (serving as an aphrodisiac, “so love making never ends even during conception”), and ylang-ylang flower (known for being an aphrodisiac, too, though also for its sedative sedative, relaxing and anti depressant qualities); bath products like shampoos and conditioners, and bath salts/liquids, blended with oils to assist “with physical exhaustion, insomnia, frigidity, impotence, depression, anxiety, nervous tension, and stress while having a calming and aphrodisiac effect;” and other health and beauty products.

The emphasis in SC’s products, stresses Orosco, is “all of them are paraben free.” A synthetic chemical, parabens are usually contained by “leave-on products, such as skin lotions and creams, (and pose) great concern because of the long exposure time and opportunity for migration via the skin into the bloodstream,” Orosco says. “The recently discovered estrogenic effects of certain synthetic chemicals, such as the parabens, and their subsequent effects on the endocrine system of humans and wildlife, is of growing concern — especially in relation to women’s risk of breast cancer. Reproductive abnormalities in young boys exposed to such chemicals either prior to puberty or as fetuses may also increase risk for undescended testicles, testicular cancer, sperm abnormalities, and prostate disorders.”

These are only some of the problems caused by the use of non-natural ingredients, and SC “wants to provide an alternative by being natural, (thus) healthy.” “I want to introduce products that are safe for women who are pregnant to look pretty and safe for the unborn baby. SC is dedicated to protecting the baby-to-be, while keeping Mama beautiful,” Orosco says.