Cibelle Levi Photographer
At first glance, Elaluz doesn’t have the hallmarks of a super-influencer beauty line. But on Zoom, founder Camila Coelho looks every inch the polished and trendy vlogger, who gained her 8.8 million Instagram following from posting beauty YouTube videos while working as a department store makeup artist. Her debut launch—a lip balm and lip and cheek stain in rose gold packaging—is as simple as it gets, with no indication of the famous face behind it.
Coelho’s fans might recognize her in the brand’s Portuguese name, which represents two very important things: Her heritage and private battle with epilepsy. “Elaluz means ‘She is light,’” Coelho explained to ELLE.com. “I believe that everyone in this world has a beautiful individual light. And a lot of times, we block that light depending on what happens to us, what we go through in life. It happened to me when I was diagnosed with epilepsy at age nine. I really struggled with it. And, I remember my mom telling me, ‘Camilla, you can do whatever you want in this life. Use the special light that you have, ’cause you are a special girl like everyone else is.’
Ahead, Coelho talks her quarantine routine beauty routine, launching a brand during a pandemic, and her special relationship with Diane von Furstenberg.
Why did you choose two products for this first launch?
Elaluz is all about hero products. Instead of creating a full line, I decided to create products that I truly believe in. The liquid lip and cheek stain, I wanted the color to be the perfect shade of red. This one I went for a deeper wine red, which looks good on all skin tones. I also wanted it to be hydrating. One of the main ingredients is a Brazilian fruit, guarana extract.
The balm is super rich. We call it the 24 carat lip therapy, which is a lip mask that you can wear overnight. I’m obsessed with lip masks. I wanted the formula to be very lightweight that you can comfortably wear it everyday and bring it in your bag. And the 24 karat gold flakes here really represents the light. There’s also Brazilian ingredients here, like cupuac and lychee oil.
Most of our products use Brazilian ingredients. As a Brazilian, as a Latina, we’re exploring a lot of these exotic ingredients that a lot of times brands don’t use. Brazil is so rich in agriculture, and I really just want to explore that and to bring my heritage and my country to this brand.
Elaluz
What has it been like launching your brand during a pandemic?
Elaluz
If I had created a brand four years ago, three years ago even, it would have been probably a full line. Through the years and becoming more mature, I realized that I need essentials and I never thought in my life that these two products were going to be dropped during quarantine.
A lot of times, you don’t need so much makeup to feel beautiful. It’s just about enhancing your best features. And lip, for me, is one of them. I think these are definitely going to be a go-to, especially during quarantine time. People are taking this time to let their skin breathe and, wear less makeup. But, we do have days of where we need to go out to the grocery or we need to be on a call and we want to look cute. So I didn’t think this was going to fall into quarantine, but it did. And I think it fits perfect, actually.
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Who are your beauty icons?
When I think of a beauty icon, I truly think about my grandmother first. She was a woman that was filled with light. She was the one who let me play with her makeup. She gave me my first red lipstick when I was six. And when I think of a beauty icon, I think of her because she’s, unfortunately she’s not with me today. And I’m sure she’s looking down and saying, “I’m proud of you.”
Another is Diane von Furstenberg. She’s a woman that’s all about being herself and her natural beauty. She does play with makeup, but she’s comfortable with who she is. When we went to the Met Gala together, we had a quick chat a few days before. I went to her showroom and she walked down with a shower cap on, doing a hair mask.
What has your beauty routine been like in quarantine?
I’m really trying to take care of my hair, doing hair masks. I’ve been painting my own nails and I’m trying to just do everything myself, which is great too. I feel like we appreciate beauty in a different way, now that we’re actually having to do things ourselves. I’m doing a lot of treatments for my skin as well. I feel like quarantine’s letting your skin breathe, really take care of it and apply the right products. One of the products [I’ve been using] for the past four months is actually Elaluz. So we’re launching with lips and the teaser I can give you is next month will be skincare.
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Did you seek advice from any women at the helm of their own brands?
Diane von Furstenberg. I felt so fortunate and lucky to be sitting there with her. She was someone I definitely listened to very carefully. It was a challenge for my own self to make Elaluz a mindful luxury brand, a clean brand. And I always knew there were going to be challenges, especially making our products effective. It was one of the things that we spoke about.
I’m very involved. Anything that I’m doing, content that I’m putting out there, I want to make sure I have an amazing team and make sure I’m aware of everything, that I’m approving everything. My Instagram, all of it, I put out there. I make sure I write my captions.
What can we expect next from Elaluz?
It’s a lifestyle brand, it’s a brand that’s going to touch on different categories. So we’re doing makeup, we’re doing hair, we’re doing skincare, which I’m really excited about. I wanted to make sure that we are clean, mindful brand. We are inclusive. We have inclusivity, sustainability, transparency. Those are our main pillars. And when it comes to our products, again, it’s really creating heroes.
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