Mompreneur” Eva Asmar has created an opportunity for herself to balance the two most important parts of her life: running her own business and spending plenty of time with her family.
Asmar has combined the experience she earned in the beauty biz — as global product manager of L’Oreal and The Body Shop — with her passion for women’s rights and the environment, to create her own line of beauty products for moms and babies.
She conceived the line, called Bionee Organic-Certified Maternity Skin Care, when she and her husband, Georges, were living in Philadelphia, and he was attending business school. Pregnant with their first child, she quit her position at The Body Shop to pursue her dream. No one knows the effects pregnancy can have on a woman’s skin and hair quite like — well — a pregnant woman, and Asmar quickly realized how important it was to have products that could safely cater to mothers both during and after pregnancy, as well as to their babies.
“I felt that there was not enough out there and not enough good-quality products that were offered for women expecting children, and for the children as well,” explains Asmar.
She knew that above all else, her products had to be effective, safe, natural, and green.
“During my pregnancy, I learned a lot about safety,” she says. “Everything you put on your skin gets into your bloodstream, and you have to be careful about what you use, especially during pregnancy and for newborns.”
Asmar and her husband traveled to France to find ingredients, create and test formulas, and network with cosmetic industry professionals. When her son, Gabriel, was born, so was her beauty line.
As important as work is to Asmar, her family is even more so. That’s why she made sure that she can run her line from her home on Manhattan’s Upper West Side, where she can care for her son and work on expanding her business.
“It was, and still is, and will be, very important for me to be independent and be my own boss, and choose the time I want to give to my child and to my job,” explains Asmar. “I can go to the park with him and then work when he sleeps. I do work late, but I have flexibility, which is really, really important.”
Born in Poland, Asmar has lived all over the world, including Germany, France, the United Kingdom, and the United States. While living in Paris, she attended the Sorbonne University and completed a Masters at ESSEC Business School. It was while in the City of Lights that Asmar took an interest in cosmetics, and soon, established herself as a cosmetics industry leader, with high-ranking positions at Yves Rocher, L’Oreal, and later, The Body Shop.
As her work experience grew, so did her ideas for women’s products. During her time at The Body Shop, her commitment to safety and women’s rights strengthened, as well. She felt that products should have safe, natural ingredients and support fair trade.
Now, her brand has been organically-certified and received numerous safety and quality certifications from top organizations in Europe, Australia and the U.S.
Asmar set out to make sure that women have access to effective, safe, natural, and green beauty products for themselves and for their babies. Now, she encourages other women to create their own employment model that gives them the life they want.
“We really want to encourage women and young moms,” she says. “No one should have to give up one or the other. You have to give yourself what’s important to you.”
As a result of her labors, her line has developed eight Bionee products, with 11 more on the horizon — and Asmar has a new baby on the way, too! She set out to make sure that no matter how well her business did, she stayed a dedicated mom. Mission accomplished.
For more information and to buy products, visit www.bionee.com.
