Rabia Ghoor Started Her Skincare Brand ‘Swiitch Beauty’ When She Was Just 14 Years Old! Swiitch Beauty is a makeup and skincare brand that was started by Rabia Ghoor 5 years ago, from a 4 square meter area in her bedroom. Ghoor was fourteen years old at the time of starting her business. It all started when she discovered the video sharing platform on the internet, called YouTube. At the time there weren’t many South African beauty Youtubers, so she was mostly watching international makeup channels. She said on the company’s website, “International makeup enthusiasts have so much more of a variety! American, European or Asian brands that are unavailable here in South Africa were constantly innovating & evolving – (especially in the digital space), while South African brands lagged behind or just straight up didn’t exist.”
Ghoor then began researching about product sourcing, formulation, e-commerce, packaging, manufacturing, design with the end goal in mind being to create a beauty brand that didn’t break the bank and that people would actually use in real life. “I remember getting dressed for parties at friends places – and all the girls would pull out their little vanity cases and show off their internationally purchased, cult branded makeup.” said Ghoor on the company’s website. She wanted to create an affordable, local product that the South African girl / boy would feel proud to purchase, and more importantly, proud to use.
The product development process with Swiitch is close to home as she uses the products herself, so she is able to optimise them for efficacy, ease of use & performance. The company has maintained that the dynamic between its consumer and itself is a conversation, because of that it managed to crowd source a lot of really important ideas when it comes to the development of its products.
“For over a year, I ran the company whilst attending high school full time. It got to a point where I would be working until 3AM, and waking up for school the next morning at 6AM, just trying to balance every facet of the business alongside exams, assignments & extra murals. It was a complete one woman show & I wasn’t coping. I think I also knew what I was trying to do with Swiitch, and I knew it needed my full investment as a person. I dropped out of grade 10 in May of 2016 to run Swiitch Beauty full time, got a little office space, hired some people.” said Ghoor on the website.
Ghoor has also managed to win the Forbes Young Achievers Award for 2021. “After being announced as the winner, I received tons of emails for collaborations and of opportunities for further interviews.” Ghoor told Independent Online.
