Professionals Serendipity 
Tamborine Mountain is beloved by residents for many reasons: not least is the incomparable beauty of living in harmony with nature. But it can be hard to look after one’s own beauty while still staying true to this natural balance, with all the artificial chemicals that lurk in such products on supermarket shelves. Thankfully, Maha Shahidi has the solution as the owner of Rizvan Beauty, a local skin and hair care brand that prides itself on being as natural and nasty-free as possible. Today, Maha was happy to share the story of her journey to becoming one of the mountain’s favourite purveyors of creams, cleansers and conditioners— and everything in between!
by Kyle Hitchmough
How long has Rizvan Beauty been around for as a brand?
We have been in operation for almost four years now, but it took many years before that of researching, testing, getting the right products.
For those who might not be familiar, can you explain what Rizvan Beauty is?
It is natural skin and hair care. It’s organic, vegan, cruelty-free, and handmade in small batches, everything you need for your skin and hair. We especially specialise in curls and anything curl-related. Our skin is our largest organ, and what we put on our skin is so important. We really need to be focusing on making sure what we put on our skin, hair and scalp is as natural as possible. There are so many illnesses in the world that we want to just stick to the basics. Even our preservatives that we use are natural, like in our skin care where we use radish root ferment.
What does the name “Rizvan” mean, and where did it come from?
Rizvan means “paradise” in Arabic, and that is basically the theme of what we’re aiming for. To bring a bit of paradise to everybody who tries our products.
What was your inspiration to start your own skincare brand?
Once I was pregnant with my first child, I noticed these long lists of chemicals on the products in the supermarket, I realised that I need to start taking care of what I’m putting on my body because it could affect my child. I started formulating my own skin care, and I started making extra for friends. They loved it and kept asking for more, and slowly I built up my different products until I had a full range.
How long have you been attending the markets on Tamborine Mountain?
We’ve been doing the local markets for three years, since the beginning. Hopefully we’re going to look into expanding into other markets too!
You mention that your products all follow the “Curly Girl Method”. What is that?
The Curly Girl Method is avoiding anything that contains silicons, sulphates, parabens, alcohols, any nasties. It’s applying the best products for your curly hair, avoiding heat so that the curl has the opportunity to be frizz-free and achieve its full potential for beautiful, bouncy, healthy-looking curls. There is a lot more to it, but that’s it in a nutshell.
What kinds of products do you create?
For the skin, we’ve got everything that you need for cleansing, exfoliating, serums, and masks, and then on the hair side we have everything from leave-in conditioner, gels, shampoo, conditioner, and obviously for the curly girl, co-wash, which is a conditioning cleanser.
Is there a most popular product in your range?
It’s hard to say! Different salons love different things. We supply salons all across Australia– some are pretty big salons who specialise in curls. One in Sydney she buys mostly my custards and my gels. Then I’ve got one in the Gold Coast who buys mostly my leave-in conditioners, and others who buy a range. Overall, it’s a mix and match.
Where do you source the ingredients for your products from?
We source as local as possible. Everything is from Australia except one or two ingredients that we couldn’t find anywhere in the country.
What goes into the average day working here for you?
It’s a full-day process! Some of my products take about 12 hours to create just 60 bottles. It is definitely a labour of love, a long, arduous process. I handmake everything myself.
Are you a local? What’s your opinion on the Tamborine Mountain area and community?
Yes! We adore this place, we would never leave. We just love it so much! It’s got such a wonderful sense of community, everybody supporting locals wherever possible, it’s so friendly. It’s just a completely different vibe to any other places we’ve lived in. We just love it.
What’s your favourite thing to do on the mountain?
We love the Botanical Gardens! We also love hiking around different spots that we’ve never been to, just exploring the native flora and fauna. It’s just such a gorgeous place to live in.
What do you think Rizvan Beauty really provides to the area?
It’s a brand that is local and natural, so it’s supporting a local business. We’re actually sourced in two or three different spas across Tamborine Mountain. We’re in Studio K, we’re in The Escarpment, and a few other shops stock our products as well. Our products are being used in these local spas and they get extremely positive reviews across the board. People love the products and it keeps them going back to the local spas. You can also find our products for sale on our website, www.rizvanbeauty.com, and in Inspire Me Naturally and Sacred Earth Wholefoods on the mountain.
What do you enjoy most about doing this?
I just love the creative aspect of it. I love being able to provide something to somebody and get the feedback of how it has transformed people’s skin and hair. That feedback is what gives me the drive to keep going.
What’s been your most memorable moment with Rizvan?
When I’m at the markets and people come and say “Oh my god, I’ve used your product, it’s changed my hair! It used to be a horrible mess and now for the first time I can wear my hair out and it looks gorgeous, thank you! I’ve told everyone about it!” Hearing that I’m changing people’s lives gives me so much joy.
Is there anything else you’d like to go on the record?
Locals get free shipping when ordering from our website, and can ask for a 10% discount code if they get into contact with us first.
Rizvan Beauty
TAMBORINE MOUNTAIN QLD 4272
We are always looking for new topics for our blog. If there’s something you like to see more of, send your suggestions to: social@professionalsserendipity.com.au, or email the writer at kyle.hitchmough@hotmail.com.
