Young Cuban men spend time and money caring for their beards, and some Cuban beauty manufacturers are actually planning to export. Who knew?
The new beards of Cuba
Barber shops are getting busy proposing new beard cuts, while some Cuban Cosmetic brands are showing up in a South American Fair.
“Lately there are a lot of people, especially the younger crowd, who are letting their beards grow – it’s a trend,” so Barbers had to prepare themselves for a new market.
But this has nothing to do with the familiar beard icons of the Cuban revolution. Cubans continue to be surrounded at every turn by images of Fidel and Che Guevara and Camilo Cienfuegos – the revolution’s most famous “barbudos.” But the symbolism has diminished, if not vanished for the younger generations. Now it is just a trend, a way to feel modern and more like the rest of the fashionistas around the world. So well-trimmed beards in Old Havana can represent a tangible reawakening in the Cuban society.
Comestic manufacturer in Cuba.
Candida Belleza Piel is the name of a Brand that produces skin and hair cosmetics in Cuba. They have been developing their brand for about 10 years with the cooperation of the best researchers on the island of Cuba. The Founder, Leonardo Torres Jimenez, is proud of their achievements and having overcome the initial struggles, when it was hard to become a private company in the evolving Cuban society, which was still entangled in old-fashion Cuban bureaucracy. Now “Candida” has developed a domestic market and is even trying to build some foreign markets. They attended the recent edition of Belleza y Salud Fair in Bogota, Colombia. Leonardo says that for Cuban companies it is still very difficult to attend even a simple fair abroad, because they need special permits from their government and also because they cannot pay directly with Cuban Credit cards or money transfers, which makes it very hard to book flights and hotels. But they have overcome these difficulties with the enthusiasm of being some of the first Cuban companies to reach for markets out of their own country. One of their most successful products is Candida Antialopécica, supported by efficacy tests of Cuban scientific laboratories. They are very proud of their products even they know they have a long way to go to become an international company. But the news is that Cuba has already changed considerable and doing business is becoming a real possibility.
