Frenchica… Who, why, what and how? 

Hey ya’ll

Welcome onboard. I guess this is not what you were thinking when you imagined French girls or France huh?Let me guess what was on your mind… Paris, the Eiffel Tower, good bread, good wines, beautiful and classy white women walking on the Champs-Elysées… fantastic food, everything but the girls on the picture (except the blond one, lol).

Well France is far from what people imagine, very far from what is between my hands on the picture and sometimes it looks like the 5 french girls on the photo, diverse! By the way, I’m Bilguissa, the founder of Frenchica. So let me introduce myself a bit more:I’m 40… something, born and raised near Paris, my parents are from Guinea (west Africa), the family moved in France in the 70’s. At home, we spoke Fulani and French, ate Mafé and Pot-au-Feu, listened to Claude François and Bah Sadio, yeah, a bit schizofrenic in fact. So all my childhood, I’ve been raised between 2 strong cultures, Fulani and French. As you can’t ask someone to choose between his father and his mother, I’ve decided as a young adult never to give up a single part of what I am, because I am both.This has always been a focus throughout my career. I’ve been a journalist, and an author before diving into beauty. As I look back to everything I’ve done, there has always been a concern to highlight or describes traditions from my identities and basically say : “Things are not as cliché as we think, people travel, share, change and become interesting in the process, because they create new cultures, richer, deeper, and at the end of the day, human being have always done that since day 1”.

So with Frenchica, my focus is to share with you the fantastic power of african ingredients and traditions mixed to french beauty codes, routines or style (the way french people infuse elegance and excellence into everything they do in the beauty business). I also wish to give back to my original continent the credit for the efficiency of what grows on its soil. The cosmetic industry rarely credits Africa for its incredible knowledge and its rich soil that gave wealth to many companies. I want to change that. I want to celebrate my ancestor’s contribution to beauty without forgetting my french identity. As you guess, Frenchica has a double meaning, it’s at the same time a reference to the french chica I am (Chica means girl in spanish), and the contraction of French and ICA from Africa.

Now as you know all about the why, I’m going to tell you what we’ll do:Under the brand Frenchica, we’ll propose make-up and soon skin-care, from ingredients partially purchased from African companies (respecting fair-trade), and turn them into super products everybody wishes to have. We are a multicultural brand, rooted into strong traditions, welcoming everyone onboard.Since we know well who we are, we can be opened to the world and propose a diverse conception of beauty where everyone feel aknowledged.But we wish to do that with you, to co-create the brand with our consumers. That is why we have published a survey (in the skincare menu), so that you choose what you need us to propose first.In the meantime, you’ll be able to discover Nappy Queen, the first brand I created 10 years ago in Paris, for textured hair. It’s made in France, from natural and organic ingredients (some of them coming from Africa), sulfate, silicone, paraben and mineral oil free.I’m pretty sure you’ll love it.

And by the way, can you refer us to friends and sign up to our newsletter? You’ll have all our exclusive offers, follow the creation of the skin-care brand and also have our tips. We will soon create an ambassador and reward program.We’re looking forward to proposing you dope products, created from fantastic ingredients and tradition, with you and for you all. I hope you’ll enjoy.

Have a good day and as we say in french, “à plus” (see you soon)
Bilguissa, founder and CEO