by Dayyan James, the creative force behind CocosBotanica, exemplifies the journey of turning personal challenges into innovative solutions. With a rich background in technology, where he spent 20 years delivering complex IT projects, Dayyan made an unexpected pivot into the world of skincare. What began as a necessity to heal his skin from the harsh conditions of working in a yacht servicing business quickly grew into a passion for creating natural skincare products. His early experiments—starting with homemade scrubs—led him to a deep dive into cosmetic chemistry, microbiology, and formulation science. Fueled by determination and a desire to perfect his creations, Dayyan built CocosBotanica from the ground up, a brand now known for its commitment to high-quality, effective skincare.
In this interview, he shares his success story, challenges, and advice for entrepreneurs. Read it below.
1. Hello, Dayyan! Could you start by sharing a bit about your background and what initially drew you into the world of natural skincare?
I started my career in technology, and for 20 years delivered hundreds of IT projects. A few years ago I decided I wanted to take a break from technology and work on another passion of mine, boating. I started a small yacht servicing company, helping people fix their boats. While that business didn’t pan out in the end, it left me with terrible skin from long days in the hot tropical sun and other days with engine oil and other nasty chemicals on my skin. In 2021 I packed the yacht business up, but I needed to try and recover my skin. My wife introduced me to home made scrubs using Nespresso capsules and some basic oils. This was my start into developing a keen interest in skincare.
2. Your transition from a yacht servicing venture to skincare is quite unique. Can you elaborate on how your personal experiences and challenges influenced the creation of CocosBotanica?
With my skin in disarray after the 12 months of abuse, I saw during my yacht servicing days, I finally saw a small improvement in my skin condition after a few scrubs, so I became hooked on improving the scrub formula and making it smell great. I tinkered for several months, brushing up on my chemistry, and learning the lingo used in cosmetic formulations, and thought I had the best possible scrub for my wife and me. I started sharing it with friends and family as I’d make more than what my wife and I could use. But my perfect batch of scrub I’d so enthusiastically shared was a disaster. Within days it had grown its own ecosystem of fungus. As colorful as the furry fungus was, it was an embarrassing moment for me. My friends and family had no choice but to throw the scrub away. This made me more determined tho, I began researching bacteria, fungi, and how to mitigate and prevent my scrubs from contamination. By now my spare room was a complete laboratory, with everything from microscopes to vacuum chambers. After a few more months of formulating and I was ready to share again. This batch was hugely popular and it didn’t take long for friends to ask for more, for themselves and for gifts for their friends. The hobby I now had was expensive so I started selling the scrubs to help cover costs and bit by bit, things grew from there.
3. CocosBotanica is known for its commitment to high-quality, natural skincare products. What are some key factors that you believe set your products apart from others in the market?
I only make products that I’d want to spend my own money on to use. This means I want something that actually works, isn’t money spent on fancy packaging, and is a combination of the best of what nature and science can combine. Take our VC++ Vitamin C Serum for example, it uses a bioactive form of highly stable vitamin C, which means it only converts to vitamin c when it comes into contact with enzymes in and on your skin so it won’t degrade like other vitamin C derivatives which can be harmful once they have degraded. It also has a natural probiotic to help your skin’s own defenses so your skin is able to maximize the effects of vitamin C as it’s not as busy fighting off pathogens and other nasties. This has been one of my most successful formulas with my customers recommending it to their friends and family. I had to expand my laboratory (no longer in my spare room by the way) to accommodate the popularity.
4. Creating a commercially viable skincare product must have had its hurdles. Can you share some specific challenges you encountered during the development of your products and how you managed to overcome them?
It sure does. Luckily, in Singapore, there’s a great community of professional formulators and associations. We have CTFAS Cosmetics, Toiletries and Fragrances Association of Singapore which CocosBotanica is a member of. CTFAS plays an important role in the region and globally in inputting cosmetic regulation, working with HSA, and bringing the industry together. But challenges are everywhere. Formulating something that works, is safe, is stable, and doesn’t feel horrible to apply is really tough. I can formulate one product for months before I get something I’m happy with. It can be frustrating to see a formula fail testing after so much has gone into it, but ultimately this leads to improvements and great final products. Tests aren’t cheap either. It can cost upwards of $5000 to test a single product with a third-party tester and as a small business, I can’t afford to put it to chance, so the products will only go to our testing partner once I am 100% sure it won’t fail. I’ve been burned once, overly eager to get a product to market I thought was ready, but it failed and that was several thousand dollars in testing down the toilet. Now I conduct more rigorous in-house tests before submitting to our testing partner.
5. In your opinion, what is the most rewarding aspect of running CocosBotanica, and how does it align with your personal and professional goals?
I get to use my over-excited ADHD brain to really go down rabbit holes and learn new things. The most rewarding thing, however, is getting repeat customers who are really happy with the results of my products. To top this off, I get to explore so many elements of skincare science, which is incredibly fascinating. My library collection has grown with great books like “The Remarkable Life of Skin” by Monty Lyman – highly recommended, through to “I Contain Multitudes” by Ed Yong, another fascinating look at the body’s microbiome and the gut-brain-skin axis. Ultimately I don’t want to grow too big too quickly and lose the fulfilment of creating effective skincare. This is a happy retirement (from corporate life) for me.
6. For aspiring entrepreneurs who are passionate about starting their own ventures, what advice would you give them based on your experiences and the journey with CocosBotanica?
What ever you do, do it well, let others sing your praise through your work and passion and if you are committed to an idea listen to others, take the good bits from what they say but don’t try and please everyone because you never will. It’s better to be wrong because of your own decision than to be wrong because you went against your own convictions to please others.
You can read more about Dayyan James, Founder of CocosBotanica, who transformed his personal skincare journey into a thriving natural skincare brand. His dedication to combining science and nature has made CocosBotanica a standout in the industry, offering high-quality products that deliver real results. Below are his website and social media profiles to connect with:
Website: www.cocosbotanica.com
Instagram: https://instagram.com/cocosbotanica
