Everything You Need to Know About Costa Brazil: The Sustainable Brand Inspired by the Amazon
Founded by Brazilian-born designer Francisco Costa, Costa Brazil is a sustainable beauty line built on the simple belief that the spirit of beauty is inseparable from the health of the earth.
Fashion designer Francisco Costa spent over a decade as the creative director of womenswear at Calvin Klein Collection before a 2016 trip to the Amazon rainforest inspired him to change course and become an entrepreneur in the clean beauty space. “Costa Brazil was born to reestablish a connection between nature and the consumer, where both would be in perfect harmony,” says Costa, who launched the brand in 2018. “It also came at a time when I felt that I personally needed to reestablish a connection and relationship with the natural world.”
After leaving the fast-paced world of fashion, Costa took a 6-month hiatus, during which he journeyed to the deep Amazon for the first time and spent ten days in the Acre region with the Yaminawá tribe, a six-hour canoe ride from civilization. “It really woke me to something tremendous,” he says. “I left with a sense of wonder and this amazing ingredient.” That ingredient was breu, the fragrant resin of the Almacega tree, which the Yaminawá tribe consider sacred.
Subsequent trips led to the discovery of other unique ingredients including cacay, a vitamin E-rich oil known as “the gold of the Amazon,” and kaya, a protein-packed essence extracted from the pods of the sapucaia tree and is, Costa says, “more potent than argan oil”, resulting in the line’s proprietary Jungle Complex™ of sustainably sourced, rare Amazonian ingredients.
A reflection of Costa’s unmatched eye for beauty, each product is founded on clean formulas and natural ingredients, as well as eco-conscious packaging curated to nourish your body, mind, and the planet. “Anything that soothes, connects to tranquility—we’re creating a ritual,” says Costa of the philosophy behind the brand. “We’re about calm.”
The latest addition to the range is Aroma, a unisex fragance with notes of white jungle flora, patchouli, sandalwood, vetiver, and amber accords. Sensual, sophisticated and sustainable, the fragrance is free of parabens, phthalates, mineral oil, and artificial colorants and presented in a glass, refillable bottle housed in an eco-friendly yet deadly-chic white ash block.
In addition to partnering with organizations that work to protect the planet, like Conservation International, Costa Brazil has committed to sustainability and naturality. Whenever possible, their ingredients are wild-harvested and suppliers are chosen based on their sustainability credentials, fair trade practices, and how they work with local communities to harvest ingredients in a manner that benefits both nature and people.
“Costa Brazil to me is a way to express and share this powerful reconnection to the earth that I experienced. Our products have this raw magic that talks to you, and invites you to look within, to nurture your body with nature’s most healing elements,” he says. “Beauty is inseparable from the health of the earth.”
Here, 4 Costa Brazil Essentials:
Aroma Eau de Parfum
Evocative of the Amazon at dawn, this sensual scent is reminiscent of natural resin that grows in the jungles of Brazil and is revered for its benefits: peace of mind, focus, balance. A blend of white jungle flora, patchouli, sandalwood, vetiver and amber accords, it gives off an exotic, smoky scent of fresh earth, flowers and crushed leaves—like your first steps into the jungle, its welcoming arms open and envelop you whole.
Sal de Banho/Bath Soak
Nourish the mind and body, ease tension, and soften the skin with this unique blend of epsom and mineral sea salts, detoxifying Brazilian white clay, breu branco, vitamin C-infused camu camu, and first-to-market CBA, a natural proprietary compound of copaiba and passion fruit seed oils rich in cannabinoids. CBA provides nourishing antioxidants to skin exposed to environmental stress while its soothing properties ready you for a good night's rest.
Exfoliante Para O Corpo | Body Scrub
This Brazilian exfoliating body scrub transforms from a gel to a lightweight milky mixture that’s gentle yet effective in sloughing away impurities. Featuring caffeine-rich green coffee oil, nutrient dense sweet almond oil and crushed murumuru seeds, which are rich in fatty acids and vitamins A and C, this natural elixir leaves skin hydrated, smooth, bright, and radiant. In a word, touchable. And who doesn't want that?
Óleo Para O Corpo | Kaya Jungle Firming Oil
The perfect complement to the above body scrub, we love to slather this on right after we've exfoliated. Awaken the body and reconnect with the earth with this high-performance, lightweight oil that deeply hydrates, improves firmness, and leaves skin feeling sensual and soft, with a luminescent glow.
