Rahua
Rahua products - known for their pure ingredients and unparalleled performance - would not be available today without an amazing turn of events. Fabian Lliguin, a renowned hairstylist and colorist in New York City visited the Amazon rainforest as an environmentalist and was educating indigenous people about their land rights and human rights when he realized he was surrounded by women with fabulous long, lustrous hair that flowed past their waists.
Their secret was rahua oil. For centuries, members of the tribe, who live deep in the rainforest, had relied on this oil to nourish their hair and skin. The women gave Fabian a bottle of rahua oil, which he carefully carried to New York in his suitcase. At his salon on Fifth Avenue, as an experiment and without expectations, he decided to use the oil as a treatment for a client with extremely dry, damaged hair. After 10 minutes, her hair was completely transformed: from brittle and lifeless to healthy, shiny and bouncy. Fabian was as shocked as his client. Here was the solid proof that this ingredient, used for centuries, produced tangible results.
Fabian knew he had something very special in his hands and also knew he had to treat it with respect. Rahua oil was and is produced by the Quechua-Shuar tribe in the same complex, ritualistic and enduring way it has been for generations. Fabian, who had long worked to support the indigenous people of the rainforest, certainly did not want to disrupt this process.
In 2008, Anna Ayers, Fabian's wife and business partner, came on board and brought her expertise as a New York fashion designer and trend forecaster to Fabian's experience as a hair stylist and colorist to design a purposeful beauty experience for consumers around the world. Together they launched the Rahua brand, drawing on the wisdom of a legendary people to formulate a unique line of innovative, herbal products to heal, nourish, beautify and transform.
Today, more than 500 families from the Quechua-Shuar, Achuar and neighboring tribes work with Fabian and Anna to cultivate the rainforest-grown ingredients used in the Rahua hair care and body care collections.