Anyone interested in the universe of foundations, lipsticks and mascaras has already come across the term “armored makeup”. In Brazil, the third largest beauty and personal care market in the world, this trend helped boost the growth of a company that emerged in the interior of Santa Catarina, in Brusque, Kohll.
In 2025, the company had revenues of R$17 million. The expectation for 2026, however, is to reach R$27 million in revenue. “We will start exporting to Dubai this year. It will be a distribution hub to reach India and other countries in Asia”, says Helo Bertolini, co-founder and CEO of the company.
With 66 internal employees, the company currently produces 69 SKUs and invests in technology and packaging. “I saw that there was a gap in the Brazilian market: the foundations were not careful with the perfume, the packaging was practical, but ugly, in plastic boxes”, recalls Bertolini. And he adds: “Today, no one would be able to reach us because of our investment in technology. I have a very large structure and a very strong brand, synonymous with luxury. Until the creation of Kohll, there was no national base of 200 reais that people would buy”, he says.
The brand began production in 2021, with development carried out in partnership with specialized companies. “We looked for different raw materials, we put details into the packaging and the fragrance. We had several problems in manufacturing because there was no money to make large imports of ingredients, but we managed to reverse it”, he says.
With investment in organic actions and makeup artists, the brand was invited to do beauty in some fashion week shows in Paris and New York. “This ‘advertising’ increased demand for international sales. We were seen as the Brazilian beauty brand with high resistance, which allows models to be able to change their clothes without transferring part of their makeup”, he states.
Today, 20% of the company’s revenue in its more than 2,800 points of sale comes from outside Brazil. The plan is to increase this percentage. “Brazilian beauty is highly desired abroad. Our fauna and flora is very interesting and, in addition to this richness, Brazilians’ skin is very varied. If the product works here, for Brazilians, in this heat, it works anywhere”, says the executive. She also says that she has no intention of taking manufacturing abroad: “I manufacture everything in Brazil because I carry our name”.
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From bankruptcy to own factory
Entrepreneurship was in Helo Bertolini’s blood. Her family was a decoration trader, but when she was 13, her parents went bankrupt and separated. “As a teenager, I started working in clothing stores and learned how to work in the luxury market. This experience was very important for the creation of Kohll”, he says.
After trying to start a career as a decorator and without much talent for it (“I can’t put a vase in its place”), Helo went to work in a hairdressing salon and, to make her first trip abroad, borrowed money from a neighbor. To pay off the loan, Helo bought makeup to resell at the salon. “I sold everything in a few days. And I thought: ‘Oops! There’s a possibility there!”, he recalls.
With the chance to make extra income, Helo went to Paraguay and Panama and resold the products he brought door to door. The extra income became his livelihood and Helo spent four years selling door to door, while he started creating content and learning about the makeup industry. “I even started consulting for agencies that worked with big brands on packaging and products. That’s where I got the insight to create a national makeup brand that looked like what was out there”, he says.
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Now, after a change in society, the next step for the company is production. Kohll has already invested R$6 million in the construction of a new factory that will have 2,300 square meters. “This does not mean that we are going to verticalize all production. I have several partners who invest in the business along with me. When I make a contract with an outsourced manufacturer, he commits to investing in the machinery and I commit to 10 years of production. Our own factory will not put an end to these productions, on the contrary. It will create new demands”, he states.
More recently, Kohll took a new step in its growth strategy by announcing a partnership with the Brazilian Confederation of Aquatic Sports (CBDA) as the new sponsor of the Brazilian Artistic Swimming team. The partnership includes the transfer of makeup specially developed for high water resistance, reinforcing the preparation and presentation of athletes in national and international competitions.
