Tanya du Bois turned a family challenge into a South African beauty business

Tanya du Bois has built a South African skincare business while creating new opportunities for fellow entrepreneurs.

When Tanya du Bois began making skincare products in her kitchen 18 years ago, building a beauty business was not part of the plan.

She was a mother trying to find products she felt comfortable using on her young son after his family was advised to take a closer look at the products they were using at home.

What started as a very personal search for answers eventually became Naturals Beauty, a South African skincare and body-care business with more than 50 products, around 40 retail locations and distribution into Namibia, Uganda and Zambia.

Now, du Bois has been named the CapeTalk winner of the 2026 Nedbank Business Ignite competition, which celebrates entrepreneurs under the theme My Pain. My Purpose. My Solution.

For du Bois, the business began with a problem she could not solve by shopping for something off the shelf.

Tanya du Bois has been named the CapeTalk winner of the 2026 Nedbank Business Ignite competition.

“I was a mom trying to find gentler, more natural products for my son and becoming increasingly interested in what was actually in the products we were using,” she says.

With no background in cosmetic science, she began researching ingredients and experimenting at home. A natural home-remedies book from the 1960s, passed down by her grandmother, became one of her starting points.

At first, the products were simply for her own family. Then friends and other mothers began asking what she was using.

“They started asking me where they could get the same products I was using,” she recalls.

That interest gradually turned the kitchen experiments into a business.

There was no dramatic moment when du Bois decided she was going to build a beauty company. Instead, she describes the growth as a series of small decisions.

She began selling at markets and directly to customers, paying close attention to what people wanted and, importantly, what they came back to buy.

“Those repeat customers were probably my first real proof of concept,” she says.

As demand grew, du Bois realised that Naturals Beauty would have to evolve beyond homemade formulations. Finding the right cosmetic chemist was one of her biggest early challenges.

It took close to a year to find someone who understood the direction she wanted to take the business. That relationship remains in place today.

For du Bois, learning when to seek expertise has been just as important as learning to back herself.

“You don’t need to know everything before you begin, but you do need to be willing to learn constantly and take on people in the know,” she says.

“Backing yourself means being confident enough to say, ‘I don’t know this yet, but I can find someone who does.’”

That attitude has remained central to how she runs the business.

Naturals Beauty has also grown alongside du Bois’s family.

When her daughter was born, she developed a baby range. As her son became a teenager, a teenage skincare range followed.

Her mother and sister, looking for more active skincare, helped inspire the development of the company's serum range.

It is a fitting reflection of how closely the business has remained connected to real-life needs.

But growing a manufacturing-based business in South Africa has not been without its challenges.

Du Bois points to economic downturns, Covid-19, rising input costs and supply-chain problems, as well as the challenge of competing for shelf space with international beauty companies that have much larger marketing budgets.

Running a business while raising a family brought another challenge.

“As a woman building a business while also raising a family, there have also been periods where the boundaries between work and home almost disappeared,” she says.

Those experiences have changed her approach to leadership.

“I am far less interested in appearing as though I have everything figured out. I believe in being practical, asking for help when it is needed and building relationships with people who are good at what they do.”

After 18 years, du Bois is not simply looking at how to put more Naturals Beauty products on more shelves.

One of the most interesting developments is the company's bespoke product-development arm, which helps other businesses turn ideas, ingredients and brand stories into finished products.

A forthcoming collaboration with Cape Town wine estate Klein Constantia is one example.

Naturals Beauty is developing a range spanning body care, skincare and men's grooming, incorporating winemaking by-products such as grape seed extract and grape-derived exfoliating material.

“I love working with brands to find what makes them unique and then turning that story into a product,” says du Bois.

The business will continue developing its own skincare range, including new serums, while expanding its retail and online presence.

But she sees considerable potential in helping other South African businesses create their own products.

“I understand the journey from an idea to a finished product,” she says, referring to everything from formulation and ingredient sourcing to packaging, costing, manufacturing, labelling and compliance.

For du Bois, that knowledge is now another business asset.

The 2026 Nedbank Business Ignite recognition, which includes a R200,000 cash injection, mentorship, national exposure and support through Nedbank's SimplyBiz platform, comes at a point when she is thinking about what the next 18 years could look like.

“Success looks slightly different to me at 18 years than it did at the beginning,” she says.

“It is no longer simply about making the business bigger. I want to build something sustainable, create opportunities for other people and use what I’ve learnt to help other South African businesses bring great products to market.”