The 7 Virtues Provides Peace at Sephora

A cosmetics-with-a-cause success story expands its offering with a new line at Canadian Sephora stores in 2018

As a female-founded, Canadian company aiming to aid farmers and growers in countries impacted by war and unrest, The 7 Virtues was already a positive force in motion before it even approached the corporate honchos of CBC’s Dragon’s Den. “The company did already have solid roots in the book I had written, The 7 Virtues of a Philosopher Queen: A Woman’s Guide to Living and Leading in an Illogical World, and I had literally launched out of my garage three months before I auditioned,” founder Barb Stegemann says.

After netting a hefty venture capital investment on the show, Stegemann’s vision boomed. “Even though I broke even in the first four weeks, the banks still would not invest in a new company that did not fit the cookie-cutter profile of a business,” she says. “We were a social enterprise—helping others—it was not the norm back then. It really took W. Brett Wilson, my philanthropic investor from the Den, to take a risk and invest in me,” explains Stegemann.

The philanthropic line has since formed partnerships with providers of essential oils in countries rebuilding from innumerable forms of struggle. Haiti, Rwanda, Afghanistan and other lands provide the basis for the acclaimed scents, offering consumers a cosmetics solutions that is proudly “good for the world and good for the skin.” Scents have gained a number of supporters–including actress Lisa Ray and, of course, BCLiving’s Simply Beautiful curators who chose the Jasmine of India as a recent scent to savour.

In February, beauty consumers will discover a new line of seven scents introduced exclusively at Canadian outlets of retailer Sephora, including…

• Orange Blossom, with natural orange blossom essential oil from Afghanistan;
• Rose Amber, with natural rose essential oil from Afghanistan?;
• Vetiver Elemi, with organic, fair trade Vetiver essential oil from Haiti?;
• Grapefruit Lime, with natural sweetie grapefruit essential oil from Israel and lime and basil from Iran;
• Patchouli Citrus, with organic, fair-trade patchouli essential oil from Rwanda;
• Jasmine Neroli, with natural jasmine essential oil from India?;
• Vanilla Woods, with fair trade, organic vanilla essential oil from Madagascar.

“This new contemporary peace perfume collection is made with the same natural, organic and fair trade essential oils from nations including Haiti, Afghanistan, Rwanda, the Middle East and India, but each fragrance is completely brand new,” says Stegemann explains. “It’s all new branding and packaging as well. Now consumers can read right on the bottle the healing properties of the essential oils, the nations they support and the programs they provide as well as the fact that they are cruelty free, vegan and made with organic sugar cane alcohol.”

The seven fresh scents will be available in three sizes, including a full-size eau de parfum, a smaller rollerball perfect for travel and a smaller option that can be grouped as a sampler pack. “The new rollerballs are incredibly popular for the on-the-go lifestyle of our Sephora customer base and the peace scent sampler kit allows people to try our new fragrances at a minimal investment,” explains Stegemann. Additional items in the popular line—including both vegan lipsticks and lip tints—are available online.