“People just get it.” | Founder of Nopalera calls headquarters move to San Antonio a ‘perfect fit’ for the Mexican beauty brand.
SAN ANTONIO — Like many Latinos, Sandra Velasquez, grew up with nopales.
“I’m from San Diego, California, originally, my parents are Mexican,” Founder of Nopalera, Sandra Velasquez said. “Here in San Antonio, there’s nopales everywhere. You know, we eat it so we know it as a food source, but it’s also incredible to cleanse your skin and hair.”
This sparked an idea in 2019 to build a beauty brand around the nopal.
“For me, the idea of Nopalera was, building a brand around this culturally symbolic and versatile, sustainable plant, because I knew that our core customer would recognize it and they would see themselves in it,” Velasquez said.
Nopalera is a Latin brand that Velazquez says was missing from store shelves.
“I just didn’t see any other premium Latina brands on the market, and it didn’t make sense because Latinas outspent other groups in beauty,” Velasquez said. “We’re driving the economy, and there’s nothing that reflects us on shelves. And so the beauty industry is a little behind in that sense, and a brand like Nopalera was long overdue.”
With COVID on the horizon, it pushed this New York based musician to get to work on her idea. With her dream sprouted, Velasquez would start from scratch. Leaving music in the past and getting to work in her kitchen making soaps and educating herself on all things beauty.
“I literally started from zero, but I was so committed to building the brand that I just committed to figuring it out,” Velasquez said.
Nopalera uses every part of the nopal – from the prickly pear oil that’s rich in antioxidants to the pads, and expanding with products like lotions, scrubs and perfumes.
Once Velasquez was out of her kitchen, Nopalera was sold first online and at small mom and pop shops, but now the brand is going international.
“The next chapter of Nopalera, is very exciting because we’re now launching in Ulta, Mexico as part of their expansion and also Ulta Middle East,” Velasquez said.
Velasquez says launching in Mexico is like a, “heritage homecoming.”
“The inspiration comes from my Mexican heritage and so it’s a big moment for us. It’s very exciting,” Velasquez said.
Familiar scents of Mexico like tamarindo and copal crossing borders, inspired Velasquez to move her headquarters from New York to San Antonio, a place she only visited once for a music gig.
“It just made sense for me, Velasquez said. “The reaction from the core customer, the Latino community here was instant love because again, they were like, wow it’s a brand called Nopalera, it’s like I grew up eating nopales, you know, and they just got it.”
Nopalera ties culture and beauty together.
“I really created the brand to create a feeling of pride. I wanted people to be proud of who they are, who they come from,” Velasquez said. “It’s really giving people permission to step into their worth. I mean, that is the goal of the brand, you know, and so I’m happy to be a part of that.”
If you’re interested in Nopalera be sure to visit their website or Rancho Diaz where you can find their products in store.
Another huge step for Velasquez is Nopalera has just launched this October on ulta.com here in the U.S.