While visiting Cartagena, Columbia in March, I was introduced to a beautiful line of skin care made from botanicals and an even more beautiful start up story. As we had our final breakfast with @Becoming_Theia during their inaugural international women’s wellness retreat, they gifted us with the @lotodelsur facial oil.
It is so lovely. You’ll have to search for this one in small boutiques and when you visit Columbia.
Some businesses begin with a business plan. Loto del Sur began with scent, memory, and a family legacy.Founder Johana Sanint grew up in Bogotá surrounded by two powerful influences: architecture and perfume. Her father, an architect and thinker, instilled in her a deep appreciation for nature, space, and the balance between people and the environments they inhabit. Meanwhile, her great-grandfather, who represented the fragrance house PFW, filled the family with stories of travel and the art of perfume. From a young age, Johana developed a refined sense of smell and a fascination with scent.
After graduating from architecture school, Johana traveled to Italy and France, where she immersed herself in traditional perfume extraction techniques and the craft of making plant-based soaps. It was there that she realized her true calling: creating products rooted in nature, scent, and ritual.
When she returned to Colombia, Johana founded La Jabonería in 1999, producing botanical soaps using ancestral manufacturing processes. What started as a small line of artisanal soaps quickly resonated with customers who were drawn to the purity of the ingredients and the sensory experience of the products.
Those first soaps became the foundation for what would evolve into Loto del Sur, a brand inspired by the biodiversity of Latin America and the power of botanical ingredients. Today the company has expanded into body care, oils, fragrances, and home products that transform everyday routines into moments of ritual and wellbeing.
What began as Johana Sanint’s passion for architecture, scent, and nature has grown into one of Latin America’s most distinctive botanical beauty brands—proof that sometimes the most powerful businesses begin with the senses.
VentureMom Tip
Let your senses lead you into the right business.
