Out of many, two

Sheila Mae Velilla

She started with generic medicine and expanded to 60 kinds of health products ranging from exotic drinks, fat busters and virgin coconut oil-based products to facial cleansers.

But in the end, entrepreneur Sheila Mae Velilla concentrated on just two brands: Novuhair, the nature-based solution to hair loss; and the beauty supplement, Novuskin.

“You have to prioritize. Lack of focus is the downfall of smaller companies. Earlier, I was importing all these healthy drinks and food supplements. I’m down to focusing on product development, marketing and toll manufacturing. I have the formulation and registration of our brands, Novuhair and Novuskin,” says Velilla, who has been in business for 25 years.

Velilla started her journey as an entrepreneur in 1995 when she established, at 25 years old, a distribution company for generic medicine in Northern Luzon. At the same time, she also set up a company in Metro Manila that imported products.

Her businesses flourished but Velilla quickly realized that the generic medicine business would not grow and that she couldn’t export.

Meanwhile, her imported brands faced stiff competition.

Thus in 2000, Velilla diversified to cold-pressed virgin coconut oil (VCO), which was eventually purchased by a Filipino personal care and food manufacturing company.

Velilla also developed other VCO-based products such as the fast-selling Coco Zen massage oil.

Her corporate direction changed when German expert Dietmar Rummel, author of “Cosmetic Uses of Philippine Medicinal Herbs” and “Philippine Medicinal Plants in Primary Health Care,” offered Velilla his formula for hair loss.

It consisted of 19 natural ingredients, including virgin coconut oil and ginseng.

On its first year in Watsons in 2012, Novuhair was named the Best New Brand. For five consecutive years, it was awarded Best Medicated Hair Loss Solution by Watsons.

In 2016, Velilla received the Outstanding Achievement in Entrepreneurship (Medium Scale) at the 37th Agora Awards for the successful marketing of a home-grown brand.

Velilla believes Novuhair is the only natural hair loss product in the market.

“Aside from the plant-based formulation, it’s propylene glycol free, paraben free and approved by the FDA after clinical trials. Novuhair brought results. It was pushed by good marketing through trimedia and the digital platforms. We had testimonials from Gary Valenciano and Tim Yap. Our campaign now is to target women with thinning hair due to constant chemical treatments,” she says.

Not content with the success of Novuhair, Nutramedica launched last year the antiaging food supplement, Novuskin Lift.

After getting approval from the local Food and Drug Administration, Velilla developed the brand image and marketing for Novuskin and had it manufactured by Interthai Pharmaceuticals in Thailand.

To establish brand credibility, Nutramedica commissioned VMV Skin Research Centre + Clinics to conduct a two-month clinical trial in the Philippines. Women aged 35 to 60 were randomly selected and carefully screened to undertake the test. After taking the supplement for two months, the women said they saw improvements such as wrinkle reduction, improved volume, suppleness, hydration and evenness in skin tone. Moreover, there were no side effects.

Velilla says sales in Mercury and Watsons are slowly picking up a year after Novuskin’s launch.

With robust revenues from the two product lines, Nutramedica has consolidated Velilla’s businesses, including her pharmaceutical distribution company in the north.

Nutramedica is also spreading its wings, testing the market in California and Las Vegas by selling Novuhair in Seafood City and Island Pacific Filipino Supermarkets.

“It has been my dream to export Philippine-made products in the global market,” says Velilla. “Once everything is in place for Novuhair and Novuskin, it will be harvest time.”—CONTRIBUTED