Daughter of elite launches brand Kazakhstan

Asel Tasmaganbetova, daughter of Imangali, the secretary of the Csto Eurasian alliance and one of the country's most prominent politicians, has launched a line of cosmetics that she advertises as an expression of the ‘authentic Kazakh spirit’.

Astana (AsiaNews) - The most symbolic item on sale during the festive days in Kazakhstan is the new cosmetic gel Asiyä, which conveys ‘the fragrances of the steppe, those emanating from the dispersion of fog above the ground, releasing a sense of freshness covered with the aromas of medicinal herbs’, as the advertising presentation states.

Its production comes from the intuition of Asel Tasmaganbetova, the daughter of Imangali, the secretary of the Eurasian Csto alliance and one of the country's most prominent politicians, who has been at the top of state structures since his time as assistant to President Nursultan Nazarbaev at the end of the Soviet period.

The product claims to ‘carry the secrets of centuries-old traditions, which give strength and health’. What is called the ‘first national brand’ aims to inspire the development of the people's lives by ‘releasing the soul and magic of the Kazakh plants’.

The name Asiyä encompasses many meanings, in addition to those of the continent's boundless size: the letter A is printed on the packaging with the stylised image of the yurt, the tent of the steppe nomads, while the letter Y represents the cup with which tea is drunk, accompanied by all kinds of dishes, in the warmth of the home and family welcome, all with a clear Made in Kazakhstan sign.

As Tasmaganbetova explains in an interview with Forbes, ‘the idea was to create a national brand that would meet the best standards, and be accessible to every Kazakh family... we live in Asia, but in cosmetics and many other fields we use the best European products, and this is strange to say the least’.

The intention was therefore to make ‘the authentic Kazakh spirit’ available, with a production of soaps, shampoos, conditioners and shower gels, which for now can only be purchased via the internet, but will soon also be available on the counters of the main commercial networks and markets.

The factory for the production of ‘healing cosmetics’ is located in Almaty, the southern capital of Kazakhstan, on an area of 2.5 thousand square metres. It is not limited to ‘filling little bottles with ready-made aromatic liquids’, explains the entrepreneur, but there are ‘laboratories for researching suitable and ever new formulas’, in order to obtain the Gmp (Good Manufacturing Practice) certificate that guarantees the highest level of quality according to international standards, paving the way for distribution through agreements with the world's most important brands.

The name ‘Asiyä “ can be pronounced as ”Azia’ or ‘Asia’, in the first case evoking a famous novel by the Kazakh writer and philologist Olžas Suleymenov, entitled Az i Ja, ‘I and I’ in the variants of ancient Slavic compared to more modern Russian, from the great masterpiece of Kievan Rus' times, The Song of Igor's Host, which tells of the battles of the Russians against the polovtsy, the nomads of Asia and ancestors of the Kazakhs.

The name ‘Asia’, pronounced with a deaf S, recalls the name of the product's creator herself, Asel, which is linked to her grandmother's name ‘Asia’, and the family is certainly not a secondary factor in the history of Tasmaganbetova, and of Kazakhstan as a whole.

Asiyä products seek to express harmony with not only the roots of the Kazakh land, but with the whole world, expressing the current spirit of the nation amidst epochal changes. In production, ecological methods are scrupulously adhered to, without the use of parabens and toxic preservatives, and without testing on animals, even obtaining ḥalāl certificates in accordance with Islamic law.

The daughter of the Eurasian leader concludes by saying that ‘by choosing this national brand, you become part of a new vision of the world, in which beauty and self-care do not harm the environment, but contribute to improving the lives of all’.