How it all began
About 17 years ago, Anastasia Aliaksandrovich started teaching professional makeup artists. In 2013, the company «School of Professional Makeup of Anastasia Aliaksandrovich» was founded — one of the first makeup schools in Belarus.
Makeup artists came from almost all over the world: Western Europe, the USA, Canada, the Middle East, Australia, Asia, and the CIS countries.
The school trained many makeup artists from different countries. Many became successful professionals, opened their own schools and studios, and gained a huge following. Thousands of models also passed through the school — they, too, became part of our cosmetic community. The friendships and professional connections formed in those years are still alive and growing.
The problem that led to creating our own cosmetics
While working, the school constantly faced difficulties in acquiring materials and tools. In Belarus, it was difficult, sometimes impossible, to buy high-quality cosmetics. Most supplies were purchased in the USA and, to a lesser extent, in Europe.
We tried the best professional cosmetics from well-known global brands, but never found one that suited us 100%.
The first problem — color logic. You buy a palette with several shades, but you only use one. That meant buying many palettes and using only 20–30% of the colors.
The second problem — chemical composition. In products from famous brands, we found questionable preservatives, parabens, and potential allergens. With a large flow of models — some of whom might have allergies — this posed a health risk.
Our own research
For many years, Anastasia studied chemistry as well as advanced scientific discoveries in cosmetic ingredients. She conducted her own research and experiments. She set up a laboratory room in her home, where she spent months and years.
Ingredients had to be sourced from around the world — in small laboratory batches. This was extremely difficult: raw material suppliers who work with huge batches did not want to bother shipping a few hundred grams to «some researchers from Belarus.» And yes, it was very expensive.
All this effort and striving for perfection led to the creation of laboratory batches of her own cosmetics. It met the needs of the makeup school: logical color range, harmonious textures, safe formulas. At that time, no one was thinking about global production — the goal was to supply the school.
Natural demand and the birth of the brand
Very quickly, demand arose from our audience — first of all, from models and professional makeup artists who, personally or remotely, knew the products used at the school. Many wanted to buy this cosmetics.
Production needed to be scaled. In early 2020, together with friends from the transport company Beltechnoservice, on their premises in Novopolotsk, the company «Cosmetic Technologies» was founded.
At that time, the StasyAlex brand was a small startup of initiative-driven and passionate people, created to meet the demand for the cosmetics developed by Anastasia.
First production: an MVP nobody planned
Setting up production took about eight months. Starting capabilities were very limited: the company’s capital was $60,000 (a loan). We decided to do as much as possible ourselves (a core team of 5–6 people) and to sell through our own e-commerce websites, which we also built ourselves.
Given limited production capacity, we launched only eyeshadows, pigments, and brushes. By the end of 2020, we launched online stores for the USA, Europe, and CIS countries (except Belarus). We quietly announced on Instagram that we were ready to sell. The first sales happened within minutes — and the process took off. For the first six months, we sold nothing in Belarus: we were focused exclusively on export.
Was this a business? Rather not. It was the MVP stage of a cosmetic startup, although no one on the team thought about it at the time. We simply wanted to create a beautiful, in-demand product for our beloved audience.
What the «do-it-yourself» model gave us
The model where you do everything yourself allowed us to reach profitability quickly and gain a fully controllable process — from raw materials to end customers.
By early 2021, we had broken even, and in 2021 we paid the first dividends to the founders. Also in 2021, with the development of online learning, we closed the offline makeup school and focused on cosmetics development, later integrating e-commerce with an Ed-Tech platform.
The difficulties we faced
The challenges in Belarus were significant. We were the first (and so far the only) company fully focused exclusively on export and only through our own e-commerce platforms.
Payments. Working with hundreds of foreign issuers showed that not all payments to Belarusian banks could go through. After 2022, the situation only worsened. At the end of 2020, we lost about 50% of payments; by 2026, it’s about 90%.
Logistics. Long and expensive postal shipping from Belarus (customers waited 1–2 months) was a serious limiting factor. After 2022, this only got worse.
Due to external factors beyond our control, actual work on developing production of new products (already developed but not released) and expanding e-commerce was halted in 2022.
Our numbers (despite everything)
Despite all these existential challenges, here are our figures.
2020:
- Company founded with a $60,000 loan
- 100 SKUs developed and released
- Purchases from more than 100 countries
E-commerce revenue:
- 2020 (Q4) ≈ $32,800
- 2021 ≈ $266,000
- 2022 ≈ $162,000
- 2023 ≈ $103,000
- 2024 ≈ $47,000
- 2025 ≈ $20,000
- 2026 (Q1) ≈ $6,000
Total: ≈ $636 800
The average transaction value across all years of e-commerce operations was $100–150 USD.
The $60,000 loan was repaid.
Dividends to founders:
- 2021 ≈ $62,952
- 2022 ≈ $42,952
- 2023 ≈ $48,120
- 2024 ≈ $23,620
- 2025 ≈ $11,192
Total dividends: ≈ $188,000
What the MVP stage taught us
The model proposed by Anastasia proved viable even in an extremely inconvenient location — Belarus. The essence: full focus on understanding market demand, logically sound and flawless products that don’t need advertising because they advertise themselves and generate global demand.
If this model had been launched in a country with working payment gateways for e-commerce and fast, cheap logistics, the financial results would be 3–5 times higher. The average transaction value would be at least twice as high. And the presence of venture capital would allow scaling the project to a global level — with high valuation and large net profit.
Where we stand in 2026
We have a large loyal audience around the world waiting for new StasyAlex products.
Anastasia has developed over 1,000 SKUs covering most market needs: eyeshadows, foundations, powders, lipsticks, brushes, and many innovative skincare products.
Separately, at the suggestion of Bollywood star Sanjay Dutt, a line of cosmetics for the film industry has been developed. Sanjay Dutt sees its potential not only in Bollywood but throughout India.
In recent years, the largest buyers of StasyAlex products have been customers from China.
Our Plans and What We Need
The most obvious and realistic path right now is opening a cosmetics factory specifically for the Chinese market. In 2026, we have made significant progress in negotiations in this direction. It is quite possible that something will be launched for our friends in China by the end of 2026.
However, for other regions, things are not so simple. There is a huge global market. Our beloved audience is in more than a hundred countries around the world, and we would like to continue delighting our friends across the globe with new releases and innovative products from StasyAlex. Over 1,000 unique new products have already been developed. But we do not have production facilities. And in Belarus, we have no opportunity to scale and develop production: the absence of investment institutions is telling, just as there is no opportunity to develop global export e-commerce.
We also want to continue scaling our own e-commerce by creating dozens of regional online stores around the world, combined with an Ed-Tech educational platform in all key world languages, to make it easy and fast to access both the knowledge of Anastasia Aliaksandrovich and the cosmetic products developed by her. We could teach women around the world the art of makeup and bring happiness and harmony into their lives.
Our Invitation
We have proven that our model works even in the most inconvenient conditions. In comfortable conditions, the result will be many times better, and the work more efficient.
We have over 1,000 new SKUs (developed products), a loyal global audience, and interest from China and Bollywood. Our audience is spread across the entire European Union, the Middle East, the USA, and Canada.
In the United States, STASYALEX LLC, located at 54 State Street Ste 804, Albany, NY 12207, has been registered to establish its own representative office for the StasyAlex brand and develop its own e-commerce. However, the fundamental issue of production remains unresolved. The founders and chief cosmetic developers of StasyAlex hold only Belarusian passports, and as it turns out, it is extremely difficult for Belarusians to relocate a business to a healthy jurisdiction. International compliance, as a rule, does not go into details, and it is extremely difficult for Belarusians to open a company in the EU, let alone open bank accounts for doing business.
Understanding all these limitations, over the past several years we have attempted to find a solution for developing the company in Belarus: we held negotiations with government agencies, proposed specific options for developing innovative export activities and attracting investors from the PRC. Unfortunately, we were offered to work exclusively for the domestic EAEU market, as all other companies do. The project’s global export potential turned out to be outside the agencies’ area of interest. The same applies to the second direction of our activity — the development of functional food products.
We deeply understand and respect the established requirements of international compliance regarding citizens of Belarus. However, the entire StasyAlex team responsibly declares that it considers itself a full-fledged part of the global world family and treats every people, culture, and every person with respect regardless of nationality and citizenship. With respect to the StasyAlex brand and LLC «Cosmetic Technologies,» as well as with respect to the founders, no international restrictions have ever been applied. But this fact in itself does not help overcome infrastructural barriers on a global scale.
We would very much like the already developed StasyAlex Amoraves cosmetic products to reach our beloved audience around the world. We do not just believe in the success of the new line — we know it will be love.
We would also very much like, truly very much, to continue our scientific and research work with innovative products. We need our own base, our own R&D in a healthy jurisdiction operating according to international standards and GMP. Unfortunately, in Belarus, we are required to work exclusively under EAEU regulations, which are not recognized anywhere else in the world.
To summarize, here is what we do and what we know how to do:
- Innovative ultra-premium cosmetic developments combined with a deep philosophical romance.
- We know how to launch production and manufacture products in demand by the global market. We understand the needs of the global market and shape future trends.
- We know how to organize a global e-commerce network where not only StasyAlex cosmetics but also accompanying premium products can be sold.
- Project implementation model: an international club with harmonious scaling. No paid advertising. Only conscious purchases, friendship, and respect. E-commerce combined with our EdTech.
- Collection launches are smooth and sequential. Each line is limited, demand is hype-driven, sales are fast. We do not produce «for stock» — we create events.
Of all the countries on the planet, the Middle East seems to us the most suitable for implementing our projects. We need a jurisdiction that will allow Belarusians to pass international compliance and that is acceptable to investors from China. We do not claim the domestic market of the country that hosts our projects; on the contrary, we want to focus on innovations, technologies, attracting foreign investment, and premium exports for the host country.
If you understand and share our thoughts, then let’s be friends, let’s discuss together how to take the next step. Let’s do great things together.
WhatsApp: +375 (33) 661-05-00
Email: provizage@gmail.com