A CIEE Student's Reflections on the Beauty of Monteverde

This blog was written by Ava Choe. Ava was a student on one of our 2025 high school summer abroad programs in Monteverde, Costa Rica. She is an adventurous traveler who loves pushing past her comfort zone and meeting people with different perspectives. 

As I finally arrived at the Monteverde Natural Cosmetics headquarters, panting and tired after the long trek up from campus, I took a moment to pause and look around me. Two small, but sturdy buildings were spaced several meters apart from each other, one built on a small hill and the other flat on the ground. Bright patches of green grass filled the space in between, growing alongside a single flight of stone stairs leading up the hill. My foot tapped with anticipation while a smile stretched across my face. As someone who enjoys using cosmetics and skincare, I had been excited for this visit the entire week. Going into the experience, I expected to return with a bag full of Costa Rican natural cosmetics that I could give as souvenirs for friends and family, and to be completely honest…for myself as well. What I didn’t expect was that, aside from the souvenirs, I would be returning with something far more important. 

Stepping inside the lower building, the first thing I noticed was the front wall, covered from floor to ceiling with wooden shelves. Each one was completely filled by rows of soaps, lotions, and hair products. We were then instructed to sit down on glossy brown benches for a presentation by the family who owned Monteverde Natural Cosmetics. I listened with wonder as they passionately explained how their family worked together to run the business, as well as their efforts to be sustainable. By using natural ingredients to produce their products, they made sure that their customers were not harmed by dangerous chemical preservatives. By refusing to incorporate animal testing and animal fats, they prevented innocent animals from being unjustly killed. By not using artificial additives in their recipes, they have avoided contributing to water and soil pollution, as well as bioaccumulation. When Karen, the daughter of the owners, passed around the different plants that were incorporated into the cosmetics, a small seed of curiosity began to grow in me. 

At first I gave each one a quick glance and passed it on, but I then remembered that these were the very ingredients that made the products on the shelves. When I thought of beauty, I envisioned Sephora - the blinding lights, overpowering smell, bright plastic packaging, and ingredients impossible to pronounce. It was something I had gotten used to, and something that I simply accepted as an inevitable part of the beauty industry. However, my understanding of cosmetics greatly contrasted the simple biodegradable wrapping of the products I had just seen, and the clean natural ingredients being passed from hand to hand around the room. Recalling this, I started to pay more attention to them. I studied each plant closely with my eyes, noticing its color, patterns, and shape. I studied each plant with my nose, taking in the familiar sharpness of lemongrass and the mellow, smooth scent of vanilla. I studied each plant with my hands, as I pulled back from the spiky exterior of a castor bean and traced my fingers along the stem of a rosemary plant. It was then time to head up to the building on the hill - the laboratory where the products were made. After donning a papery white hairnet and taking off my shoes in order to not contaminate the lab, I walked through the door.

To my right, a smaller room was filled with metal racks almost reaching the ceiling. Margarita, Karen’s mother, explained that even once the soaps were solid, an entire month would pass before the saponification process was actually complete. Intrigued by the process, I raised my hand so I could volunteer to help. After placing exactly 200 grams of beeswax into a bowl, I stepped back and watched in amazement as the other ingredients were measured carefully and poured in with the steady hands of my classmates. Fragrant orange extract for the first layer of soap filled the room with a rich floral scent, while cocoa powder for the second turned the mixture into a deep chocolate brown that made my mouth water. Using the two mixtures, Karen and Margarita worked perfectly in tandem to pour the layers so that they didn’t mix. After the mold was set, we returned back to the main building. 

Staring once again at the looming wall of products in front of me, I gently pulled a bar of chocolate-orange soap, the kind we had just made, off of a shelf. I took a deep breath, inhaling the heavenly mix of chocolate and citrus with a newfound appreciation for not only the natural ingredients, but also for the care mixed into each bar. As I reflected on each step needed to create it, I realized that this small bar of soap was the culmination of a family’s commitment to each other, as well as to the environment. It was the product of time, patience, and the gifts of the earth. It was proof that nature does not need to be sacrificed for the sake of beauty, because nature is beauty after all. That afternoon, I returned with my paper bag full of souvenirs for my loved ones and I to enjoy. But more importantly, I returned with a lesson. The lesson that to care for the environment is to care for all. 

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