In this issue we sit down with Jennifer Rock, the CEO of Skingredients

Tell us about your background before setting up Skingredients?

My passion for skincare began at the age of thirteen. I was an acne-prone teenager and was treated to a facial at a beauty salon as a birthday present. The experience opened my eyes to the vast array of treatments available and enabled me to take some control back when my skin wasn’t behaving in the way that made me feel comfortable in my own skin. I worked for free at a salon whilst I was still at school, and this inspired me to commit to working in the skincare sector.

After becoming a facialist and working in the industry, my desire to learn motivated me to empower others via education. I began teaching my clients the simplicity of active skincare. This progressed to teaching on behalf of accrediting bodies and global brands. I could see that branding was attracting the client’s attention rather than the science and knowledge required to achieve optimal skin health. This inspired me to create the Skin Nerd Network® which has 50,000 clients to whom we offer unbiased product recommendations during our consultations. The Skin Nerd provides one-to-one online skin consultations to empower people to feel better in their skin and enable them to make the right decisions for their skin via our online skincare shop where we house 45 different brands via education and constant ongoing support for our community.

What do you enjoy about running your own business?

I am most motivated by learning and whilst being a founder and CEO does bring challenges, it is enlightening to surround myself with people that are experts in various fields, which allows me to amalgamate and bring together their knowledge and insight, with a view to progressing this brand.

I adore what I do and running the business is my passion. Because it is my lifelong goal, I am continuously motivated and driven to evolve the brands. It is important to stay true to our goals as a team and I look forward to bringing the next phase of our projects to fruition.

Tell us about Skingredients and how it came to fruition?

Whilst working for other brands, I noticed a niche. I saw that there was a demand from market research and my own social media audience to reiterate the fact that people wanted simplicity, affordability, colourcoded, education-driven, science-based skincare.

What has been the biggest challenge you have faced on your journey so far?

Researching contract manufacturers when it is an area you are not familiar with. It was vital to ensure that we aligned with the best chemist possible. This allowed us to create formulas to the highest level, and to ensure that we delivered the efficacious, correct level, so that our products and claims are substantiated.

People management, particularly when you are moved from a physical to a digital platform. Keeping culture alive can be a challenge. They say that culture is what happens when you are not in the room and trying to bring that together when you have a team of 30 people that work in different countries, can pose challenges at times.

How has COVID-19 impacted your business and what do you think will be the longlasting affects for Irish business and consumption trends?

Because we set up the online skincare consultation business in 2018, we were certainly ahead of the times. In a sense we were deemed innovative before the world had turned global and so this gave us an opportunity to springboard and attract a lot of people as the trust was already there in the brand and in the way in which we worked.

From a Skingredients perspective, unfortunately a lot of our retail partners closed and understandably had to prioritise health over skincare. Having the online platform allowed us to communicate, educate and support our stockists at both a floor level and a digital level, which in a sense has only strengthened our relationships with both our retailers and consumers.

Logistically, it has been a hard time. From an import, tax and logistical element there has been a lot of unforeseen cashflow managements, however thankfully we have managed to navigate our way through and see it as our new norm. The reality of being a small business means that you constantly assess and reflect on change in a responsive manner. This allows you to keep an eye on the business and make the best decisions.

You are an eco-conscious company. Why is sustainability such an important element of your company?

The global beauty industry produced 142 billion units of packaging in 2018. * This is a huge figure, but it is not just the beauty industry that contributes to this problem – plastic waste is a global, urgently pressing issue. A whopping 91% of plastic is not recycled** and we found that although 90% of people say that they recycle kitchen waste, only 52% claim to do the same from the bathroom. *** These facts that inspired us to be part of the solution, not the problem. We have taken steps to go greener in alignment with a more sustainable approach to product packaging. We wanted to make this process easier for consumers and limit any negative impact on the environment by embracing both multiuse and recyclable packaging.

We have also partnered with Plastics for Change to help protect our oceans and the ecosystems inhabiting them.

It’s Plastics for Change’s mission to reduce the amount of plastic that ends up in our oceans by collecting the waste and providing plastic collectors a fair income and access to better livelihoods. Skingredients has made an annual pledge to Plastics for Change that directly removes 28,000kg of plastic waste from clogging landfills and our oceans. For every Skingredients product that you purchase, you are directly removing one plastic bottle from landfill.

Skingredients advocate a streamlined, capsule daily skincare regime with our Key 4 range. We don’t encourage consumers to have an excessive amount of product on the shelf, and so in that sense we have been sustainable from the get-go. The Cleanse off Mitt was our first product and an alternative to rival one-use wipes, so there has always been an underlying ecoawareness. Arguably, to claim that you are sustainable would mean that you would not create a skincare brand but what we are attempting to do is be as conscious as possible, not just for skin health but for the environment too.

As readers prepare for the return to workplace, what would you recommend they introduce to their skin routine?

Regardless of whether you are working from home or commuting, you still need to cleanse, apply your topical skincare (such as hyaluronic acid and vitamin A) and wear SPF every single day. This applies for everyone, across all genders and rain or shine.

Working from home has allowed some of us a rest from their daily commute, and the pollution that comes with it. Returning to the office means you need to make sure you are protecting your skin from the smog, dirt and pollution that can accompany travelling back and forth to work. Antioxidants are an essential addition and work to protect the skin from oxidative stress.

A facial spritz containing antioxidants can be taken in your handbag and applied throughout the day.

Those returning to a workplace may also find they are wearing more makeup again, making double cleansing even more important. Take care to remove any impurities, oil and debris at the end of the day to ensure that you don’t go to sleep with clogged pores which can lead to breakouts. Ensure that you apply SPF every morning to protect your skin from UVA and UVB rays.

How do you find juggling the work life balance? What advice would you offer to readers thinking about setting up a business?

Achieving a work life balance can be challenging– especially when your office is in your home! I admit that I’ve been guilty of working long, unsociable hours in the past but taking some ‘me-time’ away from work is so important.

How has the WTCD helped you achieve your exporting ambitions so far?

They have helped us to understand the process and information that is needed as we try to compile and research and choose our target audiences, retailers, and countries as we look beyond Ireland and the UK. The team has been beyond supportive, accommodating, hugely inspiring and very encouraging about the brands. I am very much looking forward to continuing to work together over the coming months and hopefully years.

Not only does it give you time to relax, it also allows you to regroup, refocus and remind yourself of your priorities.

 Setting personal and professional goals to work towards has helped me within my career. I also advise anyone thinking of starting a business in this industry to keep educating yourself. The industry is constantly evolving, which means that there will always be new techniques, and new ingredients to learn about. It’s important to invest time and energy into expanding your expertise.

What are your ambitions for Skingredients over the next few years?

Last year was a huge year for us, with our refill launch and with the brand launching on Cult Beauty in the UK. Expanding into other markets is a goal, but I believe in doing everything slowly and correctly and at the right time. Rather than trying to be everywhere quickly, I want to focus on communicating our message, providing education and delivering excellent skincare results.