In the ebb and flow of daily life, where the ceaseless tides of emotion manifest themselves upon our very skin, a single brand has emerged from the coastal beauty of Brighton to resonate with the subtle waves of our feelings. Enter My Skin Feels, a skincare line that is not just about tending to the skin but nourishing the very essence of our emotional well-being.
Born from the mindful connection between body and soul, My Skin Feels is more than a skincare routine—it’s a self-care ritual. Danielle Clementina Close, the founder, has embarked on this journey to create products that are not merely for superficial appeal but allies that accompany you from dawn to dusk. With every wash, a layer of the day’s stress is rinsed away, allowing for a fresh start, making your skin feel vibrant and in sync with your emotions.
Launched in March, the brand debuted two products. My Skin Feels Clean is a super foamy — but never drying — cleanser that washes away dirt, pollution, and makeup and My Skin Feels Moisturised is a daily hydrating moisturizer that soothes, restores and nourishes dry skin. Both products are over 99% natural, but what makes the brand so unique, is their innovative blend of antioxidant-rich, rescued food waste from the tomato ketchup, orange juice, breakfast oat and olive oil industry. This is where sustainability meets skincare.
Embracing the rise and fall of feelings as naturally as the tides of the sea, My Skin Feels celebrates the unique individuality of each person’s skin journey. Whether your skin whispers the soft songs of a calm sea or tells tales of stormy adventures, there’s a heartfelt understanding embedded in every product.
Tell us about your decision to start your own brand. What did you feel was missing from the skincare marketplace?
I always wanted to do it. Being a part of the founding Charlotte Tilbury team and seeing her tenacity and drive to launch her brand was incredible and it gave me the inspiration to think, “I can do this too.” It was always something that, if I never did it, I would regret it forever.
But, I really went back and forth about launching it: “Do we need another skincare brand? The planet is on fire.” I battled with my conscience for a long time about it. Just because you want to do it doesn’t mean you should. But I figured if I’m going to do it, I’m going to do it right, and I’m going to make a change in the industry that does better for the planet.
That’s really what I’ve set out to do with My Skin Feels. Because it’s not just a skincare brand; it’s more of a message. If someone like me, on my own, can make a brand that does better than some of the big ones, why aren’t they doing that? It becomes more about changing things and challenging the norm rather than just being another face wash.
You launched your line with only two perfectly titled product formulations — My Skin Feels Clean, and My Skin Feels Moisturized. Why did you decide to keep it so tightly curated?
I don’t believe in a 12-step skincare routine. I think we’ve been over-marketed like crazy. Your skin is so delicate; it can’t take all these chemicals that people have been told to put on their skin. For me, it’s not really about how much you put on your skin; it’s about the ingredients and how they make you feel. That’s what I believe in. A routine, that’s not scary. Just two products that really work: a wash and a moisturiser. It’s all you need to wash off the day or kickstart a new one.
I’m also really trying to encourage men to get into a bit of self-care and to help them tune into their feelings. Two products is way less scary for men. Women are used to being told we need X, Y. Z whereas for most men, who don’t know, and they’re told to use ten things, it’s like, “Where do I even begin?” Also, we just don’t need that many products in the world. So having the basics nailed is a really important message in itself.
How did your experience in the beauty and wellness industry bring environmental awareness to you at such an early stage? How do those ethos translate to your skincare line?
When I started working in the industry, sustainability was on the cusp. But it wasn’t really talked about, and I saw and witnessed a lot of stuff in the last ten years where I’m like, “How can you make these decisions and not think about the planet or the long term outcome?” It’s ingrained in my mind.
I also live in Brighton, which is a ‘green city’ so it’s such a part of my daily life to be sustainable and conscious of my actions. This goes back to the point of, if I’m going to launch a brand, it has to be the most sustainable it can possibly be at every touch point and this was the biggest part of my journey.
It took three years to launch because I really took my time working out what the best options are for everything. Even the aluminium tubes took a year longer to arrive because I didn’t want to get them from China. If you get them from China, it means you have to ship them across the ocean rather than ours which come by truck 750 miles from Europe instead of over 4,000 miles from China.
Unfortunately, I had to use plastic caps, for the lids, as there was no way out for the first batch. I’m responsible for those plastic caps and every day, I think, ‘Are my plastic cap’s going to go into the ocean. That’s my waste’. So while we come up with an alternative solution, I will take the caps back.
If our customers want to send them back to me, I’ll pay for it, I’ll take the postage off their next order and keep them. It’s my responsibility to recycle them or turn them into something else. They are however super easy to recycle. They’re white (one of the most recyclable plastics) and thinner than traditional caps so you can pop them in your recycling bin.
So much goes into making a brand and it takes time to do it right but if you’re going to launch something in 2023, how can you possibly overlook sustainability?
Let’s talk about My Skin Feels Clean. This product is packed with skin-loving ingredients like Mandarin orange and lemon peel oils. What inspired the formula?
When I started making our products and thinking about how we can do this more sustainably, it was almost an obvious route for me to use rescued food. It seemed silly not to, why would you not use these perfectly good ingredients?
We chose four rescued food ingredients that are really high in antioxidants, all from Italy, because Italy has the best food, and they’re all by-products of the organic food industry. We use tomato skins that go to make tomato ketchup and are packed with skin-loving lycopene and vitamin C.
We rescue the rest of the oat plant from the breakfast oat industry which gets fermented to release all it’s active ingredients including skin soothing and deeply hydrating properties, dryness prevention and a balancing of the skin microbiota making it great for sensitive, acne prone and young skin. It really leaves the skin glowing all day long so it’s great after sun or under makeup.
My favorite is our rescued mandarin juice taken from the organic juice industry. We recycle the antioxidant-rich water used from creating juice so we don’t use any new water in our products. Water usage is a huge problem in the beauty industry, so I think that’s a really cool way to find beauty in waste.
My Skin Feels Clean is a super foamy (but never drying) face wash that gets rid of dirt, pollution and make up to leave your skin clean, fresh and ready to take on the day. With an uplifting essential oil blend that includes mandarin, sweet orange and lemon peel it brings a little joy to you and your bathroom with each and every wash.
How about My Skin Feels Moisturized — what went into creating that product?
We use all the perviously mentioned rescued food ingredients in My Skin Feels Moisturised but we add in our super-hero emollient, a by-product from the olive oil industry that’s rich in antioxidants and gives the product a super smooth, soft and highly absorbent skin feel.
I was trained as a make up artist, and I know just how important it is to hydrate and nourish the skin daily, so I set out to create something that deeply hydrates the skin all day long and leaves you with an instant glow — the results speak for themselves.
Both products are suitable for sensitive skin and I love that my customers are purchasing them for the whole family, so instead of a different routine for everyone, it’s two products for the whole household — what could be more sustainable than that!
How do you feel about where the brand is now?
It’s hard being a single founder on your own and doing everything. I also have other jobs to pay the bills. So it’s this constant battle of trying to push your own thing but making sure you’ve got money coming in so you can live. I think that’s hardest thing about being an entrepreneur today is figuring out your pay check and finding the time to do everything else.
But it’s had an amazing response so far and I think it’s got some good legs already. I’ve had loads of positive reviews about the products which is so amazing!
Having just launched the brand this year, I know that there are many exciting things on the horizon for you! What are you looking forward to?
We only launched in March this year so we’re just over six months old which is crazy as so much has happened since then. I’m currently working on new products and hopefully securing some new retailers, which I think will be a huge game changer.
Our Healthy Hydrating Moisturiser we just featured in the September issue of Vogue in their Conscious Beauty section which is unreal. Conscious beauty is the future of the beauty industry and I’m so excited that we are a part of it!
