Creative Capital: The Singaporean who is using superfoods to keep your skin happy and healthy
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Creative Majuscule: The Singaporean who is using superfoods to keep your pare happy and healthy
Rooki Dazzler by entrepreneur Hayley Teo is a clean, cruelty-free skincare line that transforms superfoods into antioxidant, vitamin and phytonutrient rich skincare products.
Skincare entrepreneur Hayley Teo (Photo: Rooki Beauty)
06 Jun 2022 07:16AM (Updated: 09 Jul 2022 05:58AM)
Similar most guys, I can be a little clueless when information technology comes to different verticals or types of beauty, make-up and skincare products. 1 of the things I have learnt over time is that how a production is made is ofttimes but as important as its purported benefits.
Merely last week in fact, I had a colleague requite me a little lesson in the differences between clean, vegan, and cruelty-free dazzler. From what I have been led to believe, from research I have seen (similar this particular written report past sustainability platform abillion) as well as word of mouth, the demand for clean and cruelty-free beauty brands is growing rapidly.
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One local entrepreneur who is poised to catch this conscious consumer wave is 28-year-old quondam digital content creator Hayley Teo.
Her three-year-quondam brand Rooki is clean, cruelty-free skincare line that transforms superfoods into antioxidant, vitamin and phytonutrient rich skincare products. The products, conceptualised past Teo, are fabricated past a lab in Nihon.
TELL ME A Little ABOUT YOU. WERE YOU E'er ENTREPRENEURIAL?
Far from information technology. I didn't dream of starting my ain business until after I graduated. And even then, I convinced myself that I needed to work for a few years to gain some experience before venturing out on my ain. Just I judge life had other plans for me.
While I wasn't always entrepreneurial, I was always creative. I liked figuring out how things worked and working with my easily. I've tried making candles, soaps, stale fruit strips, and was a corrective hobbyist. I made lip balms, matcha scrubs and pink clay masks and gave them out to friends and anyone who showed the tiniest bit of involvement.
WHAT DID YOU Practise Earlier LAUNCHING ROOKI?
Believe it or not, I was in field totally unrelated to skincare. I used to work at an advert agency but felt actually unfulfilled at work. Every mean solar day I'd wake up with dread and shuffle my anxiety unwillingly to office.
It got to the signal where I was questioning why I was spending my twenties in such a manner.
So I quit without a backup plan and spent the next year simply working with my hands and selling any I made at popups. I used to sell handmade lip balms and they were so popular that they even got stocked in a retail store.
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I was making hundreds of lip balms every 24-hour interval in different flavours, and very quickly I realised that I needed to scale. That's when I decided to go all in with Rooki. That i twelvemonth of creating my ain skincare really gave me the foundational knowledge I needed.
I spent so much of that fourth dimension researching and learning virtually skin. So when I finally created Rooki, I knew exactly what worked and what didn't.
So WHAT WAS THE Catalyst FOR STARTING ROOKI?
I realised that life is short and that I didn't want to live with regrets. At the same time, I was inspired by all the business owners that I met during my popups. Most of them were go-getters who embodied the entrepreneurial spirit and I wanted to be just like them.
Over the years, I've besides met women who've told me that they'd reached a dead-end with skincare, women with cabinets full of products that are collecting grit considering they either didn't deliver results or caused bad reactions. I started Rooki because I wanted to fill this gap.
My brand is really all about simplifying ingredients and routines. We apply extremely high-end ingredients more often than not found in luxury and cosmeceutical brands but make them accessible to the average consumer.
FROM CONCEPTION TO LAUNCH, HOW LONG DID THAT TAKE?
It took me two years. I spent a great deal of time just finding the correct formulator and lab. It takes fourth dimension to build trust and develop a good working relationship. Japanese formulators also aren't used to working with outsiders, so it was tough at first.
I also had to grapple with a communication bulwark, but now that we've produced so many products together, things have gotten much easier.
HOW DID YOU Beginning LAUNCH AND WERE YOU HAPPY WITH THE RECEPTION THE BRAND GOT?
It was a pretty unproblematic launch I accept to acknowledge. I texted some friends, did some marketing on Instagram, and went to sleep. I woke up to some sales and got all excited. And then I started panicking considering I hadn't even figured out how to deliver the goods.
It may seem kind of minor and inconsequential now, only I'm happy with the reception information technology received. I never had to market much, things merely came very naturally.
Today, you can notice Rooki not just on our official web-store merely also at Kris Shop, Watsons Online and Design Orchard. But the thing that I treasure the near is that Rooki has a actually loftier, industry-chirapsia echo customer rate. It's the biggest proof that people dearest our brand and that our skincare truly works.
FOR THOSE OF United states of america WHO DON'T KNOW, WHAT IS A SUPERFOOD?
A superfood is a blazon of food with extremely high levels of antioxidants, phytonutrients, and vitamins. Rooki products are all superfood-infused, and it's a big part of why our skincare is then effective.
AND SUPERFOODS ARE Proficient FOR OUR Confront, NOT JUST FOR EATING?
Yes, superfoods aren't just a trendy buzzword. They comprise antioxidant, amino acid and vitamin rich compounds that are merely as skilful for the pare as they are for the body.
When used in skincare, they're able to protect the peel by neutralising environmental stressors and boosting collagen levels. I should also add that my formulators and I don't select an ingredient merely because it has superfood status – nosotros ever make sure that the research is sound before we proceed.
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WHAT IS YOUR HERO Product?
The Circadian Logroller Hydro Drops is 1 of our hero products. It'southward an extremely lightweight, tropical weather friendly serum that'due south every bit calorie-free as water and yet super hydrating. Modern life takes then much from women, and the first casualty is usually slumber.
We named our serum Cyclic Fixer because we wanted to create a skincare solution that was direct linked to sleep recovery. Without adequate sleep, peel becomes dehydrated, inflamed and sensitive.
Acne outbreaks become more than mutual, and skin can wait dull and oily. Our serum is oil-free and made with Chardonnay Grapes from an award-winning vineyard in Japan, and infused with Deep Sea Energy, a concentrated harvest of viii marine algae plants including Wakame and Kombu that absorb moisture and keep skin beautifully hydrated and supple.
We've also added several microcirculation boosters like Caffeine, besides as Asian herbs similar Chamomile and Centella which all assist to soothe and replenish tired skin.
Many of our customers like to combine Circadian Fixer Hydro Drops with our antioxidant moisturiser, Superfood Saviour Creme. What they do is that they mix in 2-3 drops of our serum into a pea-sized amount of our moisturiser and employ information technology before sleeping.
It's such a popular combination that we actually introduced a bundle on our website consisting of these two products, called the Sleep Heroes Set up.
HOW Practise YOU CONCEPTUALISE EACH Product AND HOW ARE THEY Fabricated?
I would notice gaps in my routine whenever I had to travel. Instead of just having a single skincare product, I often had to take two or three products along in my journey. It was never actually what I needed. Skincare products were still being segregated into categories like anti-aging or brightening.
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I wanted to concentrate on lifestyle factors that damaged skin, similar lack of sleep or sun exposure.
When you're exposed to the sun, you don't just develop nighttime spots. Your pare ages and collagen breaks downwards. Fine lines and wrinkles class, and your peel loses both elasticity and compactness.
Our Lord's day Eraser Glow Drops was created in response to aging caused by the UV rays from the sun. Information technology doesn't just brighten and foreclose the formation of melanin, it also contains Astaxanthin and Resveratrol that can help restore skin elasticity and delay the signs of premature aging.
In the same vein, nosotros created Anti Pollution Nano Drops to beat out city pollution – not just from the outside, simply from the within besides. Besides arresting costless radical impairment from the external surround, our serum besides contains a complex blend of 3 Ceramides to strengthen and support the skin barrier.
This serum also contains ingredients like Superoxide Dismutase and Oryzanol which is more ordinarily found in luxury skincare.
WHAT SETS ROOKI APART FROM COMPETITORS?
Two things ready u.s.a. apart. First is our focus on using high-quality superfoods from Japan. For case, our Anti Pollution Nano Drops is infused with Peach Juice from Yamanshi Prefecture, Japan's Kingdom of Fruits.
The Chardonnay Grapes we use in Cyclic Fixer Hydro Drops comes directly from a Japanese winery in the town of Iizuna in Nagano, near the Chikuma River Valley which is an up-and-coming wine region.
They produce 250,000 bottles of vino every year. Secondly, all our formulas are humid-weather friendly. We probably have the lightest facial oil and serums on the market place. Our moisturiser is mildly cooling and applies comfortably. It clings onto skin merely does not clog pores. It'due south pretty addictive.
WHAT WAS THE BIGGEST SURPRISE IN STARTING YOUR OWN BUSINESS THAT You DID NOT Conceptualize?
I knew information technology would exist tough, but I didn't know it would be this tough! Running your own skincare start-up is not an instant catapult to success.
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People assume that because of the high margins in skincare that we must be flush with cash, merely that's not true. There are so many subconscious costs and problems that can catch you lot off-guard.
For example, many people underestimate how crucial a reliable packaging is to the success of a production. I've encountered so many packaging issues, from airless bottles that don't work to pumps that snap off during shipping. Just when you see a finished product, yous don't think of that. You lot don't think of the blood, sweat and tears backside the product.
I Accept SEEN ROOKI DESCRIBED AS AN ETHICAL Make. WHAT DOES THAT Mean?
Our products are cruelty-complimentary and we prioritise transparency in our ingredients. Our products are safe for those with sensitive peel and we make a witting decision leave out toxic ingredients that can weaken the skin bulwark.
The world of skincare can feel large and disruptive, so we get in a bespeak to distil the essence of what is truly needed to maintain happy and salubrious pare.
WHAT HAS BEEN THE BEST THING TO HAPPEN TO Yous SINCE LAUNCHING ROOKI
When I go personal emails from strangers telling me about how my make has helped to transform their skin. No amount of money can purchase that kind of satisfaction.
HOW HAS THE PANDEMIC AFFECTED YOUR Concern?
We were really lucky. As an e-commerce outset skincare start-up, we took less of a striking and adapted rather quickly to the new circumstances. People were literally sending skincare care packages to their friends. We ramped upwards our delivery and now ship within 2 to 3 days.
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Looking at the brilliant side of things, these changes have brought u.s.a. new opportunities. The pandemic has changed our relationship with skincare. More and more than women are forgoing makeup, and spending their actress time on skincare. Some categories besides did better than others – my instant glow mask Green Lurid Paste Masque almost went out of stock during the lockdown.
Whatever Exciting PLANS FOR THE Balance OF 2022 THAT You CAN SHARE?
We just launched our new minis, and take ane more product in the pipeline. It's super hydrating and the perfect skin refresher for our crazy hot weather!
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