[5 MINUTE READ]
Happy Friday everyone! As the temperatures drop, you may find that your skin is struggling to adapt. If that's the case, it might be the perfect time to switch up your skincare routine.
To get you inspired, we bring you our latest Friday Founder interview. This week, we talked to Paul Kelsey, Founder of KELSEY Skin.
Read on to learn more about this exciting new skincare brand and how KELSEY Skin stands out from the rest...
Morning Paul! Could you start by introducing your brand and your mission?
KELSEY Skin is a new skincare brand rooted in nature, science, and sustainability. We were born out of a desire to use every element of the raspberry fruit and plant by upcycling what we could. The journey has only just begun! We launched earlier this year with three hero concentrates. Each concentrate is designed to tackle a common specific skin concern, whether that is dullness, pigmentation, and loss of luminosity (Three Moons); ageing, dehydration, and loss of volume (Full Bloom); or environmental damage and sensitivity (Morn to Eve). Our mission is to create effective and gorgeous formulations that help support the skin’s natural functions. We will continue to champion the humble raspberry plant to explore and harness its amazing skincare properties.
That is such an intriguing concept! What is KELSEY Skin's hero product?
Full Bloom Plumping Concentrate is our superhero for day or night. It lifts, plumps, firms, and deeply hydrates the skin to leave a beautiful, subtle glow that makes skin look instantly healthier and smooth.
"We produced an industry first: an exclusive enzymatically activated raspberry seed oil (EZ Rubus ID®) which supercharges the oil."
That glow is what we are all looking for! How is KELSEY Skin different from other brands in the segment?
KELSEY Skin is the first brand created around the benefits of the raspberry plant as a whole. We worked with leading scientists to discover the unique and incredible properties of the whole plant, including the seeds, the stem, the leaf, and the fruit pulp. We combine these with other top-quality actives to produce our “skincare extraordinaire”. We also produced an industry first: an exclusive enzymatically activated raspberry seed oil (EZ Rubus ID®) which supercharges the oil, elevating all the well-known benefits of raspberry seed oil. The process also boosts the effectiveness of the other actives in the formulation by maximising their absorption into the skin.
I love that you maximise and supercharge the effects of your ingredients! Here at CAROLINAGMX, we are really interested in how skincare brands consider sensitive skin and allergies throughout the manufacturing process and when selecting ingredients. What is KELSEY Skin’s position on sensitivity?
We avoided the use of synthetic fragrance within our products as these can be a key cause of sensitivity. KELSEY Skin also takes a ‘kind to skin and the planet’ approach by avoiding harsh preservatives, foaming agents, synthetic colours, and silicones that are likely to provoke a response. We also have a policy of avoiding chemical sunscreens due to the high risk of irritation and breakouts. In line with this, our future products in development will use only mineral gentle sunscreen ingredients.
I’m glad you brought that up! I recently experienced a breakout due to a chemical sunscreen so that thoughtfulness is really important to me. How does sustainability factor into your business?
Creating conscious beauty products has been a core pillar of KELSEY Skin and it is what sparked the idea from the beginning. As leading fifth-generation fruit farmers, rather than discarding the raspberries retailers don’t buy, we wanted to put them to good use. We know that raspberries are a superfood, rich in incredibly beneficial vitamins, antioxidants, and fatty acids, and they are not just good for our health, but for our skin too!
Therefore, we decided to upcycle the raspberries and as much of the plant as possible to create high-performance, thoughtful formulas for our skincare range. Reducing emissions through simplifying our supply chain is also important to us, so we aim to source both our ingredients and packaging as locally as we can. We manufacture all our products in England too, and all our cardboard comes from an FSC-certified supplier. Our cartons, whilst from FSC-certified sustainable forests, are also printed on recycled board to reduce the number of virgin materials we use. We also opted for recyclable nitrile bulbs for our pipettes as an alternative to the more commonly used PVC, which has a negative environmental profile.
It’s great that you are thinking about sustainability from all angles. Can you reveal what’s coming next for KELSEY Skin?
We are constantly evaluating our current product lineup and listening to consumer feedback, which has led us to create more exciting products. We have a Cleansing Balm coming soon, which is a transforming balm that melts from a light refreshing gel into an oil texture, finally becoming a light milk that can be easily rinsed. It doesn’t have the heaviness that many cleansing balms have. Coming next, we have an Essential Essence Face Mist, which is a lightweight oil in water suspension that refreshes, protects, and revitalises skin on the go. And finally, a Sleeping Mask, which is a luxurious overnight balm to deeply hydrate skin and boost cellular turnover, working with the skin’s circadian rhythm for optimum repair. All three products are set to launch later in the year. Our phase three product developments, for launching early next year, are also going into formulation as we speak so you’ll have to wait to hear more on those...
Like what you read? Head to KELSEY Skin to learn more!
If you fancy checking out some of our previous interviews, you can find them here. Want more from CAROLINAGMX? Check this out: The Ultimate WelleCo Super Elixir Review
Gabriela is a London-based writer and creative, working in marketing. Her favourite skincare product is Darphin’s Ideal Resource Youth Retinol Oil Concentrate.
