Need-to-know: Upcoming brand Founders Beauty prioritises education-led approach for skin care

The Singaporean brand is the brainchild of CEO Sonam Uttamchandani, who conceived the brand after being diagnosed with an autoimmune disease, which caused her immune system to attack her liver, and caused her to suffer from severe adult acne.

This diagnosis triggered Uttamchandani to search for beauty and personal care products that she could use without flaring up her condition.

“Back then in 2012, weren’t as many brands that explained their ingredients. Even if they have clean ingredients, they’re not going the extra mile to tell me what’s in it. Instead, I have to make the extra effort because of my health condition. I think today that’s still lacking.”​

Uttamchandani told CosmeticsDesign-Asia​ that her experience with the lack of information regarding ingredients in beauty products drove her to develop a platform for beauty education.

“The brand was founded because of the desire to help empower and give people a platform wherein they can understand nature and its ability to heal. That's pretty much the overarching brand purpose.”​

Cutting through the noise

The company began product development back in 2017 and is set to launch the brand in August this year with three products, including a clay mask, a serum and a moisturising milk.

However, it has been operating its official website and social accounts for a year, publishing education beauty content such as ingredient information and simple DIY skin care tips and tricks.

Uttamchandani said she was aware of the sheer volume of information bombarding consumers and was conscious of the kind of content the brand puts out.

“Aside from providing information in an easy and digestible form, we will only share information that we feel is need-to-know. Just simple pieces of information and little tip that will allow you to make an informed decision when you're at the beauty store.”​

She clarified that the brand does not believe in vilifying other brands that may not fit into the clean beauty category.

“It’s not about shaming other brands because every brand is doing what they feel is best. The key is to keep the consumer well-informed but at the end of the day, it’s up to the consumer to make their own choices.”​

Personalised beauty advice

While the brand is currently posting content on its website and social media accounts, it is also exploring newer, trendier mediums including Tiktok and Clubhouse.

Depending on the global situation with the COVID-19 pandemic, it also intends to hold pop-up events and workshops.

Moving forward, the company plans to develop a channel where consumers can receive personalised skin care advice.

“Eventually, the goal is to bring in dermatologists onto our team to be able to ensure that we are providing good quality information, that's there for people to use and access whenever they need – kind of like a skin care concierge,”​ said Uttamchandani.

The brand envisions that this would be a contact point on the brand’s platforms where people can reach out and ask any skin care questions.

“I think more than anything else, there are a lot of things that people don’t feel comfortable talking about on a public platform. So, the goal is to give them that safe space where they can share their concerns,”​ said Uttamchandani.