Heure was launched in 2020 by Estetica Group, a Singapore-based beauty company. The firm operates a chain of beauty salons and has developed brands such as ést.lab.
The brand debuted with the Ageless range, a line-up of six products that all feature SPHR, Estetica’s proprietary encapsulated transdermal delivery system.
According to the firm, this encapsulation technology works as a ‘drone’ targets specific areas of the skin to deliver actives where they are really needed.
“We have engineered the SPHR capsules with the intelligence to find its way to areas where it can work. And then, only when it reaches those areas it will trigger the release of the active ingredients and unlocks that all these marvellous things that should be working for your skin,” explained managing director Han Lim.
After some delays related to logistics, the company will soon be launched its sophomore line, Flawless, which targets skin pigmentation.
The new line-up, which utilises the same SPHR technology is scheduled to launch in the market early next year.
“We have never deviated from the original concept. With Flawless, we are working with active ingredients that have been in the market for a long time. The problem is getting to the right areas, which is why there are invasive procedures like lasers that target those subdermal areas,” Lim told CosmeticsDesign-Asia.
“We have formulated it with the most efficacious of those active ingredients. The only thing that is different, the only thing that we can claim is that we now are able to bring it to the places where it can work.”
Growing the brand
The launch of Ageless was a huge success for the company. Lim highlighted that the brand was picked up by Sephora within the first 12 months and was sold out within two days of its launch.
Furthermore, it has received extremely positive feedback from consumers and the media alike. This boiled down to the fact that its user saw results very fast, said Lim.
However, the brand’s first year was also disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic and the company was not able to keep up with the hot demand.
“We spent the whole of last year pretty much resolving our shipping and logistics. Our growth was literally disrupted by the unavailability of product – it was just crazy. We had inquiries from just about the entire South East Asia region,” said Lim.
Aside from launching the new range, the brand hopes to expand its reach internationally. “We always meant for Heure to be a global brand,” said Lim.
Currently, the brand is shipping internationally from its website. However, this model is challenged by expensive shipping costs.
Moving forward, it is seeking out distributors that can help it reach new markets. Some markets the firm is interested in include the US, China as well as the Middle East region.