The third in our feature of women empowering women and change within the region, we sat down with two sisters, Rashi and Nidhi, the brains and beauties behind UAE-born clean beauty brand Skin Story. Rashi and Nidhi. created Skin Story for women of colour, starting from scratch and ensuring their products are vegan, sustainable, eco-friendly and fragrance-free. Here they are revolutionising the regional beauty market...
Tell us a little bit about yourselves and your background...
Like many stories, ours was born out of need. We’re two sisters with two different skin types, who had no real access to beauty products that suited us. I, Rashi have sensitive skin and found it challenging to find chemical-free cosmetics that don’t cause me allergies. Nidhi, my sister has great skin but found it almost impossible to find the right shade and product for her skin colour. Our story is one that women can understand, and can relate to. My Background has predominantly been in the fashion world, as a buyer and my sister comes from a jewellery background, being a gemologist. We both come from very different backgrounds but our interest in beauty has always been at the forefront of it all.
What brought you two together?
Both of us are very passionate about beauty and helping others, We both understand the pain-points in the beauty industry as we are living examples. This is what made us want to make a change in the industry.
What made you get into clean beauty?
It comes from our own personal need. We both have our own skin and make up related issues. We understand there is a gap in the market regarding clean beauty and feel like it is not so widely available in this region. We wanted to create awareness and a great product proving that make up can be clean and still “do what it says it does”.
What restrictions did you face in the regional clean beauty market?
I think the biggest issue was that we found that we needed to educate the customers about clean beauty first before buying into clean beauty. The fact that clean beauty is relatively new here in this region means that we need to create awareness first so the customer understands the benefits of clean beauty.
What was the big push that created Skin Story?
I think it was when we travelled to London and came across a clean beauty store. We knew that was the goal and eventually wanting to create something similar in this region.
How did you find the creative and start-up process in the region?
To be honest it was quite hard to meet likeminded people in this region. Recently there have been many more companies and people who have gotten into the start up life so subsequently have met the right people and people who are in similar industries but a few years ago when we started off, it was extremely difficult.
What do you think about the current mindset towards clean beauty and how do you see things changing...
I think as mentioned before, clean beauty is still a relatively new concept so I think it will take time for customers to actually understand it. Recently, more people have been buying into the clean beauty lifestyle.
Any big plans for Skin Story you want to share with us...
We want to expand our product base and have simple clean make up solutions for all women. We also are wanting to make Skin Story a global brand and we intend on being an international clean beauty brand.
You can follow Skin Story on IG @skinstoryme & shop their range at Powder Beauty here.