Four Australian brands with under 10K followers reshaping the beauty industry
IMAGE VIA RAAIE
WORDS BY KIARA GASHI
No gatekeeping here.
There’s nothing quite like discovering an extraordinary brand in its infancy. As they grow, you feel like a proud mother or the hometown friend of Hollywood’s new golden child, who can speak of the good old days and mean it. But no matter how much we want to keep them to ourselves, the time is ripe post-pandemic to celebrate local startups.
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And what better way to welcome in 2023 than by sharing some of Australia and New Zealand’s best-kept local brands to help us love the skin and hair we’re in? We connected with the founders of four innovative brands, each with under 10k followers, to explore how New Zealand botanicals, prebiotic scalp care, hemp seed oil and Australian manuka honey are reshaping their industry.
Raaie
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Raaie has bottled the anti-ageing power of New Zealand botanicals within enigmatic, stone-like silhouettes. Founder and beauty marketing specialist, Katey Mandey, developed the brand as “an ode to our complicated relationship with the sun”, providing the skin with protection from UV rays while illuminating it from within, and respecting the health benefits of sunlight.
New Zealand receives 40 per cent greater UVB light levels than the Northern Hemisphere and its botanicals have “developed their own defensive mechanisms to survive”. Native sauvignon blanc grape seeds and kiwifruit skins contain twice the level of antioxidants compared to their northern variants, acting as a “plant sunscreen” by neutralising UV-induced free radicals. Polyphenols are a kind of antioxidant that absorb UV radiation and prevent inflammation, oxidative stress and DNA damage when applied to the skin.
Katey purposefully works with “Maori-owned companies who follow Tikanga Māori” to harvest these ingredients, “while respecting the land and water”. These gentle and restorative properties are paired with efficacious synthetics in a symbiosis that pushes against the “demonisation of science… to protect the skin during the day and repair it from damage in the evening”. Raaie’s Morning Dew Vitamin C Serum, Yellow Moonbeam Retinal Elixir, and soon a mineral SPF, embody this philosophy.
Raaie was a trailblazer in sculptural skincare, predating Skkn by Kim and Rhode by four months. “The packaging was designed to feel like sacred objects,” Katey explains. “We wanted to create something people would cherish rather than throw away.” Raaie’s incentivised refill program, which offers free bottle collection and a 20 per cent discount, furthers this aim. Katey wants to revive an “organic and minimalist” skincare approach, inspired by her father’s dedication to replanting native New Zealand botanicals, attracting native wildlife and reviving the land.
Straand
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Co-founder and general manager of haircare brand Straand, Meagan Pate, struggled with dandruff for years. She wanted to bring “pride and love” back to a condition rooted in “stigma and shame” through zesty branding and a solution that promised affordable, “high-quality care” alongside an indulgent “sensory experience”.
Straand delivers scalp and haircare via defenscalp, a rosebay extract and a powerful prebiotic. “While other dandruff products blast your scalp’s good and bad bacteria, defenscalp balances the microbiome, helping it to naturally self-regulate and reduce sebum production,” Meagan explains. Defenscalp is used in Straand’s Crown Cleanse Shampoo, Head Doctor Conditioning Treatment and pocket-sized Cleanse Fix Scalp Serum, which relieves scalp irritation from styling and treatments. Sister ingredients like vitamin B5, hydrolysed wheat protein, jojoba oil and lactic acid work to moisturise, protect and improve the appearance of hair.
Pioneering with purpose in the skinification of hair, Straand has also developed a plant-based cellulose acetate Detangler Comb and a Hair Gem Machine that glamourises the appearance of dandruff with five style cards, including Ethereal Angel, Y2K Muse and Bejewelled Baddie. Meagan wanted to “facilitate moments of fun and humanness” by empowering empower people to feel “extra vivacious and sparkly”.
Dope Alchemy
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Andie Leslie created Dope Alchemy by “partnering with the Earth” to create hemp seed oil and plant-based eco-luxe skincare. Hemp seed oil is known as “the perfect balancing oil” for the skin. It’s rich in antioxidants, such as vitamins A and C, which prevent damage and ageing caused by free radicals from UV radiation and pollution. It also contains around 80 per cent polyunsaturated fatty acids, which soothe irritated skin while softening and moisturising “without clogging pores, [by] mimicking our natural sebum production”. It’s extracted from the seeds of cannabis sativa strains containing less than 0.3 per cent of the psychoactive substance, tetrahydrocannibinol (THC).
Andie’s personal mantra to “nourish your surface, embrace your form” and her belief that “the human body is a mechanical art form” inspired her genderless, multipurpose products. The whipped moisturising Cream is a “heaven-sent skin orgasm” and the oil-based Serum can be used to nourish, illuminate and hydrate every hair, nail and inch of skin. The Blend triples as a perfume, massage oil and diffuser oil for breath work or a bath, to “encourage a state of elevation and recalibrate the mental and emotional self” while the Balm deeply nourishes and protects chapped lips and skin.
Andie manufactures this divine quartet in small batches by hand, using ecologically sustainable practices and reusable, recyclable, glass and aluminium packaging. She is currently developing an eco-refilling system and donates $10 of every purchase to the Orangutang Project, consciously operating in line with a “greater purpose for the planet and all life that inhabits it”.
Pollen Nation
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Pollen Nation is harnessing the medicinal power of manuka honey to treat acne, psoriasis, eczema, dehydration and fine lines. Manuka honey is produced by bees that collect nectar from leptospermum scoparium (the manuka bush), which grows natively in Australia and New Zealand. Its antibacterial component, methylglyoxal (MGO) and low pH eradicate acne-causing bacteria and support wound healing, while its role as a humectant and anti-inflammatory help retain moisturise and soothe the skin. It’s high in antioxidants and promotes the production of collagen, reducing signs of ageing and imbuing the skin with a “youthful glow”.
Nurse and founder of Pollen Nation, Ezra Eldridge, recalls “growing up around bees and honey”. She suffers from psoriasis, and her mother would apply manuka honey as a “holistic, gentler and more natural approach”. After learning that Australia has “some of the highest strength manuka honey in the world” through the Oz Honey Project, Ezra developed the Honey Shots Cleansing Gel, a clean and simple spot treatment made up of five per cent 830+ MGO manuka honey, niacinamide and green tea. The honey is harvested in Queensland, packaged in honeycomb-hued aluminium tubes and formulated without irritants or harmful chemicals, making it suitable for sensitive skin.
For more local beauty brand recommendations, head here.
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