Melbourne brand ReMI’s solid moisturisers are set to transform your skincare routine

Challenging the consumerist idea of needing to buy and layer a million products to get good skin, one stone at a time.

Skincare is an industry of endless innovation, and ReMI is one of the most forward-thinking Melbourne brands stepping into the arena. ReMI’s bread and butter is the four-in-one Moisturiser Stone, a solid, package-free formula that combines an eye cream, moisturiser, face oil and lip conditioner.

Having never used a product of its kind before, I quenched my curiosity through a chat with the brand’s founders – Kiyoung Sung and Marta Novovic – to find out everything there is to know about stone-style skincare.

The origin story

ReMI was dreamt up by Kiyoung, who’d spent a decade in the cosmetics industry fascinated by both science and the emotional connection consumers form with their favourite brands. What she found lacking, however, was consideration for consumers and the planet from the corporate side.

“I started looking at different options in the market and was surprised that there seemed to be only incremental changes being made,” she explains. “But I felt given the crisis we’re living in, there needs to be more radical changes.”

She conceptualised a solid skincare format that did away with plastic packaging, streamlined routines and delivered tangible, concentrated results. But this level of innovation proved tricky on the manufacturing front, and Kiyoung struggled to get the concept off the ground until she was introduced to formula whiz Marta.

Marta comes from a line of inventive, concoction-focused women, with one grandmother who worked as a herbalist and another who was a pastry chef. She brings the skills she learned from both into her formula lab, where she practises green chemistry by incorporating herbs and natives into lab-backed science.

“When I’m [in my lab], I honour [my grandmothers] in the process because ancestral knowledge is in your DNA. They’re living here with me and through me,” Marta reflects.

The stone

With Marta on board, ReMI’s goal of sustainable innovation was finally a possibility. The result of Kiyoung and Marta’s collaboration is two solid stone formulas – one for night use and one for day use – resembling softly-coloured jewels or sea glass.

Put simply, they’re oils and native botanicals in a solid form, which are released as the stone glides over your skin. The shape itself is inspired by gua sha, designed to fit the different contours of the face and incorporate added benefits like acupressure and lymphatic drainage.

Marta, who formulates and makes all the stones by hand, explains that they’re designed to evolve with your skin. Using her own well-loved stone as an example, she demonstrates how its shape had changed with use to perfectly fit her face.

The aesthetics

Both founders wanted to make the switch from bottled to solid skincare that didn’t compromise on aesthetics, so they worked with Melbourne artist Ryan L Foote to design the stones and a beautiful ceramic storage box.

These aesthetically pleasing yet functional boxes are not only designed by Ryan, they’re also handmade at his studio in Clifton Hill. His use of natural materials and the short jaunt between the studio and lab bring added layers of sustainability to the whole operation.

The skincare benefits

Each of the two stones delivers its own benefits, taking advantage of Australia’s uniquely resilient native plants. The yellow day moisturiser is packed with antioxidants to protect the skin against environmental stressors, while the green night moisturiser defends and harmonises the skin’s microbiome to help with redness, inflammation and collagen health.

Kiyoung also explains that traditional moisturisers contain about 70 to 90 per cent water, which dilutes a product’s effectiveness. The ReMI moisturiser stones, on the other hand, are formulated with plenty of nutrient-rich oils and Australian native botanicals without that watery buffer.

While both founders are aware of the old ‘three-in-one shampoo’ stereotype, Marta sees the brand’s four-in-one formula as an industry disruptor – challenging the consumerist idea of needing to buy and layer a million products to get good skin.

The sustainability benefits

The most obvious environmental benefit of ReMI’s formula is its total lack of plastic. The stones arrive in FSC-certified paper boxes that are completely recyclable, and their small size requires fewer carbon emissions in shipping when compared to traditional bottles and tubs. As a result, the brand is Net Zero Certified.

Kiyoung points out that a lot of sustainable skincare brands opt for a refillable model. While she admires the concept, she acknowledges that it places the onus of sustainability on the customer. By taking that step away and keeping the stones packaging free, ReMI shoulders the green responsibility instead.

At its core, ReMI is all about circular design and considers its products’ entire lifecycle in order to reduce its toll on the planet without sacrificing quality or results. “It’s not either-or,” Kiyoung explains. “What’s good for me should be good for the planet, and vice versa.”

See the full range for yourself by heading here.