Afluencer’s content lineup continues to expand with our fantastic podcast series filled with engaging chats alongside remarkable brand creators. In this week’s episode, we are honored to introduce you to Rebecca Martin, the brilliant mind behind Conscious Skincare, who joins us as our esteemed guest.
Introducing Rebecca Martin: The Visionary Behind Conscious Skincare
Meet Rebecca Martin, the dynamic force behind Conscious Skincare, a brand that’s changing the game in the world of beauty. In this lively conversation, we’re diving into the story of how Rebecca’s passion for skincare and dedication to natural ingredients led to the birth of Conscious Skincare back in 2010.
Rebecca’s journey started with a simple realization at an airport, where she questioned the ingredients in her cosmetics. This moment of curiosity sparked a journey towards creating products that align with her values, including sustainability, organic ingredients, and cruelty-free practices.
What truly sets Conscious Skincare apart is their commitment to authenticity. They’ve moved away from the traditional and focus instead on collaborating with micro-influencers who are genuinely passionate about their products. These micro-influencers offer a personal touch that larger celebrities simply can’t replicate.
Now, Conscious Skincare is opening up opportunities for influencers to experience and share their range of products. More details in the podcast episode!
Podcast Spectacular: Unveiling the Wonders of Conscious Skincare!
Join us on an exhilarating voyage into the enchanting world of Conscious Skincare, narrated by the extraordinary Rebecca Martin herself. We’ve embedded an awe-inspiring YouTube podcast video below, providing you with an exclusive pass to witness the awe-inspiring potential of influencer marketing.
Also, listen to the Afluencer Podcast on:
Key Takeaways
00:00 🌿 Rebecca Martin’s Inspiration for Conscious Skincare
– Rebecca’s journey from a different industry to starting a skincare line in 2010.
– Realization about the lack of understanding of ingredients in cosmetics.
– Personal experiences, including a health scare, that motivated her to create natural and safe skincare products.
03:30 📈 The Growth and Evolution of Conscious Skincare
– The initial focus on selling oils and the gradual expansion into four distinct skin type ranges.
– Challenges and limitations of influencer marketing before platforms like Afluencer.
– The importance of finding like-minded influencers passionate about sustainability and natural skincare.
09:15 💼 Benefits of Collaborating with Micro-Influencers
– The shift from celebrity endorsements to working with micro-influencers for authenticity.
– Micro-influencers’ dedication to skincare and their ability to engage with their audience.
– The value of personal interaction and responding to comments for building trust with followers.
16:09 🌟 Discovery Collab Opportunities with Conscious Skincare
– Focus on promoting face care products, including makeup melt, toners, serums, and more.
– Flexibility in collaboration options, from static posts to in-depth product demonstrations.
– The importance of micro-influencers’ abilities to showcase product textures and benefits effectively.
21:53 💎 Luxe Organic Skincare Collab for a Broad Range of Products
– An open opportunity to collaborate on a wide range of skincare products, including face care, body care, hair care, and hand care.
– Emphasis on showcasing the diversity of products and engaging in discussions with micro-influencers.
– Recognition of micro-influencers’ expertise in presenting products effectively and authentically.
24:23 📩 How to Reach Out to Conscious Skincare
– Encouragement to connect through the Afluencer app.
– Understanding that Conscious Skincare is a small business, and responses may take some time.
– Welcoming ideas and creativity in collaborations and appreciating the interest from potential collaborators.
Transcription Treasure Hunt: Unlocking the Chat's Secrets!
Get ready to unearth an insider’s view as we dig into the transcription of our lively chat with Rebecca Martin. Delve into the strategies, anecdotes, and pearls of wisdom that have been the driving force behind the phenomenal success of Conscious Skincare, all waiting to be uncovered in this detailed transcript.
In Conversation with Rebecca Martin, Founder of Conscious Skincare:
Brett:
All right. Thanks for joining us for our influencer podcast, special skincare edition. Here I have Rebecca Martin, co-founder of Conscious Skincare, going to take you through her product line, especially great for dry sensitive skin. And then we’ll get to the current collab opportunities that we have with Conscious Skincare. So Rebecca, welcome. Thank you for joining. And can you kind of take us through the genesis of Conscious Skincare? What inspired you to start your skincare line back in 2010?
Rebecca:
Yeah, sure. Nice to be welcomed long, Brett, so thanks very much for having me. Yeah, 2010. Well, in the lead up to that, there were a few things that happened that were the catalyst to where we find ourselves now. Primarily, I worked in a very different industry doing very different things, found myself trapped at an airport one time, buying my usual pot of stuff from the airport cosmetic counter, and I was a bit bored, so I was reading the ingredients and then suddenly realized that although I studied Latin at school, I didn’t understand a word that was on the ingredients list. So I thought this is, I don’t like this. I’ve always been into fitness, always been into health, and I thought, I’m really conscious about what I put in my body. What the hell am I putting on my body? And that kind of got me thinking.
We changed our lifestyles dramatically. In 2006, we moved to a completely different part of the uk and part of that process, my husband was just using a wood stain outside. He got some on his skin, didn’t realize he ended up poisoned. And that poisoning was very dramatic. He was hospitalized, didn’t know what was going on. The hospital thought he was having some psychotic loads. And it was only after a lot of research and tests that we found out that actually it was some of the chemicals in the wood preserve. And the thing is about those sorts of products, they don’t actually put all the ingredients on the tins. You’ve no idea what’s in there, unlike skincare where you have to declare absolutely everything. So at that time, I’d been messing around with some recipes, so he was so allergic to everything. So I just cobbled some recipes together and tried them out on him and they were absolutely fine.
And that was another step in the direction of right now we can only trust what we make ourselves. We can’t rely on anyone else. And then we had a child and time moves on and then it was just rediscovering all that work. I’d done all that research and at the time thinking there’s just such a gap here. At the time, there were very few brands around who were organic, who cared about any of the ethical values that we have. So we jumped in there and started making our own, and we just started off with just selling oils, et cetera. But then it just grew from there into what we have now, which is four skin type ranges, one for each kind of different skin type. So like you said, we have dry sensitive, we have oily problem skin or acne prone. We have kind of combination skin and we also have a range for mature skin as well, particularly suitable for perimenopause, pre menopause and post menopause as well, which is a new hot topic out there in terms of our journey so far.
And we’ve done all sorts of different work with different influencers using different approaches. And back in the day when we started out, there was nothing like affluent. Oh my God, how my life would’ve been made so much easier if there had been. It was basically, and don’t forget, even back then social media wasn’t really even out. There was you had Facebook, but that was more kind of personal. Instagram wasn’t even around, TikTok wasn’t even conceived that that was a possibility. So the way we had to do it was just try and reach out to marketing agencies or try a kind of word of mouth. But it was very hit and miss. You had no idea what you were walking into. You had no idea, of course, you had no idea of caliber to get the information, the research and the reach. You could really be blindsided by the relevance or the reach that influencers had.
So lots of trial and error, lots of expense, lots of spreadsheets, lots of influencers who would say they’d engage in the process but actually wouldn’t. And it kind of worked both ways because we wanted to be honest with people and see what they were about and everything else. But because there was nowhere really for brands and to just get together on lots of different levels, there was none of that. You either had big agency or you got people who weren’t really influencers, they just kind of played it a bit, if you know what I mean. So when I saw affluent appear, it was just like, oh my god, this is going to make my life so much easier. I can properly define what we are looking for. I can talk about what we’re about. Influencers can then decide if we we’re a brand for them because there’s bazillions of influencers who have bazillions of different interests and they’re not all interested in what we’re talking about.
And it works both ways. So it’s a great way to just kind of focus your attention on what’s going to work for both of you. And we really like to work on a partnership basis insofar as finding influencers who enjoy our brand, who are really enthusiastic and passionate about sustainability, organic skincare, natural, and all of those tags that in previous form, it’s very difficult to find like-minded people, people who are really enthusiastic to talk about it. And also the great thing about the influencers that we’ve found an affluency to is they’re really good at their craft. They are really good at the posts, they put up a lot of effort into it. And I think sometimes people think our influencers, all they do is fiddle about with something and just record it. But no, you can, as we’ve got to know them, you really get to see the effort and the time that they’re put into that.
And while some of them might do it for free or just for the product, for the more work that goes in, for sure, we all want to be paid at the end of the day for the work that we do. So it’s a great kind of reciprocal relationship that we get into. So I think for us, it’s just been such an enabler of reaching out to so many different markets as well. We are based in the uk, but we have a lot of customers in the us, Canada, and across Europe. So it’s another way to reach those audiences without going hard in on some big marketing campaign in each country, which would be a phenomenal amount of dollars, euros, and all the rest of it. So it’s just been a really good positive experience. And we’ve got a good group of influencers like each month we’ve got a few collabs going on and rolling through and looking at ones who there’s projects we’ve got coming up and they’ll work really well for that purpose. So there’s just such a good mix. There’s a great wealth of influencers who do lots of different things. So from a brand’s perspective, it’s just a very simple and easy tool, a great way to communicate, a great kind of easy way to find such a time saver as well. So we’ve got nothing but good things to say about it really.
Brett:
That’s all wonderful. It’s great to hear. Thank you, Rebecca. From a tactical standpoint, that was very interesting going the agency route. And I know what that used to look like a few years ago when we started out, and you might have a P D F deck or a PowerPoint deck of all the influencers and their rates. And the rates were never cheap. It was always, and it was kind of like a pseudo celebrity. You might not find someone devoted to skincare. It’s probably someone who’s a famous actor, actress, and you’re paying those rates and you’re paying for everyone, whereas you might only be interested in the slice of that market. So has that been, I assume so, but beneficial for you? Let’s talk about that journey from going maybe the high-end influencer celebrity route to maybe where you’re focused today more the nano and the micro influencers that people are super focused on their craft on skincare.
Rebecca:
Yeah, for sure. Because what you want is people who are passionate about it, and I think as time’s gone on, consumers have become more and more cynical about just the famous person endorsement because you think to yourself, really what you’re telling me that that famous person really uses that product? I just don’t believe it. Yeah, their agent has made sure they get paid for it, but I absolutely don’t believe for a moment that that’s what they’re using. So from that perspective, that real importance of authenticity is something where that’s what you get with the micro and the smaller influencers that they actually started out because they were really passionate about their particular interests and everything else. They didn’t start out because they’re famous and thought, oh, I can make some more on the side as a kind of another bit of self-promotion. I really love these products. I’m thoroughly testing them out as well. I mean, we’ve just had one collab review done and the person tested the product for 15 days. It was super thorough. It’s all those things and you’re just not going to get that from, I’m sorry, someone who’s famous is not going to spend that time. I don’t believe for a moment Gwyneth Paltrow and Goop that they really spend all the time that they do. No.
So from this perspective, potential consumers and general consumers can get an idea of what a product’s really like, what it’s really about, would it really work for them? And then there’s that whole different level of interaction as well, because if you’ve got someone who’s a massive influencer, who famous, they’re not really likely to answer your question about the product that you’ve been testing out as an influencer, they’re just not going to engage with you. So it ends up being a very kind of one-directional thing. Yeah, it’s a huge reach, but then you’ve really got to think about who’s looking at that. People have got to engage with it to make it work, to make it worth doing. After all, that’s what we’re trying to do. I think in my collaboration description, one of the collabs I’ve got up there is discovery and it is about how can we reach more people who may have a whole host of different skin issues or worries that they’re trying to resolve, but they’re just not quite finding the right thing for them. And this could be a way that we could reach those on a more kind of realistic one-to-one interaction level, which you’re just not going to get from the big agencies and things like that.
Brett:
A great transition. Let’s talk about your discovery collab, which we’re going to flash up here on the screen. So we’re looking for health, beauty, skincare focused influencers. And kind of take me through this. It looks like we’ve got a product opportunity and then a little bit on the paper post as well. What are we looking for from the discovery collab and what types of product or products on your side are we working with.
Rebecca:
Predominantly the face products. So we do makeup melt, toners, face washes, exfoliants day cream, night cream serum, and we also do face oils. These are the kind of more specific products that will help benefit people’s skin in lots of different ways. So in terms of whether you’ve got congested skin or whether your skin’s looking a bit dull, different ingredients that can help resolve those issues. So when it comes to a particular influencer applying, usually they’re very interested in skincare, they want to demonstrate it as you’ve said there, we can work just with the product being received or we’ll talk to influencers about if they want to do more than just kind of an image of them with the product. If they want to do more around the kind of get ready with me or how to use with me being open about, well, what’s the kind of rate card for that?
What would you be looking for for the time it’s going to take you to do that? So we’re very open and receptive to whatever ideas and some of the discussions we’ve had, what started off as maybe just a static post has evolved into some reels and kind of a bit more focus around different aspects of the product as well. So it’s been more of our collab proposal. There is more of kind of a conversation starter and then just getting into it, opening up the dialogue. So I’ve found that’s worked really well and for the reach of different influences that we’ve had as well. And I think at that level too of we have focused more on, happy to hear from micro influencers and people who have a really good engaged audience, and I think that’s probably something that you just can handle more easily when it’s more on the micro influencer side of things, it’s potentially more manageable.
But yeah, I’ve found that has worked really well. I think the discovery one, I think the way we described it, which is like I’ve said, what we are looking for in terms of trying to spread the word about who we are and what we do, why we do what we do, the ingredients we choose and what we’re about, which is cruelty-free. We use eco-friendly packaging. We don’t use palm oil. We check our suppliers for what they’re up to. We drill into what they’re doing and how they’re doing it. So we are careful about our supply chain, which we keep small, we keep, within the uk we work with a key number of suppliers and that’s it. So it’s just far more manageable. We also make everything ourselves. A lot of companies, they might design it in one country but have it all made overseas and then shipped halfway around the world. We don’t do that. We make it ourselves. We created it here, we make it here, we pack it here and we ship it from here. So it’s all under our control.
And that just gives us much more control and oversight in making sure that the quality’s there all the time and working with natural ingredients is just fantastic. I have my favorite products, which you shouldn’t have favorites when you’ve got They are like my children. It sounds a bit weird, I know, but when you’ve kind of grown and involved with different formulations and the tweaks and the trials and the tribulations, it’s like it does become a bit of a relationship after a while. And to begin with is going to sound even weirder. When I was first sending stuff out, I really felt like I was sending a bit of me. It was so personal because I’d put it in the jar and I’d put the label on and put it all together.
But I’ve learned that I can’t be super personal about everything because it’s just not good from a mental health at the end of the day. But that’s just to give an idea to people about how passionate we are about what we do. We take it very seriously what we do, and we are humbled all the time, humbled by some of the fantastic feedback we receive. It’s just mind blowing really. Especially when people have been searching for so long for something to help their skin and they discover us and then suddenly everything seems to come into place and that’s just wonderful. Makes it all worth it. But it’s great having the influences there and help us reach those people and spread the word.
Brett:
Right, exactly. And to your point, and I get it as business owner and the business is a part of you, so our micro is watching this, that’s why we love these types of collabs where you post a post or a reel and that’s not the end of it. Like you said, with a celebrity where with a micro, if you’re involved, your followers and you’re responding to every comment as a brand, that is, that’s exactly what, and that’s why we work with micros over the celebrities, to be honest. And we get more impact because you’re as passionate about the product as we are where you’re going in posting and then responding to every comment in a personal way is something like you said, you’d never get from Gwyneth Paltrow or any top celebrity to say the least way. Right. So I’m going to get you out of here, Rebecca, but I don’t want to do it without covering your second collab, which is our Lux organic skincare levers. So this one we’ve got, is this a dealer’s choice? Is that fair to say? Where we’ve got the face care, body range, hair care, hand care and whatever appeals to our partner is something that we can work with in terms of promoting?
Rebecca:
That’s right. This one is far more broad. It opens up our whole range and we’ve got about 50 products. So it’s basically whatever takes your fancy, whatever you’d like to try. It can be one thing, it can be several products. We’re not super precious about it. It’s just that thing around try it, see what you think, see if it works for you, see what you thought of the textures, and just really, again, opening up more of a discussion because whilst on our website we’ve got videos and we’ve got images, that kind of reality about, well, here’s the product, here’s what it really looks like really trying to convey the part of the cream or the textures. I try to do little videos, but honestly, have you seen my hands? I mean, they’re not glamour model, hand model hands, and they’re working hands, they don’t look pretty in a video and all the rest of it.
Whereas some of the influencers, they’ve got beautiful hands and they make it look lovely, and they’re just so much better at doing these sorts of things. And really, like I was saying earlier, they’ve honed their craft in how to show people things rather than me famine it around trying to do some kind of thing where you can tell I’m not convinced in myself because I just rarely do those sorts of videos. So it is quite a difficult thing. I don’t feel relaxed and comfortable. And I think it’s just really nice when you’ve got the micro influences, they’re comfortable and secure in front of the camera and they’re just really easy about showing the product and closeup and everything else and they know what they’re doing. Whereas, yeah, I don’t think I do the odd little video, but nah, sometimes you just got to know when other people do things better than you do. And this is one of those ties.
Brett:
That’s right. They’re living with the reels. We’ll save you for the odd little video and odd little podcast like this one.
Rebecca:
Yeah, this is different.
Brett:
Right? This is taking us through the journey. So for our influencers, we will get the links to the collabs and we’ll get your brand profile also, since the collabs can move over time, depending when you’re watching this, but we’ll get the link to the brand profile so that our influencers can find conscious skincare. Click below here. Any parting words, Rebecca, that we can let our influencers know about how they can reach you for these skincare focus collabs?
Rebecca:
Yeah, I mean if they just get in touch through the affluent app, we’re a small business. I am the marketing team and as well as that, I formulate, I’m quality control. I’m a strategist. I do 50 million other jobs from being the director to sometimes having to empty the bins. Now you just have to do what you have to do when it’s your own business. And Quent and the other director is the same. We just do everything. So I may not be able to answer you straight away, but please don’t think that I’m ignoring you or anything sincerely. I’m not that kind of person. It does kind of bug me when I know I haven’t got back to people, but I get back as soon as I can and then just open up the discussion about what the possibilities are, what the interests are, and always welcome lots of ideas as well.
The creativity. That’s what I’m really interested in. And it’s always a compliment when we get people who say, yeah, I’m interested in your collab because that’s really nice that people are interested in what we do anyway. And it’s a compliment because they think, well, if they perceived our brand wasn’t that great or anything like that, well they wouldn’t really respond. But we’ve had a great response, really, really good response. So that’s a compliment in itself that we resonate with people. So it’s like, whew. Because at the beginning I was thinking, oh my God, what if nobody applies? That’s like a walk of shame. So I’m just so relieved. But people did. So that’s just wonderful. So that’s a compliment in itself and I’m going to take that for sure.
Brett:
For sure. As you should. Well, thanks again, Rebecca. It’s been really fun chatting with you, the journey even before the founding of the company. So it’s been great. And thanks again for hopping on.
Rebecca:
Oh, thanks
Brett:
About Conscious Skincare.
Rebecca:
Thanks so much. You’ve been fad, you guys.
Brett:
Awesome. Cool. Thanks again.
Discover the art of influencer marketing with Afluencer’s newsletter. From savvy strategies to HOT COLLAB tips, we’ve got something for everyone. Don’t miss out—sign up today!
JOIN THE ULTIMATE INFLUENCER MARKETING NETWORK!
Reflecting on a Journey of Innovation and Influence
As we wrap up this enlightening podcast experience with Rebecca Martin, we invite you to consider the valuable takeaways and inspiration has has shared. Looking to harness the power of influencer marketing? Afluencer is here to guide you on that transformative path.
Explore a World of Possibilities with Afluencer
- Unlock exclusive insights and strategies by signing up for Afluencer’s bimonthly newsletter.
- Catapult your brand’s presence through the captivating prowess of influencer marketing.
Become a Guest on the Afluencer Podcast
Are you a brand owner with a remarkable influencer marketing story to tell? We’re extending an invitation for you to apply as a guest on our podcast series. Share your experiences, challenges, and triumphs, and inspire countless others in the industry.
Join us in celebrating the launch of this captivating podcast series and continue to empower your brand’s influencer marketing journey with Afluencer.
Were you too busy to catch the previous Podcast episode where we had a chat with Doland Ruiz? Don’t worry, we’ve got you covered! Catch up here.