Emmanuel Rey - Co-Founder of Yuni Skincare
With the rise of Wellness, the face of beauty is morphing, and some indie brands have realized the importance of adapting the products to a change in consumer habits and the rise of more conscious consumption. Since the launch of the brand back in 2015, we spotted Yuni Skincare a line of healthy, natural skincare and body products that save time, restore health, and relieve stress. Created by a couple of natural beauty pioneers and yoga teachers, Emmanuel Rey and Suzanne Dawson, the brand was one of the first offering a holistic vision of beauty, back when athleisure was booming in fashion, as well as indie brands in beauty. Our first encounter with the brand was in a Yoga space and since then, the brand has rolled out in major retailers, from clean retailers (Credo, The Detox Market) to retailers featuring clean retail brands, such as Target or Ulta. In February, Leila Rochet, founder of Cosmetics Inspiration & Creation had the pleasure to meet Emmanuel Rey, Co-founder of Yuni Skincare. A discussion that turned into an e-conversation during the confinement, a time of difficulty for all entrepreneurs. But also, a time of generosity as the company decided to send Yuni products to Four hospitals in New-York, collaborating to the effort and bringing comfort to those helping others.
Namasté 🙏🏻Emmanuel for taking some of your precious time to answer our questions and for sharing your experience.
Leila: Yuni is quite a unique brand inspired by Yoga practices and a pioneer in clean beauty. What was your inspiration and how did you come up with this unique project?
Emmanuel: My partner Suzanne and I have worked in cosmetics for over 25 years, including 10 years at Aveda (Estee Lauder Companies) where she was Senior Vice President of Marketing and I was General Manager of North America. (ndlr: Aveda was one of the first companies responsible and using plant-based ingredients for beauty in the USA). When we left the corporate world in 2012, we decided to take a trip around the world and ended up becoming Ashtanga Yoga teachers in Greece. Beyond the unique experience of this moment, we realized the rise of athleisure brands in fashion, clothing adapted to active lifestyle such as Lululemon, Sweaty Betty, Lorna Jane, or Athleta. But there was nothing in beauty. Our fellow students told us that they could not find brands that match their values and that understand their lifestyle. We ran in-depth studies and realized that active people like us were looking for natural and respectful solutions to save time, restore health and relieve stress. We started to think of solutions for these needs and this is how we created YUNI Beauty.
“active people like us were looking for natural and respectful solutions to save time, restore health and relieve stress.”
L: A lot of Indie Beauty brands have immerged on the West Coast, especially in recent years. As a French native, living in the USA, why is California the new “gold mine” of beauty?
E: In the case of beauty and wellness, California has a lot of advantages. First of all, Californians are by nature interested in everything related to body and mind. It is a country in itself (38 million inhabitants) with a great diversity and a strong purchasing power. In addition, it is definitely a “trend-setter” for North America and sometimes for the world, especially in terms of consumption. Finally, it is a breeding ground for micro-enterprises and investors. It is also a region with a very pleasant quality of life and beautiful nature.
L: Mindfulness is becoming a major wave, all around the world. Anxiety has been growing as a key issue for urban consumers and with the recent covid crisis, brands that answer the need for recovery, mindfulness, will certainly receive positive consumer response. What are the most innovative products in your lines? How do you get your inspiration from?
E: We draw our inspiration from our own needs of tomorrow and from what we think are the questions without real answers. For us, lack of idea is never the problem. For YUNI, the concept of “Mindfulness' applies not only to create products which address the body and the mind, but also in the way we conceive them (natural ingredients, sustainable development), manufacture them ( factories with solar or wind energy, responsible packaging) and distribute them (from prestige to masstige, putting well-being within everyone's reach). For us "mindfulness" is a way of being fully aware of our actions. We strive to bring systematic innovation to all our products (what would be the reason otherwise?). For example, we see a real need for better quality sleep. In the United States, people sleep an average of 6 to 7 hours, often poorly, and often wake up. This is the reason we created several sleep products based on aromatherapy (Pillow Spray), the addition of recognized ingredients (Ashwaganda root, Melatonin…) in body products (Bedtime body essence) or the blend of plant-based ingredients (Passionflower, Gaba, L-tryptophan…) in an oral spray (Slumber oral spray) to use just before going to bed.
“ For us “mindfulness” is a way of being fully aware of our actions. ”
L: When we met in LA, you mentioned how your day to day work and organization being flexible, working mostly from home. Far away from the traditional “office” and hierarchical companies of the past. Today, with the Covid Crisis, a lot of people are forced to work from their homes. Do you believe this is the model for the future?
E: In our case, it was due to severall factors: management of fixed costs during the launch phase, distances and chronic traffic jams in Los Angeles, access to talent. The time spent driving a car in Los Angeles is very unproductive and a source of stress. Many people are declared as self-employed, so we have access to experienced people on an ad hoc or part-time basis. This type of staff does not require close management or direct training. We have now powerful communication tools available that allow this kind of approach. It takes a bit of practice, especially to establish a real human relationship, but I found this system quite ideal. I did not know that this would allow us to function without a hitch during this period of confinement.
L: We all hope that the post-confinement phase will happen soon but today, this is the new normality for a lot of people in the world. What would be the top products from YUNI you would recommend and why?
E: In this very particular period, it seems to me that several YUNI products are relevant: Shower sheets or Flash Bath No Rinse for cleanliness, Count to Zen for restoring moisture loss due to frequent and was, My OM world to help relax, refresh and reset, Pocket Savasana for staying calm and meditate, Sleepy Beauty a Bedtime body essence to sleep well.
I would add the Sleepy Beauty Bakuchiol + biotic serum that we just launched. This serum brings real well-being to the skin and in these tough times, it is something that we all really need it.
To dive into YUNI’s world of beauty, have a look at their Instagram and visit www.Yunibeauty.com
Want more of the scoop on the clean beauty scene? Take a look at Cosmetics Inspiration & Creation’s special dossier on clean beauty within its latest USA makeup inspiration report and contact the agency for more information.