I’ve loved beauty products for as long as I can remember. In fact, some of my earliest memories are of me sitting on the bathroom floor, poring over my mum’s cosmetic case, dipping tiny fingers into forbidden pots of cool, fragrant cream. It was a happy day when, at 19, I found a career that would allow me to indulge my appetite for these sensorial delights, all while satisfying my love of creating beautiful images and telling stories.
Having been a beauty journalist for twenty years I’ve seen legions of skincare launches and tested, quite literally, thousands of products. Feedback on those products (and, if I’m honest, the things I would do differently) is always right on the tip of my tongue. Having the opportunity to contribute to a brand’s expansion was a dream come true.
Last year I announced I would be working with Australian skincare brand Minenssey. The natural beauty brand already had a superstar line of clay masks that employ potent Australian botanicals, and had plans to go global, expanding into a comprehensive skincare range.
Their goal to be the authority in ‘nature-made chemistry’ really appealed to me. I liked that the brand was founded by experienced formulator Cheryl Ross, who has a knack with pairing performance-driven indigenous ingredients with elegant formulations. They use scientifically-backed actives that showcase the natural intelligence of plants to ultimately preserve skin health.
I loved their whole philosophy and I wanted to help create a truly iconic brand that would cement the A-Beauty movement as a bonafide beauty category on the global stage.
So I came on board as a consultant to help Minenssey create the ultimate user experience – from packaging and new product design right through to copywriting and communications. I worked closely with the team to help develop their Hydrating Range, which we launched to fabulous feedback in the industry. It was so satisfying and exciting to see the products getting such wide praise.
This year is an exciting one for the brand. Aside from having several innovative new product lines in the pipeline, they recently engaged a new CEO who has an incredible background in beauty. Helen Moreno, who was the former General Manager at Clarins Australia, is shepherding in some exciting changes going forward and, although I can’t say too much yet, I promise you will be the first to hear about them.
The latest launch to hit shelves is the incredible Rejuvenating Range. All four products contain superstar antioxidant duo: pomegranate and kakadu plum (which contains 100 times more vitamin C than orange). We know that, when it comes to protection, potent antioxidants like this are second only to sunscreen. Utilising a powerful antioxidant is the ultimate last step in your daily skincare routine and essential to prevent cellular breakdown and collagen degradation.
First up is the Nutritious Facial Essence – a lightweight toner slash essence that also contains Lemon Aspen and calming Milk Thistle to prepare your skin to receive all the benefits of moisturisers. I shake a few drops onto my palms and press it into freshly-cleansed skin.
I follow this with my favourite step in the routine – the Superfood Facial Elixir. This dreamy facial oil is packed full of superfoods like Broccoli, Kale, Camellia, Blackcurrant and Watermelon. It has the perfect amount of ‘slip’ so you can really work it into the skin, either with your fingertips, or, as I love to use, a Gua Sha tool. The solid yet smoothly-hewn rose quartz tool has perfectly sloping angles so I can get right in underneath my cheekbones and down the tight muscles in my jaw and neck. I use the flat side to smooth out my brow and move any puffiness-inducing fluid out my face. The result? Relaxed facial and neck muscles paired with a megawatt glow.
For me, the delicious rose-scent of the Nutritious Face and Neck cream heralds a brain-switch to sleep time. I work the unctuous butter-soft cream right down my neck to my décolletage. Along with the pomegranate and Kakadu plum it’s also rich in polyphenols thanks to Red Maple Bark extract – further upping its antioxidant clout.
The final step? A few dots around my lower orbital of the Repairing Eye Balm from the cooling silver-tipped applicator. The temperature shift increases microcirculation around the delicate eye area helping to flush out those stubborn eye-bags. I finish the massage with a light tapping motion using my fourth finger, and then gratefully call it a night.
I can’t wait to show you what else we have planned next for Minenssey in the coming months. All I’ll say is that it might involve another mask of some type, something fragrant and Cheryl has given me some exciting lab samples in the cleansing category, so watch this space! We’re always open to ideas from you, too, so if there’s something you’d like to see us develop, please drop me an email and let me know.
Words by Sigourney Cantelo. Photography by Alice Mahran. In collaboration with Minenssey.
