Stressed skin: Indie brand Faace expands with anti-stress cream

Launched last month across the UK, the ‘Stress Faace’ moisturiser targeted the effects of stress with a blend of active plant-based ingredients and essential oils. The product used a wild indigo patented extract Neurophroline and niacinamide for better skin tone; allantoin to soothe the skin; and Japanese rice bran oil for hydration. Adding to the brand’s existing range of face care masks targeting specific use states like menopause and periods, the moisturiser was primed for an international rollout soon, staring with the EU and US this year.

Jasmine Wicks-Stephens, founder of Faace and brand consultancy and services firm The Known Community, said adding a product targeting stress had been a strategic decision.

‘We’re all feeling ‘stressed’ in some shape or form’​

“Stress, as a topic, is part of our daily vocabulary and experiences right now and has been since there’s been so much uncertainty over the past decade,” Wicks-Stephens told CosmeticsDesign-Europe.

“We’re all feeling ‘stressed’ in some shape or form – work-wise, social media pressures, financially – it could be anything. There probably isn’t a person living right now who doesn’t feel stressed about something,” she said.

Faace developed its daily moisturiser because “it made sense” to target the impacts of stress on the skin, she said. The stress hormone negatively impacted many aspects of skin health, she said, weakening the skin barrier, aggravating skin conditions, and causing sensitivity flare ups, so offering a product to help all this had been important.

Launched after two years of product development, she said every aspect of the daily moisturiser had been considered “in great detail”.

Efficacious, calming and eye-catching​

“We wanted to create a formula that would be extremely efficacious, using a mixture of well-tested, known actives and lesser-known actives in specific percentage levels,” Wicks-Stephens said.

The brand had also worked with an aromatherapist to develop a blend linked with calming that also offered an appealing fragrance, she said. “All of our products have a spa-like scent, which means they won’t appeal to everyone, but we do want it to be appealing to most.”

In texture terms, the cream had been developed to resemble a whipped balm – an important aspect for the daily use product and one that had been inspired by consumer feedback from Faace’s existing face mask products. The balm texture meant it was “easy to wear” and could “sink into the skin well” without any residues, appealing to consumers looking to apply makeup on top or those who didn’t have lots of time to spend on a skin care routine.

On the packaging front, the lavender-coloured sphere had been designed to look like a stress ball and stand out in the competitive skin care category, she said, whilst also inspiring feelings of happiness. The team was now looking into how refill options could be developed for the pot, given they had been unable to use post-consumer recycled (PCR) materials like with the rest of the portfolio, she said.

A franchised future for international growth​

Asked if Faace had plans to widen its daily moisturiser offering, Wicks-Stephens said: “The honest answer is possibly, but we want to see how Stress Faace develops over the coming months, as it’s such early days for the launch.”

The brand wanted to, firstly, franchise its existing face care collections for international growth and would likely stay in the face care category for the time being as it expanded. Though the founder said it was important to stay open to trends and ideas beyond this in the future.