Source : Perth Now news
When a Melbourne influencer first launched her skincare brand, she hoped it would inspire Australians to elevate their everyday skin health, thanks in part to the ever-growing popularity of K-beauty.
Little did she know its influence would pique the interest of media personality Bec Judd, who was inspired to fold the brand into her own routine, which had previously remained unchanged for 12 years.
As ST. SAJ gets ready to celebrate its second birthday, the brand has just announced the media personality as its first ambassador.
The brand’s founder and influencer Emmylou MacCarthy told NewsWire she was inspired to launch her own skincare company after becoming fed up with using skincare products that either were ineffective or priced out of reach for the everyday Aussies.
“I spent my 20s working as a beauty therapist, so I had years of treating people in the salon,” she said.
She explained that many of her clients were often feeling confused after trying to recreate the treatments at home, as products available outside the salon failed to deliver on their promises.
“In my 20s, you could only get amazing formulas in salon at such a high price point,” she said.
“So I wanted to give them a level of efficacy at a price that an everyday person could actually afford and continue to buy, sustain it as well.”
The sleek white boxes of ST. SAJ, with its large black and white print, may seem somewhat ordinary at first glance.
But as the lid lifts, customers are flooded with bright colours, happy faces and rows of bottles of Australian-made skincare.
Ms MacCarthy said the brand’s packaging acted as a metaphor for the skincare’s ingredients, which although was made locally, had taken a leaf from the K-beauty playbook.
It’s no secret that skincare has become one of the most profitable industries in Australia, but the recent explosion of Korean ingredients and its skincare philosophy has increased the industry’s competition tenfold.
According to Future Markets Insights research, Australians are currently the biggest spenders of K-beauty outside of South Korea, per capita, thanks in part to its industry-leading and sometime unusual ingredients, such as snail mucin, rice bran and PDRN (polydeoxyribonucleotide) – commonly known as salmon sperm.
The hype has been making the rounds online, too, with viral trends such as “glass skin” and racking up millions of views among Gen Z and Millennials, who are the industry’s largest consumers.
Residents in Sydney and Melbourne are the biggest consumers of K-beauty, according to Credence Research, as more young consumers seek educational and effective ways to treat their skin.
With an estimated market value of $160m in Australia alone and a projected 12.2 per cent increase in its compound annual growth rate, it’s no surprise that its ingredients and skincare philosophy made its way into the glass jars of ST. SAJ.
“I love the rise of K-beauty,” Ms MacCarthy told NewsWire.
“You know, it’s such a beautiful way to approach the skin, because you’re giving to the skin rather than stripping the skin.”
While there are plenty of influences inside every bottle of ST. SAJ, Ms MacCarthy took further steps to make sure the products were effective for absolutely anyone.
“I wanted these formulas – which are exclusive as well, not just white-labelled – we wanted something that was exclusive, made for real skin and made for different skin tones, which is a really big thing that I was seeing a massive gap for,” she said.
“We’re not just talking about a (skin) type, we’re talking about melanin-rich skin, an Asian skin, a caucasian skin.
“So when we consider and when we’re creating the formulas, every part of that is considered in the approach.”
The ingredients are what caught Ms Judd’s attention, too, who hasn’t deviated from her “meticulous” skincare routine for more than a decade.
She’s now the first official face of the Melbourne brand.
“What I loved about ST. SAJ was that it isn’t about hype; it’s about incredibly effective formulations that focus on hydration and supporting your skin,” Ms Judd told NewsWire.
“It was something I hadn’t really incorporated into my routine before but its since become one of my favourite parts of the day,” she said.
“My skin just feels so clean without feeling stripped.”
She said the fact that the brand was Australian-made pushed it over the line.
“I love that it’s Australian made but inspired by Korean skincare,” she said.
“It’s all about layering hydration instead of over-complicating your routine, and every product feels really considered and purposeful.”
The road to Ms Judd becoming the face of the brand wasn’t planned, but thanks to the power of the ST. SAJ customer base, Ms MacCarthy said.
The skincare founder said she was caught off-guard by Ms Judd’s stamp of approval.
The pair had appeared on a podcast together and soon after, Ms Judd was inundated with recommendations from ST SAJ customers.
“It blew me away,” Ms MacCarthy said.
But it’s not just Ms Judd who has been singing the praises of ST. SAJ – Dannii Minogue, Carrie Bickmore and Tegan Martin are also big fans of the Melbourne brand.
“If these ladies, that have access to anything, want to work with me and they’ve tried my products and they love it, and then they’ve reached out to me – that’s huge,” she said.
