10 member-founded wellbeing brands to know in 2020
From vitamin elixirs to holistic healthcare, these are the brands we’re incorporating into our wellbeing rituals this year
By Charlotte Steinway Wednesday 22 January 2020
As part of our January theme of ‘Self(-ish),’ we’re focusing on the rituals that make us happy and whole. Here, we round up 10 new self-care brands founded by Soho House members around the world, asking each founder what ‘self-care’ means to them.
1. Feals (@fealscbd)
Founded by: Drew Todd, Soho House West Hollywood member
Year founded: 2019
Your brand in one sentence: ‘Feals is a modern-day wellness brand that provides a better way to feel better.’
What’s your brand’s USP (Unique Selling Point)? ‘Instead of hitting you over the head with preachy jargon, we want to make CBD as easy to understand as possible. Since there’s no one-size-fits-all approach to CBD, it takes some trial and error to figure what dose is right for you. If you need a little extra guidance, we offer support via text message and a CBD hotline.’
What does self-care mean to you? ‘I think the phrase self-care has become overused in our culture,’ says Todd. ‘As a result, people tend to wrongly conflate self-care with self-indulgence or elitism. Ie., “You deserve this.” For me, self-care is about finding pleasure in doing something—or nothing at all. It's about investing in the things that make me feel whole rather than constantly focusing on self-improvement. Whether it’s making it to that early morning workout or turning my phone off and enjoying the beach on a Saturday, I’m looking for things that fill my cup and help me feel recharged both physically and emotionally.’
2. Buttah (@Buttahskin)
Founded by: Dorion Renaud, Soho Warehouse member
Year founded: 2018
Your brand in one sentence: ‘Top-grade skincare for melanin-enriched skin.’
What’s your brand’s USP? ‘To give African Americans and other minorities quality skincare and provide inclusion in the world of beauty and self care, a space where people of color are often overlooked.’
What does self-care mean to you? ‘Self-care means everything,’ says Renaud. ‘Without taking care of our minds, bodies and souls our personal lives and businesses can't thrive. We have to recharge ourselves fully in whatever way that is. I’ve learned through creating a brand that represents self-care, that everything you put out into the world is merely a reflection of what we fill ourselves up with everyday. Let’s have a full cup in 2020!’
3. Crushed Tonic (@crushedtonic)
Founded by: Sally Olivia Kim, Ludlow House member
Year founded: 2018
Your brand in one sentence: ‘An anti-aging, ingestible skincare brand formulated with marine collagen, probiotics, biotin and organic superfoods (such as matcha, turmeric and lucuma) to help achieve that glow from the inside out.’
What’s your brand’s USP? "All your anti-aging essentials, in one cup. Skincare isn’t just topical; it is a holistic ritual. We need to eat well, feel well and look well. But we know that “eating well” can be hard sometimes, and not the most enjoyable— so we wanted to reinvent that.’
What does self-care mean to you? ‘Giving myself the best tools to be happy, and investing into those tools more than anything else,’ says Kim. ‘Once I started focusing on my journey rather than the end goal, I started realizing the importance of taking care of myself. Self-care for me now consists of investing into: my diet (spending more on all-organic, purchasing supplements even though it might be cheaper otherwise), fitness (membership gyms to entice myself to go to the gym every day, even for 30 minutes, and social life (saying no to events and dinners that I know I shouldn’t go to, taking breaks from my phone unapologetically!)— and carving out self-time to write in my journal, meditate and read.’
4. FRIEDMANBERLIN (@friedman.berlin)
Founded by: Friedemann Seith, Soho House Berlin
Year founded: 2016
Your company in one sentence: ‘Premium organic skin care for men.’
What’s your brand’s USP? ‘We help men to get their desired skin condition in a shorter period of time.’
What does self-care mean to you? ‘To me, self-care means appreciating oneself, your mind, and your body,’ says Seith. ‘It means acknowledging and respecting your boundaries and desires, thus taking time to reflect and get yourself in a position to feel the way you want to. Self-care means saying “no;” it means treating yourself the way you treat others.’