WORDS: AMY SESSIONS
tants, and an aesthetic anchored not only to our sensibility but also to local culture, traditions and materials. Staying afloat in today’s consumer society is about staying true to your values. We have found our voice by operating outside of industry norms and honing the simple pleasures of honest communication, exceptional customer service and products that are backed by science. Tell us how your past experiences led you to co-found your own brand? I grew up with a family that paid attention to a good diet with a focus on whole food and a healthy lifestyle. Thereafter I studied sociology at university and then travelled outside Australia. Finally, I became a parent. All these experiences combined with an engaged life contributed to the beginning of Aesop. Being engaged in the community and enjoying the pleasure of conversations also assisted the creation of a customer focused brand. We also began in a world where much of what defined cosmetics was poorly formulated and executed, so a creative approach was eagerly embraced by the first customers. How did you know you were ready to make the leap and launch your own brand? Aesop was established with an anticonformist approach. When we first began 35 years ago, very few beauty companies were using essential oils, however our founder Dennis understood these botanical ingredients and the remarkable ways they could support the skin. He initially pioneered the use of essential oils in formulations to treat colour-damaged hair, and from this work grew a modest hair and body care range. By 1991, we were ready to start developing exceptional skincare products. The sink demonstration has long been at the core of the Aesop experience. Back when we started, we had very limited access to sinks, so I used bowls and replenished them with fresh water for each customer. Aesop was different, because the experience wasn’t just about explaining the benefits of each product – it was about the need to feel and smell the aroma of our products. Working with the imagination, and nourishing the totality of the senses, was the best way for people to understand us. These demonstrations deeply resonated with our customers; that is why the sink remains the pivotal being of Aesop to this day. Have you had any mentors along the way and if so, what has been the best advice they have imparted to you? Pursuing skincare alone without supporting it with great decisions around food and lifestyle is nothing more than a waste of time. The results of cutting corners with your physical and mental health will catch up quickly. Feeling fantastic, is visible and tangibly supports your skin. I don’t remember from whom this came, however I grew up in a home where food mattered as did exercise and reading. The foundation of my life was led this way, as was the selfresponsibility that promoted. How do the creative and commercial sides care to create formulations of premium efof the business work together and do you ficacy and sensory pleasure through solid science. We will never stray from focusing feel particularly drawn to one side of the on products that are formulated with our business? A creative sensibility underpins customers’ needs in mind. Above all, our all that we do at Aesop – not only our colstores and counters are the embodiment of laborations with artists, artisans and arour philosophy, and our approach to retail chitects, but also our approach to hosting service. Architecturally speaking, no two and the formulation of our products. We Aesop spaces are ever the same, but when a believe that good design improves lives and customer enters any door around the world, implement this ethos in every aspect of the they encounter the familiar: the products on company, from product packaging to inteour shelves, the knowledge, gracious hospirior architecture. The creative and the comtality and service extended by our consulmercial at Aesop are therefore intertwined.
The Invisible Details
Suzanne Santos, Co-Founder & Chief Customer Officer of AESOP has a meticulous eye for detail and an incredible sense of what it takes to build a global brand, subtly What do the first 30 minutes of your day look like, your morning routine? My day almost always begins with a long walk, before which I like to prepare my skin to face the day. The skin on the face is more delicate than that of the rest of the body and it is exposed to our environs constantly. For both these reasons, we need to treat it with care and respect; and the breadth of Aesop’s cleansing range is testament to the importance we place upon this simple everyday act. A gentle but disciplined approach helps to purify the skin and maintain its natural balance. We have just had summer in Australia, which is very dry and hot. To support my skin in these conditions I would use something like Amazing Face Cleanser, a product with long history in our range which is suitably effective in lifting and removing excess sebum and surface impurities. I would then tone, moisturize and apply Protective Facial Lotion SPF25 to support my skin in the sun. What is at the heart of AESOP, the DNA? Our approach to skincare has always been fiercely independent. We take meticulous
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BEAUTY
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