Loading summary
Transcript34 lines
- [00:00]
A
Hey guys, welcome back to another episode of Skin Anarchy. This is Ekta and I have such an amazing brand here with me today. The founder of the brand and I know a lot of you might have heard of them, they're very, very heavy in the wellness space. They really harness the power of 100 natural essential oils to help boost your overall well being. But there's just so much more to the brand. So I can't wait to dive in and introduce you guys to Nicola Elliott, who is the founder of neom. Welcome to the show, Nicola. I'm so excited to host you.
- [00:31]
B
Me too. We're so grateful that you've asked us. Thank you.
- [00:34]
A
Yeah, I know it's an honor and I can't wait to learn from you because I really fell in love with the brand when I first tried it. You know, it's, it's a beautiful way to approach, I think just self care, you know, and you've crafted it so wonderfully and I would love to learn about the journey of what really made you want to dive into this space of beauty and wellness.
- [00:55]
B
Absolutely. Well, first of all, the brand is nearly 20 years old. I mean, we're the biggest well being brand in the UK and, and you know, we've kind of relatively new to come stateside and I'll explain why. Quite late to arrive in a minute. But I started because started the brand back when I was sort of in my late 20s, early 30s, because I was a journalist for many years and I absolutely loved that career. It was brilliant. But you know, it was a time when it was very normal to be working 16, 17 a day. And by the way, I enjoyed that. But I was working London hours, then New York hours and LA hours because I was doing entertainment and life just was crazy and I started having really awful anxiety and panic attacks. And again, this is like rewind for anyone who's old enough listening to this to remember, you know, we didn't talk about anxiety in the way that we do now back then there was no, certainly in the uk there was no sort of wellness group or understanding or community, nothing. I mean, and by the way, I'm 28, right? So I'm like living on pasta pesto, never seeing the light of day, not looking after myself in any kind of way. Not educated, but, you know, also just young and partying. I think my anxiety now, on reflection when I look back, was literally just because I was shoving too much into my life and not looking after myself. And I remember my mum saying, you know, it's really not Rocket science. You have to eat good nutrients, you have to sleep well, you have to, you know, go outside and walk and see the light of day. And, and, and I. And so I did. I thought, I've got to do something about this. I've got to try and look after myself a bit better. And so I went on a journey where I trained as a nutritionist, I trained as an aromatherapist. I became really interested in, I suppose, I mean, I say wellness. We didn't. Again, we didn't call it wellness then, but as part of. But as part of that, I'm really interested in blending essential oils. And I became really struck by how when I looked around, everyone I knew seemed to suffer from either stress and a manifestation of that in some sort of format or sleep, poor sleep, getting to sleep, staying asleep, whatever sleep issue or sort of, you know, hormonal imbalances, mood swings or lack of energy. And I remember thinking, if there was ever a light bulb moment for the brand, it was, my gosh, if you could have those four things in check, those four kind of pillars, if you like, then, you know, that is the holy grail. And, and working in, in magazines where, you know, it was very much the time of the cosmeceutical products and, and everything was about how you looked. I thought, forget that. If I could just get those, one of those four things for me and the friends of mine into a better place, then that' that's the most important. And so that kind of was the kernel of the idea to create something that was more about how you felt on the inside and was very much about defining the places to start. And then as time's gone on, obviously the wellbeing category has grown. And I think where we have become really accessible as a brand is it now has become this big, lofty space, which is great in many ways, you know, but I still find people are a bit confused as to where to start.
- [04:33]
A
I will tell you, I. I am very much, you know, aligned with what you were talking about with anxiety, you know, because I have also suffered from anxiety, you know, pretty much my whole life. And it's. Yeah, it's been. And you know how it is. I mean, it's debilitating, especially when you've got a busy life, you've got a busy schedule, and you, you want to do more. But it's like, you know, I think a lot more people suffer from it, to be honest. They even realize, I think when it comes down to that's kind of truly, for me, as A consumer. It's also what comes to mind is like, how do I alleviate anxiety and stress and you know, just the day to day. So I think the brand really speaks to so many of us that not only recognize our anxiety and we might recognize our levels of stress, but even those that don't.
- [05:21]
B
Yeah, it's interesting you've noticed that because it's funny, when I first came out I was like, oh, you know, has America got well in the sauna or not? And I did this talk in New York and this woman came up to me afterwards and she went, I love your brand but you know, just a little FYI in New York, women would rather just take a pill for this. And I was like, we are not your brand because we, we, you know, I very much feel responsible for message and building up a community and, and trying to encourage people to build a toolkit up for themselves. You can't, you know, make yourself feel the very best with, with a, with a one off silver bullet product or pill or anything. This is about creating a toolkit that works for you and enjoying making that toolkit. And by the way, that toolkit will change. It will develop as your life changes, as the seasons change, as your age, you know, changes. And what we really want to do is start off that journey where you can build that toolkit and educate yourself a bit at the same time and, and you test and you learn and you refine. We don't just talk about our brands. We have a big community where I've just written a book on this where we talk about all of the other information that we know and we share when it comes to wellbeing. Because I think, you know, our bath oil, our pillar mist, our fragrances work in the very, very best way. But I would be doing you disservice if I didn't also say, hey, there's this amazing supplement that you guys should know about or did you know about circadian rhythm? Because that's like an absolute no brainer that you've got to educ educate yourself just for 10 minutes on that or whatever it may be. And I feel you're taking a big topic like we are when it comes to well being. That's absolutely the right and the responsible and the rich thing for a brand like us to do. So that's become part of our DNA.
- [07:20]
A
Really as you brought up circadian rhythm. And I feel like we really need to talk about the science here because unfortunately the in, you know, kind of like the, the landscape that we're dealing with I think in the US Especially when it comes to well being is either there's stuff out there that's just kind of like hocus pocus or people are focusing on things like supplements, you know, and there's no like real genuine, like okay, here is like for example, you guys work a lot with essential oils, right? So there's no, no one really talking about that. There is a real science here behind this. You know, the olfactory sense that we have, our whole olfactory system is so highly linked. Our stress response, our anxiety response, all of that neurocognitive stuff that we go through is very much tied to our senses, you know, and the way that we experience our environment. So I would love for you to take a minute to talk about some of the more science heavy stuff.
- [08:18]
B
First of all, this starts with 100% natural fragrances. And the 100% part is really, really important because as you're aware, I'm sure you'd be aware that so many of your listeners might not be, is that, you know, people will say made with natural lavender or made with organic whatever. And that may be true, but unless it's 100%, then legally that can be as little as 1%. So all of the science that we know about the essential oils working with our olfactory glands is only going to work if you're using 100% natural essential oils, not if you're using some essential oils. And there's lots of, and I'm doing this, you can't see me, but in inverted commas, very clever ingredients that you can put into products or candles where you can say again, you could say natural sleep inducing lavender based candle. Well, that could have 1% natural in it and that could have a whole load of synthetic lavender in and a whole lot of scent booster in. So it's made a lot cheaper. And it could be a paraffin wax candle again rather than a natural wax candle, which, you know, obviously is not using any petroleum or, or paraffin wax, which the vast majority of candles in a candle is useful. So the first thing is that we only use 100% natural. The second thing is that is the complexity of those blends. So one thing that we're really, really big on is consumer trials. I think this is really, really huge because the data and the science behind the essential oils working on the hypothalamus, the front part of the brain and how that smell receptors essentially are attracted to the chemicals. Again, inverted commas. I don't mean synthetic chemicals, I mean the chemicals in the plants and the things that your body actually need, that, that is one thing. But the blend of those essential oils together and those working on the consumers that we're trying is for me really testament to how those blends work. And then we've got the complexity of the blends that we personally create at Neon and they're quite often up to 24 essential oils. So they're very complex blends. Only use first pressed essential oils. So again, quality to us is hugely important. Quite often essential oils will go through four different rounds of pressing. So we just get the first pressed the very, very, very best. Then they're twisted and blended together, as I say, in the most kind of complex ways. And they're tested during that process on consumers and then they're tested. As I say, the bit that is always really important to me is that they're tested in the specific life situation. That for me is really important. Plus you mentioned, you mentioned magnesium. So we've moved much more not just into fragrance but also into all of the different, all the different elements that we can get into products that can also help your well being transdermally. So you know, for for example, recent body milk we just brought out, which is gorgeous, it's got five fermented essential oils in there, it's got zinc, it's got iron, it's got silic, got copper as well as magnesium as well. So we're constantly looking at the life problem if you like, and then the fragrance and the well being benefits that together can help. And then can we, can we develop that in conjunction with not just us thinking it smells and feels gorgeous, which to me is a hygiene factor, absolutely has to be sophisticated, but that it's working and we're getting the right decent claims results back from our customers where.
- [12:06]
A
That'S concerned, regardless of what you go through, you know, you have to take a minute and find what works because a lot of times we just gravitate towards okay, we might even figure out I want a candle, you know, in my space, that's great, cool. But not all candles are made the same. You know, it's like there's this thing that you know, you have to find like if something is of real quality, like you're going to be able to tell immediately. And that's really what I find, I've experienced with neom is that, you know, the candles and the, the diffuser and the oils and everything works almost immediately. You know, I'm a huge fan, for example of the, the sleep collection because I've always had Problems sleeping. So, you know, for me, I've looked for different ways, you know, to make that happen. I'm not really a big person that, you know, falls into the pharmaceutical category with this stuff. But, you know, when it, when I tried the sleep collection, it was so lovely because I was able to finally relax, you know, and feel my body kind of unwinding.
- [13:06]
B
A couple of weeks ago, a mother saying her autistic son, you know, won't go to sleep without the pillow. Miss. Because he has now understood that that's his signal to go to sleep. The mother whose child who went for a sleepover for the very first time took the pillow. Ms. Because again, that's signal for them to make sure that, you know, that that's their bedtime routine and just the learning occasion of a routine and how important that is. The people who have writt many who got ill parents or friends and are using real luxury, which is our de stress and they said that's been, you know, the, the scent that's really helped them during those difficult times. When I get those letters in that, that you see the product really fitting into those moments, be they small or bigger, it's, that's when I know, yeah, it's, it's really, it's really, really working to you before you know that there is no silver bullet. I'm not over. There is no pillar. Ms. That can change the world. But it's quite often a real trigger for people to start building that toolkit, to start educating themselves, to start realizing that actually small things put together can make a huge difference.
- [14:23]
A
Absolutely. Absolutely. No, I think it's really important, especially when it comes to habit formation. I think that we want to do better as human beings. We always want to improve ourselves, I think innately in us. But it's the hardest part is forming a habit, you know, And I think we were talking about the pillow mist and I, I'm glad you're bringing this product up because this was one of the first products I fell in love with in the, in the range. And the reason for that is because it's so easy to use and it's so easy to take with you wherever you're going. I mean, for me, oftentimes I'm traveling a lot or I'm doing something where I'm not at home, so I can take this with me. And it does kind of it, it, it is that trigger at the end of the night that allows my brain to understand that, okay, now it's time.
- [15:07]
B
To unwind, make sure that we're constantly really sort of reinforcing and helping to, to start people's journey on that, on that routine.
- [15:17]
A
Yeah, no, it's, it's really fascinating and I want to ask you actually, because I know that it couldn't have been easy building a brand, you know, that is so holistic in nature. You know, I, I think that, you know, the, what we live in now, like the, the time we live in now, I see a lot of brands that are, are hyper focused on like one thing, you know, like one ingredient or like just one approach. But your brand is so beautiful because it's such a, it's a wide range and it's tackling a problem or multiple problems from different angles. So how was that as an entrepreneur to build something that is holistic and to come up with different ways of delivering, you know, options for people?
- [15:58]
B
Well, so many answers to that question. I mean, to start with, I didn't start off as an entrepreneur. I started off as someone who really wanted just to create brands, brilliant, lovely fragrances that had, well, being benefits to them. So I think had I have started off with a, you know, a view on making money and, and, and, and building the brand quickly. Yeah, maybe I would have focused on just one ingredient or I'll be honest, a quicker way to make money would have been to use synthetic ingredients. I always say, you know, to make candles that smell like chocolate buns in a bright pink vessel would have been 10 times easier because they're cheaper to make. Natural can be a real pa constantly have a team who are having to find out about harvests and, you know, the essential oil prices will fluctuate dependent on whether there's been a great harvest and how much of them there's been. They will perform slightly differently, they will smell slightly differently. Very much like if you'd gone to an organic market and you buy oranges one day and then you go back, you know, two weeks later, they might be more expensive, they might taste different, they might look different. That's the problem with naturals. And whilst I, you know, absolutely adore and fly the flag for the benefits of those naturals, they, they from an entrepreneurial, from a business point of view, you know, it would be much easier to press a button on a synthetic, you know, white flower smell, if you like. And, and 100,000 of these units all come up out identically the same. So that's, that's the business answer. But the fact is, I think brands with longevity are those who have a heart and a soul and at a real Story. A lot of this just felt to me like common sense. It wasn't business acumen, it was the right thing to do, which in turn would make people love us and make people want to come back. And therein we're producing good products and building a brand and it becomes bigger. And I think sometimes common sense can get lost a bit. I'm more interested in the journey than the destination or way, you know, something, you know, of my personality as well. But the idea of. Of enjoying the lovely shower or the bath or making, you know, that evening, creating that calm zone or, or having that really nice sleep that, those. Those bits of magic, they're the kind of. They're the important things in life for me. And I suppose I'm a bit of a homebody in that way, as opposed to, you know, thinking the. The Holy Grail is, I don't know, to iron out our ankle or, or whatever it may be. It's. It's about celebrating those. Those life moments. And so I suppose probably it was always fitting for me to. To launch something that was about. About celebrating that. And I always thought, you know, the other brands can take those real sort of party moments, you know, glittery eyeshadows and creams that'll make your bottom tighter or whatever it may be. I want to celebrate that. Give me the Tuesday night, not the dinner party on a Friday. Give me the Tuesday when work's been a bit rubbish and your boyfriend's dumped you and you are having a midlife crisis. Let me take that moment and help you hold your hand through those moments. And, and, and that's. That's very much where we sit. And actually, it's a way in which we very much look at, you know, when we're developing products or developing campaigns or that kind of thing. I think, you know, is this appealing to that Tuesday night, not just the Friday, which, you know. Yeah.
- [19:49]
A
I love that. I love. I love that you said that. Yeah, I. I completely agree. Give me the Tuesday night. Absolutely. You know, because those are the nights, those are the tough nights that you have to, like, get.
- [19:59]
B
That's why we need help.
- [20:00]
A
Right?
- [20:01]
B
Yeah. Out.
- [20:02]
A
Exactly. Yeah. And. And I love that, you know, I love that you guys have a bath collection. Because it's like, you know, I think, like, for some reason, you know, I think we've lost, over time this idea that, you know, a bath time is like a sacred time. You know, it has been for centuries. I think over time we've kind of lost that. And one thing that I don't see Anybody really talking about when it comes to these like shower rituals anymore is this idea of like taking time for yourself yourself, you know, like really stopping for a minute and saying, I need more than just, yeah, okay, you're gonna shave and you're gonna do all that stuff. But then it's also about giving yourself a minute to feel better.
- [20:40]
B
Totally. I mean, it's funny because the states are always, you know, you guys are not big bath people, but we are, we're huge. And I have a bath every night without fail. So, you know, we just launched actually a magnesium bath milk, which is like a milk that's absolutely laced with magnesium, which is amazing to relax, you know, and soothe tired or stressed bodies. It's fantastic. But something that sells that's great for shower people is our Super Shower Power body cleanser, which is the most Marmite product we have in our collection. Right. Because it's like zingy with a capital Z. So if you, I wanted to kind of almost create something that recreated a cold shower for somebody who did not want to jump into an ice in the morning. That gives you that real kind of energy burst and it gives you such a refreshing tingle and gives your kind of mind and body this amazing kind of awakeness. So there are bath products, but there are also shower products for, you know, when you want to kind of pre party or you know, before a big day at work or whatever it may be. So, and I know people generally are either a shower or a bath person and that's fine, that's okay. But I do bath and you know, it's really interesting. So many of the studies that we have conducted are like 12 minutes in warm bath is optimum to lower your blood pressure and make sure that the essential oils are really, really working. So I, it's actually becoming a bit more, a bit more of something that you guys are interested in. So definitely encourage people to try that and sit and breathe in and then the essential oils will work via inhalation and absorption.
- [22:33]
A
I think that that's something that we all, we need a piece of that in our lives, everybody and for all of our listeners. I always encourage people to really invest, you know, whatever you're purchasing, invest in yourself, you know, if it's something that's going to actually benefit your long term wellness, like that's the product you need to buy. I was telling Nicola about, I love the diffuser and in your collection, the oil diffuser, because I, I use it every night, you know, when I come home from work, I turn it on and it just sets the tone for me for my evening, it helps me unwind, it just, it's just a part of my daily life at this point, you know, and I can't say how much.
- [23:09]
B
So nice to hear, you know, it's.
- [23:11]
A
True and it's like, you know, it really becomes this part of you and I love that because I feel like somehow in the world of consumerism, right, I mean, Nicola, I'm sure you've seen this. You know, people buy so many products but then like how many of those products can you say that you use every single day? When it comes to shopping and especially right now it's the holiday season, right? I mean there's so many people that are trying to find the perfect gift or trying to find the perfect thing for themselves even. I mean really, you guys, you guys should step back and think, what do I really need my, my life?
- [23:45]
B
We're in a, we're in a funny stage where people, women in particular feel very guilty for taking time looking after themselves and self care isn't selfish. And I think this is a way that gives you a very, a very sort of, you know, quite a tight moment that you can do something that is sort of almost prescriptive enough that it doesn't feel like, you know, you're having to have a complete life overhaul. But you know, just taking a moment and hopefully you can fit that into your day and you can also understand that this is something that doesn't just have to benefit you, it can benefit your family as well.
- [24:25]
A
About your book, I've been meaning to ask you if you could tell us a little bit about it. The four ways of being.
- [24:31]
B
So I said to you at the beginning, we've created this brand in the UK and with such a large platform now with millions of millions different people and I'm sorry, lucky that I have got to interview so many different wellbeing experts and as I've kept banging on about, you know, I really believe in a toolkit, you know, I think to get the best out of your life and essentially get your well being into a good space, you know, there's, there's amazing kind of data coming out about brain research, there is some great information about supplements, there's this brilliant new information about gut acts, the gut brain axis about to get outside and how to kick start your circadian rhythm and, and this has to come from a variety of voices and I think because I've been lucky enough to interview so many of those people, I thought, I don't think people know a lot of this information and I feel that we should be the conduit for pulling all of that information together. So the book is actually like I was only about 20 my work words, it's 80% pulling together. And I suppose being a journalist I felt like I was kind of in the place to do this, pulling together all of the very, very best advice from all the different areas so you can learn about your, you know, well being hints and tips that I've learned on my journey. And we took the book out across the UK and it was really fascinating and kind of sad. So man, it's so much of the stuff that I felt, if I'm honest with you, it's not really democratized well being information and so much of it was just not known at all. And I thought, gosh, this really, this really is information that needs passing on. And as I say, you know, not being overly British about this, but this is not me. This is just the scraping together of of all the best, the best pieces of, of information that's out there. And of course so much of what has seen the light of day, so much science and data where wellbeing is concerned has really only been available to us in the last 10 years. We didn't know about positive psychology before then. We didn't know that you can actually change the way that your brain works and you know, neural pathways. We knew nothing hardly about the gut brain axis and the importance of your mood when it comes to looking after your gut when it comes to your mood. You know, we knew, we knew very little about all of these, these pillars that we really want to help people with about getting better sleep, about stressing less, about boosting your energy, lifting your mood. And so I just felt very, very responsible having this huge platform, having spoken to all these brilliant people to bring all of this data together in a very easy, user friendly, pass onable way. And, and so that's what the book is, should be really getting behind, sharing really, really good solid data that, that we, we're seeing the light of day. We did this amazing sleep study at Neon with this guy who, it's fascinating but he'd gone into the vaults of Oxford University, which I don't know if you guys have heard of, it's one of our most prestigious UK universities and there was all of this information, brilliant, brilliant scientific information on sleep. But he said, you know what, when a lot of this science gets sort of found out or it sits in a university vault and it takes somebody very different, a very different skill set to get that information out to the public. I thought, God, yeah, of course, that makes total sense. If I'm a scientist and I figure out, you know, latest data on, on gut health, for example, I'm not the person who's also going to explain that or publicize that or, or get that out to the masses. I'm, I'm a scientist for goodness sake. So there's real kind of disconnect between information that's there and sharing it, editing it, making sure that the right information, the right context gets to the right people. And so I feel kind of quite passionate about, about, about, you know, as being able to be part of that.
- [28:52]
A
That's so cool. Yeah, I've heard about, actually I've heard that Oxford is very on the cutting edge of sleep, like understanding sleep, you know, and the research into sleep. I, I spoke to someone just the other day and he was talking to me about how he started off in that area of medicine at Oxford and then he moved into longevity's line. So I think I, I need to look more into this because definitely.
- [29:17]
B
So my, I did this work with this guy called Nick Whitten and actually I just, I've lifted all the work that we did and put it in the book. We did it as a separate sleep study and we were talking about it very much around the sleep projects and how they can be used and how they can work as part of that toolkit. But I lifted the golden rules that he had given me and put them in, put them in the book. And you know, some of them, I don't know, it's hard. I think some of them you would know, of course you would know not to try drink caffeine after 12 o'clock or that caffeine has a half life, for example. But some of them people just have never heard of.
- [29:54]
A
You're right. There's a lot of knowledge that's just not. I mean, we think it's out there and we think that people understand, but truly General Public does not because it's not taught anywhere. It's not taught in schools, it's not taught in even formal training. You know, I, I know for me, you know, in my medical training I had maybe what, one or two hours total about sleep? I mean, we didn't even learn about sleep. It was, it's crazy to think about that and how especially something like sleep that impacts your whole body, everything, you know, and we don't learn about it in medical school. Like that's crazy. So, I mean, I think it's very important. Absolutely. I agree with you.
- [30:31]
B
Everyone wants to feel their best, right? That's all. Once out of life it's to feel their best and be able to have the ability to get the most out of life, life, whatever that looks like for that. And yeah, it is crazy that that's not taught. So let's, yeah, let's start a revolution.
- [30:52]
A
Absolutely, absolutely. Let's do it. I love that. I absolutely love that. No, I'm such a fan, you know Nicola, I cannot express, you know, my just complete like infatuation with everything that you've built with this brand. I mean it's so wonderful and it's so such an essential part. It becomes such an essential part of your day. And for anyone listening, if you're looking for that next level of really that self care next level you have to get into well being and you know, understand what does that mean for you, you know and what are the products that are going to help you get there. And I think that NEOM is just a brand that there's something here for everybody. I don't say that lightly. I think, think when you explore the collection you're going to very quickly notice that the products are so like there's such a wide range first of all. And then also everything is just, you know, something that you can relate to. It's a very relatable brand.
- [31:48]
B
It's total oxymoron in my world. If it's, if, if, if it's not something that you feel comfortable to get involved in and there's not a sort of warmth and a, and a friendliness around the brand and the way that we talk to you and the way that people in stores would approach you. I have this funny thing where anyone who works in the store, I'm like the kind of the question I always have is if you had a problem would you want to sit down and have a cup of tea with them and tell them your problems? And that's like, that's kind of like my, you know, my, my HR question which of course everyone else who. That's ridiculous. Can this, can they explain products and la la. I'm like no, no, it's got to be that because if you can't, you need to be able to open up, up and talk to us about, you know, about quite big issues.
- [32:36]
A
I know you guys are available in Ulta as well. I didn't even mention that to our listeners. So if any of you are looking in the US if you're looking to shop the brand, make sure you check out Ulta stores. Neom is available in Ulta stores. So check it out. I would love to hear from any of you that have tried the brand that are new to the brand. Please chime in, share your story and your feedback. But Nicola, it's been such an honor to host you and to learn from you. Thank you so much for your time. Time.
- [33:02]
B
I'm honest that you've asked us. I really am. Thank you so very much.