Nicci Herrera spends 5 minutes with Jessica Gomes creator of Australian K beauty brand – Equal Beauty
What inspired you to create Equal Beauty?
As a model, I already had a lot of experience with skincare but Equal Beauty is my skin solution for healthy, hydrated, glowing skin all day every day no matter what the environmental factors and conditions. EB is the result of a long passion I have had to develop a skincare line that reflects my values and skincare needs.
I was passionate about creating a skincare line for everyone – male, female, different races, all skin types as I believe everyone should feel beautiful. Equal Beauty is a fragrance-free line which focuses above all on hydration and protection.
Seven months since the launch of Equal Beauty, tell us about your journey.
The journey has been really hard but also really amazing! I’ve worked really hard and I’ve put all I have into it. It’s everything that I know about skincare and also telling my story. I’ve learned so much about myself since launching my own business. It’s important to work with people on your page and that ‘get’ you. The truth is having spent the last three years creating Equal Beauty, it was not easy. Even though I knew EXACTLY what my vision was, I still had to keep going back to my ‘why’ and not lose focus of why I wanted to create this simple skincare brand.
I’ve come to learn that beauty is less about how others perceive you and more about how you perceive yourself and how you carry yourself. To me the most beautiful are those with confidence, strength and a sense of self.
The best advice I ever received was to learn to love and accept yourself. It sounds simple but can be challenging. If you can do this, then you can enter the world in a positive way. Nothing can stop you. You can do anything.
Beauty starts on the inside. It’s about how you feel and loving yourself. Embrace who you are and where you come from.
It’s been said that in diversity there is beauty and there is strength. I believe that!
How did you start the process?
I played with different ingredients and did a lot of research in Korea and Japan. I came up with the concept and I knew what story I wanted to tell and how I wanted to make people feel. I also knew aesthetically what I wanted to achieve. It’s been a really beautiful process because I’ve really learnt a lot about people and business.
I’ve been involved at every stage, from concocting formulas and selecting ingredients to branding and boxes.
Tell us about your personal involvement in the choice of ingredients and development of the range.
I sat with a chemist and did as much research as I could. This process took three years. I read the book The Beauty Myth by Naomi Wolf and it resonated with me.
I love the idea that the formulations are fragrance free and they are all gentle. All five products in this skincare system are designed to deliver both a drink and shield to the skin while also working to improve the skin’s overall appearance and texture. Ingredients and technology have been globally sourced with mask technology coming from Japan and Korea and active ingredients coming from Australia.
Any hurdles… and how you have overcome them?
Yes, in who to trust. It’s been a steep learning curve and I’ve had massive lessons on that but I’m very thankful to have a great team around me and I am very excited for Equal Beauty and where it’s heading. Another hard part of creating Equal Beauty was getting a grasp of the manufacturing chain.
Best advice to the next generation of brand makers and developers?
Always listen to your gut and never let anyone stop you. If you have a dream and a brand you want to build you can do it! Keep creating and keep imagining.
Who inspires you in business?
Dr Dre! Dr Dre went from being a DJ to a billionaire mogul. He had very humble beginnings and started Beats before selling it to Apple – apparently he’s hip-hop’s first billionaire! He’s been able to balance his business and music careers to great success. Dr Dre is also responsible for discovering, producing and promoting some of the industry’s biggest artists from the last two decades – including Eminem, Snoop Dog, 50 Cent and, more recently, Kendrick Lamar.
What’s next for Jessica Gomes?
I’ll be focusing more on my international career and film. I’m about to star in the upcoming Hollywood fi lm Father Figures alongside Owen Wilson and Ed Helms, which is a once-in-a-lifetime experience. I also want to build the Equal Beauty brand into a global company.