Sukin co-founder battles cancer, launches new brand

The founders of internationally-renowned skincare brand, Sukin, have launched a new Australian native skincare range, Alkira Skin Care, into pharmacies and health food stores across the country.

Successful beauty entrepreneurs and siblings, Alison Goodger and Simon O’Connor, joined forces once again, this time for the creation and development of Alkira Skin Care – a vegan-friendly and cruelty-free brand   made up of 16 products that offer skin care solutions spanning five categories – formulated and inspired by Australian native extracts.

The affordable brand, which means ‘bright and sunny’ in the Australian Indigenous language, showcases the incredible benefits derived from Australia’s flora. Together, they are combined with an array of natural botanicals to help deliver clear, hydrated and radiant skin.

esprit caught up with Alison for an exclusive Q and A about the new range.

What prompted you to create Alkira Skin Care?

“I am passionate about good skin care and enjoy the process of developing products that deliver on their promises –  creating another brand was always on the agenda. After the sale of Sukin, I had to stay out of the market for a few years due to a non-compete agreement. During this time, I had my third daughter, Eloise. When she was just four weeks old, I was diagnosed with breast cancer. In hindsight, the forced leave was a blessing as it helped me concentrate on a newborn and on healing my body after the trauma of breast cancer. After three years, there came a time in my cancer journey where I gained the confidence to once again think creatively and long term. This was a welcome turning point for me as I needed to re-enter the world again,  find my purpose and to start something that would represent a long-term future for the next generation of skin care consumers.”

How did the brand evolve?

“Alkira evolved naturally, a couple of years ago, ingredient suppliers started to present some really exciting developments with Australian native extracts. Aside from the obvious extracts such as Kakadu plum, they were starting to work with ingredients that hadn’t typically been introduced in facial skin care. I found this really exciting. Native extracts such as antioxidant rich Davidson plum, essential fatty acid rich kangaroo paw and vitamin C rich finger lime caviar were offering natural phyto-active compounds delivering active and multifunctional benefits in skin care.  Understanding and incorporating these ingredients into a range became my focus and the brand Alikra was born.”

What is the brand’s philosophy?

“Our goal continues to showcase Australian natural beauty to the world as I believe as a nation we can draw from the wonderful clean, green reputation it has worldwide and become market leaders in this space. Whether it’s in natural skincare, household cleaning, fashion, homewares, Australian brands can own the naturals and sustainability category and set the parameters for future consumer goods.”

 How is Alkira different to Sukin? How is it similar?

“Alkira is similar to Sukin as I am once again in business with my brother Simon   – we make a formidable team and work well together.  Alkira is a brand that celebrates Australian native extracts and pairs them with botanical extracts to deliver results. Our brand values remain the same as this reflects our personal choices. We remain cruelty free, vegan, we eliminate known toxins and continue to be commit to reducing carbon emissions by being a NoCo2 business. I spoke with our friends at the Carbon Reduction Institute recently and they told me that we were instrumental in the success and longevity of their business as we were one of the first mass brands that partnered with them and helped to spread the important NoCo2 word. This makes me incredibly proud as I believe businesses large and small should take accountability for their footprint.”

What are the short term plans for Alkira?

“Launching a brand in the midst of a pandemic will present its own unique challenges so we’ll be guided by the market and consumer confidence. In the short term, our plan is to concentrate on building distribution and brand awareness which is an all-consuming challenge given the climate. The market has evolved since we launched Sukin so understanding the new parameters that surround social media marketing and executing considered campaigns in this space will be our primary focus.”

 What are the long term plans for Alkira?

“Diversifying the range and exporting to various countries.  Australia will always be our foundation, our home and our history.  Taking our story to the world and opening up opportunities for people to experience a natural Australian skin care product is an exciting dream we wish to make reality.”