Initially, I aimed to design a WOW facial retail range, but I realised this would limit its reach. So, I began developing a brand name that captured my goal: high-quality skincare sold in professional clinics and salons that truly improved skin health. WOW facial started at my kitchen table in my flat in West London. When I finally registered as a limited company in February 2019, after I paid the registration fee, I had £9.80 left in my bank account, but I didn’t let that stop me. I spoke to my customers and asked them if they would like to pre-order products in return for lifelong preferential pricing, and surprisingly, I started generating enough income to pay my mortgage and start the development of my new products. Working with labs to make small quantities of products and samples that I had to label myself as I couldn’t afford to print huge quantities of packaging, having to learn how to label from YouTube tutorials. Early on, understanding labelling laws and registering products on the CPNP was just the beginning.
When I look back to the very early days, I can’t believe how little I knew, but I just had a determination that I was doing the right thing and that I would learn along the way. I was positive I could make WOW facial a decent brand within aesthetics, and every day was a massive leap forward in my learning. I think if I had really understood how challenging it was going to be without the right expertise or financial backing, I wouldn’t have started, but I am so grateful that I did, and now the WOW brand looks very professional and very different to how it did in the early days.
Intradermology has been 4.5 years in the making, starting with Russell Turner from RWT Creative to come up with a brand name. I wanted a name that reflected the changes I wanted the products to make within the skin. During a brainstorming session, I kept coming back to the word ‘intradermal’, and Russ suggested Intradermology. I knew immediately that we had our name. I sketched a rough logo, and Russ perfected it. Working with a designer is essential. Russ has an innate ability to take what is in my head and get it onto paper.
The first product launched was Synergy 6 NX-GEN SPF. Developed with one of our existing labs, it is more than just an SPF. It includes a pollution filter, a blue light filter, and skin-loving ingredients like vitamin C, vitamin E, squalene, antioxidants, and peptides in a lightweight, wearable formulation. Working on this product and its packaging began after Christmas 2019, with the aim of launching it in March 2020. However, COVID-19 disrupted our plans. With clinics and labs closed, manufacturing was put on hold. This gave the team and me time to work on training, marketing, and regulatory compliance.
Once restrictions were lifted in July, we started manufacturing, and the first 1,000 bottles of Synergy 6 arrived. Our customers loved the product, and selling it to their clients during the lockdown helped sustain our business. Despite the success, the pandemic delayed the launch of the rest of the range. I continued developing the range, focusing on training presentations, marketing, legal contracts with labs, and ensuring compliance. Our operations director, Sarah Brown, insisted on pursuing ISO9001 certification to ensure we worked within a quality management framework. We started this journey and later realised we needed ISO13485 to manufacture the WOW fusion device as a class 2 medical device. We achieved this certification in September 2021.
Post-COVID, innovations in active skincare ingredients, delivery mechanisms, and manufacturing processes prompted me to redesign and simplify the range. I stripped it back from 26 products to three washes, four serums, two moisturisers, three-night repair products, Synergy 6, and our eye serum. Working with my formulators, we ensured the products would be effective, user-friendly, and suitable for different skin types and conditions. The final step, I call the ‘slip and slide’, involved perfecting the texture and consistency of the products to ensure they felt good on the skin and that make-up sits well on top of the products, as this is of high importance to me. This can sometimes result in us making up to 4 versions of a product until I am happy. I enlist the team, friends and some customers to test the products and give me feedback so I can get a better overview of the products rather than just my opinion.
