Q&A With BYBI Founders Elsie & Dominika

To celebrate our Haul of Fame brand of the month, we chatted with BYBI founders Elsie and Dominika to chat about all things skincare. As a B Corp Certified brand, BYBI brings you skin positive, pro-planet beauty. 

Keep reading to learn more about the brand and the founders’ must-have skincare products.

1. Could you tell us a bit about BYBI and the journey of how the brand evolved to what it is today?

We started BYBI in 2017 with a passion for natural skincare & conscious beauty. Thinking about our overall skin wellness, we applied the same principles of healthy eating to our skin and began crafting beauty recipes literally at the kitchen sink! We shared the journey on our blog Clean Beauty Insiders and quickly saw there were others interested in beauty with great natural ingredients and strong ethics!

From humble beginnings crafting DIY beauty recipes in our kitchens, we went on to train as skincare formulators to understand how to harness the power of potent natural ingredients. We had a book published by Penguin and started a successful podcast along the way! 

If you compare eating an orange with taking a vitamin C tablet, you’ll understand how we think about skincare. We wanted to bottle natural efficacy. We’re all about advanced, complex, natural formulations that are packed full of actives & super easy to use. The quest for results is what drives us–immediate and longer term benefits for glowing, healthy skin. And we don’t believe it should cost the earth–neither literally, nor environmentally.

2. Tell us a little bit about each of your skin story (i.e. What are your skin concerns or goals).

Dominika: My skin can suffer from dryness and dehydration, particularly in the colder months so I’m always looking for ingredients and products that will both improve moisture levels but also truly hydrate. Hyaluronic acid is my best friend in winter and I love rich, thick creams to lock in moisture as well as serums to optimise skin glow!

Elsie: I’m always looking for my skincare to help with redness and undereye circles. I find ingredients high in antioxidants like vitamin c are a great way to even skin tone and anything calming and anti-inflammatory helps with reducing redness, so I love CBD and oats. For under the eye it’s all about ingredients that brighten –  arnica and algae are favourites!

3. If you were stranded on an island and had access to only 3 BYBI products, what would they be?

Milk Melt – our creamy cleanser is perfect for everyone so this would keep our skin clean, clear and calm on that island! It has oat milk and prebiotics to preserve the skin’s microbiome as well as keep it soft and balanced. It’s so good we sometimes use it as a body wash too!

Mega Mist – the ultimate hydration powerhouse with hyaluronic acid to keep skin soft and plump! It can go in place of a toner (after cleansing, before mositurising) or under/on top of makeup. It’s also amazing to keep skin hydrated throughout the day so would be great on a hot (or cold) island!

Bakuchiol Booster – our award winning bestseller that’s a natural and vegan alternative to retinol. Keeps skin strong, youthful and bouncy without any irritation so it’s a must have in anyone’s daily routine. Retinol (vitamin A) is one of the most famous skincare ingredients in the world, known for its collagen-boosting and skin rebuilding properties, but it’s very aggressive. Bakuchiol Booster mimics the skin benefits of retinol but without the side effects, making it suitable for everyone including sensitive skin or for those pregnant or nursing. 

4. Do you have a favourite skincare ingredient?

We love AHAs which are a form of chemical exfoliants and work by eating the glue that holds together your dead skin cells. A buildup of dead skin cells on the skin’s surface can often lead to dull, uneven complexions and accentuates fine lines and wrinkles. Exfoliating with AHAs removes this layer, in turn ensuring that your youngest, freshest layer of skin is on top and looking vibrant and glowing! AHAs can be found in our Acid Gold face mask and Day Glow daily tonic. 

5. What do you think is the most underrated skincare ingredient? 

Humectants are an unsung hero. The most famous being hyaluronic acid but some underrated ones like glycerin that literally draw moisture and hydration to the skin, helping prevent dryness but also giving a visibly plumping effect!

6. What are some of the must-have BYBI products for a winter skincare routine?

Anything in our hot pink range was quite literally formulated for dry/sensitive skin and cold winter months! Winter months are harsh on the skin as low humidity levels decrease your skin’s moisture and it’s moving between extreme temperatures indoors and outdoors can be taxing on the skin’s natural oil levels.  Strawberry Booster is a softening facial oil that replenishes natural oils and Night Nutrition is a rich overnight cream packed with superfood proteins from kale, carrot and lemon that repair dry skin as you sleep. Everything in the hot pink range is suitable for sensitive, very dry, flaky or irritated skin.

7. What do you consider the most vital step in your routines?

SPF is critical to keep skin safe and protected all year round (yes even in winter please!). A less talked about step is a thorough cleanse, we believe a two-step cleanse is most effective to remove all dirt, grime and oil as well as support the skin barrier. Not cleansing skin properly can lead to congestion, break outs, dullness and inflammation, so it really is vital! We suggest step one remove makeup with an oil-based cleanser such as Swipe Clean and step two remove all other dirt and grime with a water-based cleanser such as Milk Melt.

8. What’s next for BYBI in the new year? 

Our mission is to help people feel positively glowing by making beauty easy and responsible, and next year is all about products that make you feel good, developed in a sustainable way! We have some innovative and very exciting textures, ingredients and formats in our NPD calendar for next year that we can’t wait to launch!