Ex-Uber and Ofo exec leaps into bespoke skincare

Wrinkles, age spots, zits and the like – whatever the skin issue is, there’s a product for it out on the market.

Unfortunately, it takes a lot of time (and money) to find the right formula for your skin off the shelf. After a long period of trial and error, you may end up with half-used bottles of creams and moisturizers.

Navneet Kaur, a former regional head of driver operations at ride-hailer Uber and regional head of strategy at bike-sharer Ofo, knows exactly how troublesome and expensive skincare can be. It’s why she started a bespoke line called Yours in July last year.

But why jump from transportation into an entirely different industry? Well, prior to her stint in the ride-sharing business, Kaur was a brand manager ITC Limited, a fast-moving consumer goods company in India, for 3.5 years. There, she worked on a mass-market beauty brand called Vivel.

She’s also scratching a personal itch. “When I was discovering products for my husband, who has sensitive skin, I realized I had a shelf full of products that don’t suit him. And that’s when I realized how broken the product-discovery process was,” says Kaur.

As someone with oily skin, she realized that off-the-shelf products don’t account for critical lifestyle factors, weather conditions, or specific skin types.

For example, going in and out of air-conditioned spaces all day worsened her skin condition, Kaur shares. She also found that existing oil-control products dry her skin too much.

“Customers eventually give up on [off-the-shelf] products or they switch to very basic skincare. Or they become very avid skincare users,” says Kaur.

Kaur’s direct-to-consumer products are made from all-natural ingredients at a lab in Switzerland, where many of today’s high-end creams and serums are manufactured.

For now, the Yours kit includes a moisturizer, a facial serum, an eye serum, and a night cream, which Kaur says are the most important products in any skincare regimen. Bottle sizes range from 5 ml for the eye serum to 30 ml for the moisturizers.

The kit targets skin predicaments such as pigmentation, oiliness, sensitivity, aging, and under-eye puffiness, among others.

In the future, customers will be able to buy Yours’ products individually. Kaur is also planning to add sunscreen as well as personalized hand creams and lip balms.

Bespoke skincare: the next money spinner?

Skincare consumers typically consult dermatologists for an expert opinion and then get prescriptions of more concentrated and medical-grade products. However, these options are expensive and out of reach for many people.

Personalized skincare – the future?