I’m keeping her in mind.

(That's me.)

Little Jenna, standing in front of my Nana's mirror, looking quite pleased with what she sees (although I'm pretty sure my togs were on backwards haha) or maybe even snapped mid-admiration! 😂

I remember that mirror so clearly, and at one point getting too tall for it. 
When I found this photo again, I couldn't help wondering what I thought when I looked into it.

Probably nothing particularly profound, to be fair. I was maybe about three.  But I doubt I was examining my pores, wondering whether my skin looked "old", or thinking I really ought to start doing something about my neck.

I was just... me.

And somewhere between being that little girl and being a 40-year-old woman, an awful lot of other voices got involved.

Somewhere along the way, looking in the mirror got complicated...

I grew up before social media, but there were still women's magazines full of airbrushed faces, reality TV, before-and-after photos and ads pointing out problems I hadn't previously realised I was supposed to have.  Me and my friends literally had magazine cut outs of the bodies we wanted on pinboards 🙄

Then came filters, injectables, algorithms and an endless stream of exceptionally smooth people appearing on a tiny screen we carry around with us all day.

The funny thing is, I love skincare products. Little jars of things that smell yummy and feel beautiful, that you can use on yourself simply because they make you feel good.

I love ingredients that actually do something, beautiful textures, and finding a product that makes my skin feel ridiculously good...

But what I don't love is the idea that before I can sell you one of those lovely little jars, I first need to convince you there's something wrong with your face.

Skincare from love, not fear

That's probably the simplest way I can explain the way I want Oh Natural to be different.

I want us to make genuinely excellent skincare, and I want to tell you exactly what it can do. We can talk about Vitamin C supporting brighter, more even-looking skin. We can formulate moisturisers that hydrate and support your skin barrier. We can get unnecessarily excited about the texture of a cleanser (I do).

You can want your skin to feel healthy, hydrated, comfortable and glowy without declaring war on your face first.

You can use skincare because you love looking after yourself, rather than because you're afraid of what will happen if you don't.

And maybe that's the bit of beauty marketing I'd like to change, even if it's only in our tiny corner of the internet.

So, I’m keeping her in mind

Not literally, obviously. Little Me had no disposable income and would have been a terrible customer.

But I think about her sometimes, and the version of me standing in front of a mirror now.

I don't want Oh Natural to be another voice pointing out what could be better. Telling you that you need a certain cream for your "eye bags" or whatever other horrible terminology that has been invented.  I want beauty to be something we enjoy. Something playful and sensory. Little jars with yummy smells, a cleanser you look forward to using, a few minutes in the bathroom that belong entirely to you and make you feel like you matter enough to take that time.

Something you use because you love looking after yourself, not because somebody made you afraid of what will happen if you don't.

So as I try to build Oh Natural, I'm keeping her in mind.

That's "Feel Good Beauty" to me 😁