‘There’s an innate trust that things will get done’
SISTERS REBECCA AND CLARE HOPKINS FOUND WORK-LIFE BALANCE WHEN THEY CO-FOUNDED THEIR SUCCESSFUL SKINCARE BRAND
Intuition – not in a woo-woo way, but in a matter-offact, visceral, sibling connection kind of way – has been one of the magic ingredients in Balance Me’s success. ‘There’s so much intuition involved when you work with your sister because you know each other so well; it cuts down on meetings and overly complicated processes and just allows the business to flow,’ explains Rebecca Hopkins, joint CEO of the now B Corp certified brand. ‘There’s also an innate trust,’ continues Clare, ‘which is positive in lots of ways, such as cutting each other slack to go to a sports day in the middle of the week, and knowing that, quite simply, things will still get done.’ And that they do, with every Balance Me product being developed in close collaboration before it’s allowed to leave the lab. ‘A formula has to be loved by both of us before we launch it,’ says Clare. ‘Plenty haven’t made the cut!’ The new Niacinamide Complexion Booster, for instance, took various frank, sibling-honest appraisals to get right. ‘Instinctively, neither of us were sure about the first iterations of the serum, so we didn’t launch it,’ says Clare. ‘Instead, we tested, researched and gathered more learnings – and now we have a great product.’ The formulation, which will launch at the end of March, hot on the heels of January’s Ceramide Barrier Booster, combines niacinamide with glycogen to boost its efficacy, and bioactives that work together to combat the effects of stress on the skin – specifically, redness, pigmentation and dryness (and watch this space for a similarly rigorously tested natural SPF launching in May). The negatives of working with your sister? ‘Only that we have to make an effort to spend time together outside of work,’ says Rebecca. ‘But we do – in fact, we recently went on a week-long yoga retreat and we also try to go cold water swimming together – and it reminds us that we’re very lucky to get to do this every day.’