The People Behind Our Brands: Danielle Clementina Close, My Skin Feels

Before launching BRiMM I had the chance to meet most of the incredible founders behind each of the self-care brands you can now discover on the platform. My job was to curate a category filled with impactful products that also came with beautiful stories of change and innovation. So to say the last few months have been a blast is an understatement. 

I’ve now heard first-hand why each founder launched their offering into the world, and deep-dived into their knowledge behind production and purpose - and it’s stories like theirs that have driven us to create this platform. I felt so inspired by the journeys each of these people have undertaken to start their businesses, it only felt right to share some of their stories with you too. 

Second up in this series is the founder of My Skin Feels, Danielle Clementina Close, who is also a professional psychic medium from Brighton. The early-stage skincare business caught our eye in so many ways. Firstly, the concept: they use upcycled food waste (which is packed with good-for-the-skin antioxidants) in each of their products. The simplicity of their formulations make them a winner for sensitive skins (that’s me!) and the packaging is chic, simple and innovative. 

Here Danielle shares how it all began…

What was your previous background before starting My Skin Feels? 
“I've been in the beauty industry for almost 15 years. I started my career as part of the founding Charlotte Tilbury team working on her collection with Tom Ford before launching her mega brand. I went on to see it launch in the US before moving into the spa and wellness industries learning the art of skincare for self-care, understanding natural ingredients – how they affect your mental health and mood. Then training as a Professional Psychic Medium gave me even more of an understanding of the body-mind connection. For the past 10 years, I've been freelancing as a creative consultant for a tonne of brands in the clean, sustainable space before launching My Skin Feels in March 2023. I also practise my Psychic Mediumship on Fridays, seeing clients from all over the world at my practice in Brighton.”

Has your psychic work ever been linked to the brand?
“It has! It’s SO important to listen to your intuition when running a business and to remember that a business has energy too (as does anything you put out into the world) so yes, you have to have logic, but you also have to be able to feel what it needs and trust that too.” 

What led you to launch the brand?
“I honestly thought about launching my own brand for years but I ‘ummed and ahhhed’ about it because we just didn't need ‘another beauty brand’ – there were and are so many out there! But I went to a packaging show in 2020 to see if I could get some inspiration for the future of the industry, and I was taken on a ’sustainability tour’ of the show expecting to be blown away by some amazing sustainable invention... The best thing they could show me was a mascara wand with 3% less plastic… That was the spark for me launching My Skin Feels” – if no one was doing anything to help change the industry, then I had to prove it could be done. That evening I posted my first ever Insta video for the brand and I sent myself on a mission to make the most sustainable skincare brand. And so My Skin Feels was born.” 

What was the inspiration behind the name?|
“I’ve always suffered with anxiety and for me, even in some of my heaviest moments, getting in a bath or a shower has always been the quickest way to get me out of ‘anxiety mode’ and back into my body. For me, beauty is far more than just superficial products, it's about using them as tools for helping you get back to your mind, your body and yourself, so My Skin Feels is just that. If you can start to tune into how your skin feels, ‘My skin feels dry, my skin feels oily, my skin feels…’ it’s a super easy way to then tune into how you really feel.” 

What would you say is your USP?
“We make skincare from a blend of fermented rescued food including the by-products of tomato ketchup, olive oil, breakfast oats and orange juice, which I know sounds like a ‘weird salad’ that you would never eat, but I promise, it's amazing for your skin!” 

What is your biggest goal with the brand? 
“I want to impact the beauty industry, to demand change on how products are made and show consumers that you really can find beauty in waste. I’m also all about using skincare as a way to make you feel better, not a way to change how you look and I hope that our products can inspire a new generation of beauty buyers for whom feeling good in their skin is the most important thing!” 

Who is your go-to inspiration? 
“I’m obsessed with this super cool brand called Bathing Culture out of the US. It’s all about the art of bathing as a way to connect back to yourself and it’s such a vibe. Also Dr Bronner's (very cool brand) Wonder Valley, and I’m a big fan of Anita Roddick and her amazing work with The Body Shop. It’s also well worth reading all books by Yvon Chouinard of Patagonia and John Mackey, the founder of Whole Foods.” 

What has been the hardest challenge to overcome?
“Doing this on my own. No one really tells you what it's like to launch a biz, let alone to do it alone, so looking after my mental health has actually been the biggest struggle of all. I have learnt to handle anything when it comes to suppliers or customers, but you 100% need a support network so you can stay tip top too.” 

What things were important to you when you launched? 
“Honestly, the food waste is only one part of the story but the packaging was a huge part of it. We get our tubes from Germany vs China so there is no cargo shipping. Our boxes are uniquely designed to fit the tubes, meaning we use less card and less space when shipping. Our water is all recycled from Orange Juice meaning we don't use any new water and our factory and fulfillment centre are all super close to home, so there’s less travel between the two. Everything has been thought out consciously and anything that we haven’t been able to achieve (mainly due to costs) – such as the plastic caps etc – we have a solution for now and a plan for the future.” 

What highlight has been game changing for the brand so far? 
“The craziest thing has been just how amazing our moisturiser has been for sensitive and eczema-prone skin. It was totally not the plan, but thanks to our fermented breakfast oats we have been seeing so many crazy results and now the majority of our customers are those with skin issues who have struggled to find safe products for their skin and I’m so glad that we can help them!” 

What impact is My Skin Feels having beyond beauty?
“We donate 1% of sales to an amazing local charity, The Brighton and Hove Food Partnership. They do a lot of work with food education, composting and sharing. We support their food composting work and we're hoping to open our very own My Skin Feels composting site in 2025, which will be super cool!” 

Discover My Skin Feels Moisturised Hydrating Moisturiser in our shop and in our Minimalist Bathroom Reset Box, and check out the first in this series with Ben Grace, the founder of SBTRCT. Sign-up to The Planet Positive Edit, the free BRiMM newsletter, and find more low-impact living tips in our Journal