Celebrating National Daughters Day with Teenage Beauty Brand indu
In the week that's all about celebrating our daughters, we chatted to Reena Hammer and Aaron Chatterley, founders of teen beauty brand Indu, to find out how being a daughter and having daughters is intrinsic to their business
Indu is the exciting new beauty brand that has managed to navigate the tricky teen space with huge success. It's not often that a brand specifically created for teenagers, is actually coveted by teenagers but indu has developed a whole range of skincare and make-up products that not only meet the exacting tween/teen aesthetic but most importantly, cater to the unique requirements of teenage skin effectively.
A huge part of indu's popularity lies in its ongoing conversation with teenagers to really hone in on their skincare wants and needs. In fact, the original idea for launching the brand came from the beauty obsessed daughters of indu co-founder and entrepreneur, Aaron Chatterley. His twins India and Frankie, were frustrated by the lack of products aimed at their age group and urged their dad to launch a product range that really spoke to them. Aaron teamed up with experienced beauty entrepreneur Reena Hammer, daughter of internationally acclaimed makeup artist Ruby Hammer, MBE to develop and launch the brand with a little bit of help from his girls and a whole panel of teenage testers.
With family connection at the heart of this business, we couldn't think of a better pair to interview in celebration of National Daughters Day (25th September in UK) and we loved discovering how these co-founders have taken so much inspiration from being and having daughters. Oh, to have a dad who would build you a beauty brand and a mother with the best beauty advice in the world!
Q&A with indu Co-Founder, Aaron Chatterley
Q: What have your daughters taught you?
A: I think the very first thing they taught me was humility! When they were born, Feelunique, my previous business was really in the ascension, we’d been trading for 3 years, were growing rapidly and it was an incredibly exciting period professionally. But there’s nothing more humbling than arriving home at the end of the day to nappies that need changing and giggling twin babies who have zero interest in anything outside their little world. It really focussed my mind on the stuff that actually matters in life. More recently though, as we build indu, having two 15 year old skincare-junkie teens at home is a god-send as they not only give us a direct insight into the teen mind but they also have an encyclopaedic knowledge of skincare, makeup and teen cultural trends.
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Q: When did you start taking their proposal to create a teen beauty line seriously?
A: Within about 3 hours of the initial discussion with them. Initially we were talking about fashion and beauty brands for teens and as it became clear that there was a real white space in the market for teen skin what started as a playful idea to create our own by them really took shape a few hours later when I couldn’t shake it and reached out to a bunch of beauty experts and founders I knew who really validated the concept. By that evening we were definitely going ahead with it and actually, I secured our first investor that evening over dinner.
Q: What challenges do you notice your teenagers having to navigate that you didn't have to worry about when you were growing up?
A: Clearly the main one is social media and the threat it poses to their mental well-being with the constant aspiration and comparison they are faced with and unrealistic ideals of what “beauty” is. Part of the reason for starting indu was to provide a brand that gave them an opportunity to create a healthy relationship with skincare and beauty in general. With no disrespect to the adult brands, they were (and are) buying into, most of these are pitched and marketed to a much older audience.
Q: What are your daughters' favourite or most used products from the indu range?
Frankie – "I really like the Universal Soft-Cream Moisturiser because it makes my skin feel really soft and hydrated. And I also really like the Nourishing Lip Oil because it looks really pretty on and it smells amazing."
India - "I love the Hydrating Tonic Milk as it is so hydrating and feels really nice on the skin. My favourite product is definitely the Flexi-Hold Brow Gel because it keeps my brows in place all day and never flakes!"
Q: What is your favourite thing to do with your daughters?
A: Every year we do a dad and daughter holiday to Florida at the beginning of the summer holidays. The first time we went as a family when the girls were about 7, but my wife absolutely hated it. She’s not into theme parks and rollercoasters so she said she basically spent 8 hours a day in the worst of the Florida heat trying to find shade waiting for us to come off all the rides. Since then, the girls and I still go for about 9 days of theme park craziness with a day or 2 in the middle where we drive out to Cocoa Beach for a surf and a relax. My wife loves it as she gets a break from us, and we love it because it’s a chance to just let go and play. I’ve promised to take them every year as long as they still want to go, I may regret that though when they have families of their own to bring along!
Q&A with indu co-founder Reena Hammer
Q: What is the most valuable lesson your mum has taught you?
A: Prevention is the best cure. Take care early and don’t start when its too late! This was mainly about skincare and self-care but it works across everything. It's also about a work ethic and not just trying hard at the last hurdle.
Q: What are your earliest memories of skincare and makeup from your childhood?
A: Seeing my mum get ready – that classic dressing table scene. Being in awe but also jealous that I couldn’t do that yet. I remember my mums 30th and the black tight Alaia like dress with feathers she wore, the straight dark hair, the lipstick. But also, with mum product was everywhere in our home. Piles here and there - organised chaos. I will never forget our house differed in that way to everyone else’s.
Q: How does a skincare regime help boost confidence in teens?
A: Going back to skincare routines being a part of self-care. You need to have clean skin and by doing this consistently you see results and the results in turn make you feel better and boost your confidence.
Q: What product from the indu collection do you wish you'd had as a teen?
A: I wish I’d had our Nourishing Lip Lil with its clippable lanyard. I was a huge lip licker growing up, constantly applying lip balm, but also constantly losing it! So, this would have saved me buying a new one every week!
Q:What topic do you go to your mum for advice about most frequently?
A: She is the oracle, on all thing’s beauty related – I wouldn’t try something without talking to her. But generally, where I NEED her most is with tips to help with wearable but easy, flawless makeup. That is her signature, and I still need education!