Yahoo Sports EXCLUSIVE: Nick Jones, Charlie Bradshaw Invest in Subscription Skin Care Brand You’re Looking Well
LONDON — What’s the highest compliment one can be told? For ex-research analysts Joe Bloomfield and Anthony Plom, it’s “you’re looking well,” which also happens to be the name of the skin care brand they cofounded 18 months ago.
The two men met when they worked together at Berenberg Bank, the world’s oldest merchant bank that historically deals in commercial loans and investment.
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Their day-to-day involved researching robots that drive automatic vehicles, steel manufacturing through to decarbonizing the oil and gas industry.
Bloomfield and Plom started to take notice of what their 16-hour days were doing to their appearances, right before they were turning 30 years old in 2021.
“That’s when we decided to actually start taking care of ourselves. One thing we could do from our background was to deep dive into industries because that’s what we did every day, so we did that into the skin care and supplement world,” said Bloomfield in an interview with Plom at 180 House in London.
They started to notice a link between the gut and skin health, prompting them to look for products that combined the two, but failed.
Their followup step was to take their research to real professionals, including Glenn Gibson, professor of food microbiology at the University of Reading; Sophie Medlin, chair for the British Dietetic Association for London, and Daniel Whitby, chief scientist at Smink Laboratories. They all agreed with Bloomfield and Plom’s research and offered their help in launching You’re Looking Well.
A pre-seed funding round began with Soho House founder Nick Jones and Matrix APA founder and chief executive officer Charlie Bradshaw, as well as 20 other individuals, according to paperwork filed on Companies House.
You’re Looking Well is subscription-based with only 1,000 spaces available in the roster. A quarterly membership fee starts at 295 pounds and an annual subscription is priced at 995 pounds.
“It’s not dissimilar to Soho House in a way as we grow, we have more capacity for more members and would have more resources to make the membership more valuable,” said Bloomfield.
Included in the subscription is a day cream and night cream for skin; a day pill and night pill for gut health; advice from health care professionals such as Gibson and Medlin; discounts from partnering brands, and community events that will include talks and pop-up treatments that will take place at various locations across London.
Taking a leaf out of Jones’ members club, You’re Looking Well has pulled together a committee that spans across different creative sectors to build an engaging community.
As a subscription business, the brand gets more visibility and can offer more of an affordable price range.
The four products come in a feel-good yellow that resembles a light turmeric and are fragrance free in glass bottles with aluminum lids to protect the probiotics and live bacteria. The pills have also been produced in similar shades, unintentionally.
After 60 to 70 product testers, Bloomfield and Plom started to notice a difference in their own appearances and that’s when they would receive compliments telling them that they looked well, leading them to the name of the brand.
The formulas used throughout the four products are bespoke.
The day cream and pill contain Vitamin D3, zinc, and B vitamins including B2, B3, B5, B6 and B12; meanwhile the live bacteria blend consists of Lactobacillus paracasei, Bifidobacterium lactis (BI-04) and Bifidobacterium lactis (HN019), which neutralize stress and lack of sleep and supports the skin’s microbiome.
The night cream and pill contain copper, selenium, grape seed extract, L-theanine and algae-derived bio-retinoid.
“We don’t have to suck the joy out of people’s routines because that is a highlight for a lot of people,” said Bloomfield, referring to the simplicity of the glass bottles labeled day and night.
The business is currently looking at a 70 to 30 split when it comes to demographics, with women being the targeted market.
You’re Looking Well is partnering with the Alex Eagle Sporting Club that sits under 180 House, where products from the two brands will overlink, but will not be collaborating on a product launch together.
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