TheIndustry.beauty Awards Winners' Interview: Colette Laxton, co-founder, The Inkey List
In this series, TheIndustry.beauty further celebrates the successes of winning beauty businesses from TheIndustry.beauty Awards 2024 through dedicated interviews.
As the Awards is dedicated to The Innovators of the industry, we were keen to learn from their future-facing successes. From our 13 winners, we find out everything from the importance of innovation to the one beauty product they can’t live without.
The Inkey List won the Engagement award, presented by SoPost. TheIndustry.beauty hears from its co-founder Colette Laxton.
In a crowded beauty market, what is The Inkey List’s approach to staying ahead of trends while maintaining its commitment to simplicity and efficacy?
We are innovators at heart and are passionate about hunting upcoming ingredients which can have impact on consumers' skin (innovation over gimmicks always!). Our approach to ensuring it stays ‘Inkey’ aka simple and meaningful, is by ensuring each launch is rooted in three things: it must add true value to the consumer, the formula must be efficacy-led and we execute by driving education and support to the consumer.
Consumers are increasingly focused on sustainability. How is The Inkey List incorporating eco-friendly practices into its product development and packaging?
We do not want consumers to compromise when choosing accessibly priced products from Inkey. We are proud to be a B Corp, so everything we do has to find a balance between profit and purpose. We meet the highest standards of social and environmental performance, transparency and accountability – from suppliers, to workers, to our packaging (moving all packs to PCR materials after just three years of brand launch). We are also a certified net zero company.
Education seems to be a core pillar of The Inkey List’s mission. How do you ensure your customers are well-informed about skincare, and what role does this play in your brand strategy?
Education is in our DNA and is embedded in everything we do. From the way our packaging is designed, our social strategy is built, right through to our dedicated Ask Inkey skincare service; we are here to help build your knowledge and hold your hand at every touch point.
The Inkey List has made a name for itself by offering high-quality products at affordable prices. How do you balance affordability with maintaining the efficacy of your products?
It is very, very hard. We focus on creating the maximum efficacy of formula vs. fancy packaging, and work hard through our supply chain to ensure we can get products to the consumer at an affordable price.
What was the significance of winning the Engagement award?
Community is at the heart of our brand. Mark [Curry, co-founder] and I have built a team of amazing humans who truly connect with our customers and our community, and have tried to create a safe place people feel welcomed to learn and share their skin journeys. Winning this award is such an incredible moment to celebrate six years of building our extended Inkey family – our community.
What does it mean to be a disruptor in the beauty industry today? And how important do you think this is for success?
I think its about trying to add value to the consumer, truly. About solving a need they have in new ways that evolve with the way in which people live their lives and consume information. Disrupting is not following, and keep striving to find new and innovative ways to make ourselves better for the consumer.
How do you decide when to expand your product range, and what criteria do you use to identify gaps in the market or new opportunities?
We have an incredibly complex matrix of consumer need and upcoming ingredient innovation we use as a basis, and use our INK-IQ data (our Inkey brain with multiple data sources) to gather trending search data. Not forgetting the conversations we are having with consumers every day on Ask Inkey! It is about truly filling market gaps and not launching products unintentionally.
The Inkey List has a strong online presence and community. How do you engage with your customers on social media and ensure that their feedback informs your product development?
Community management is incredibly important, and intertwines with our ask Inkey conversations which are much more in-depth. We can build so much insight on ingredients, textures, skin needs and even how to communicate with language that resonates with them.
What steps does The Inkey List take to ensure a seamless and positive customer experience, from product discovery to post-purchase support?
A very passionate and integrated team! From Ask Inkey to our incredible DTC team who build the latest tech innovation and customer flows, right through to our social teams – we want the entire Inkey experience to feel great end to end.
What can customers expect from The Inkey List in the coming year? Are there any new product lines or innovations on the horizon?
I am beyond excited about 2025 – we have some real game changing ingredient technology coming, and I keep running out of samples of one of them. I am obsessed with the impact on my skin!
The beauty industry is constantly evolving. How does The Inkey List plan to adapt to changing consumer preferences and emerging industry trends over the next few years?
Over the six years Inkey has been on the market we have had to pivot multiple times (huge example being the COVID digital world through to pivoting back to consumers in store). Consumers will continue to change and our job is to evolve with them, whilst staying true to who we are – ingredient innovators who deliver skincare for all, and are here to support you with the skincare knowledge you need.
As the Engagement Award was presented by SoPost, we asked founder and CEO Jonathan Grubin why it is important to champion innovation in the beauty industry and how it works with beauty brands to drive the market forward.
Beauty is an industry that, more than most, is driven by innovation. The beauty world is continually progressing and developing, constantly striving for perfection and increased effectiveness while reacting to ever-evolving consumer behaviours and aspirations.
Whether new ingredients, ground-breaking marketing strategies or launching whole new product categories, innovation is in the industry’s DNA. So to support innovation in the beauty industry is, quite simply, to support the beauty industry – you can’t have one without the other.
Beauty innovation is underpinned by science and technology. As a tech company, SoPost brings together the best of online and offline marketing to help brands get their products into the hands of their ideal consumers. We collaborate to directly address our brand partners’ marketing objectives, whether that’s to drive conversion, acquire first-party data, collect reviews or capture valuable insights to help drive new product development. We help brands find new audiences, reward loyal customers and re-engage lapsed audiences, growing the market and helping to match individuals with their perfect product.
TheIndustry.beauty The Innovators Awards, staged in proud partnership with Bleckmann, will be back for 2025. Find out more at the industry.beauty/awards. For sponsorship enquiries for 2025's awards, please email partnerships@theindustry.beauty.