TheIndustry.beauty Awards Winners' Interview: Marina Kalenchyts, co-founder and Brand Director, Wonderskin

In this series, TheIndustry.beauty continues to celebrate the achievements of the winning brands from TheIndustry.beauty Awards 2025 through a collection of dedicated interviews.

With the Awards dedicated to 'The Innovators' of the industry, we set out to uncover the forward-thinking strategies behind their success. From our winners, we discover everything from the importance of innovation and the trends influencing the next wave of beauty to the biggest opportunities and challenges facing the sector today.

Wonderskin, the cosmetics and skincare brand behind the viral Wonder Blading lip stain, has captured the attention of social media since its launch during the pandemic. The brand continues to lead with long-lasting, multi-functional products designed to simplify beauty routines - underscoring its mission to revolutionise the industry through innovation and ingenuity.

Its Lip Rehab Oil was recognised for New Product Makeup (Prestige & Luxe) at TheIndustry.beauty Awards. Co-founder and  Brand Director Marina Kalenchyts opens up about the brand's journey, the story behind its award-winning product, and its strategic approach to identifying market gaps. She also shares how those insights are transformed into beloved products, and offers a sneak peek at what’s next for Wonderskin.

What are the core values that drive Wonderskin and how are they reflected in the business?

Disruptive innovation is at the heart of everything we do at Wonderskin. From day one, our mission has been to challenge traditional beauty norms and make beauty more functional, adaptable, and aligned with the pace of modern life. We believe beauty should empower self-expression, allowing our community to feel like the best version of themselves in the most effortless way -without touch-ups, ‘stain worry,’ or guessing if makeup is still in place after an intense workout, a day of meetings, a night out, etc. Every product we create reflects this belief and must be long-lasting, high-performance, and liberatingly easy to use.

What’s your approach to identifying gaps in the market, and how do you transform those insights into successful, consumer-loved products?

It always begins with the consumer. We spend a lot of time listening to their frustrations and routines, and to those small, everyday moments where beauty feels complicated or inefficient. Our goal is to solve those pain points through smart innovation and a fun, engaging approach. Once we identify a need, we combine advanced technology with creative formulations to deliver a product that feels and looks like magic - one that makes people think, "I can’t believe this didn’t exist before!" That sense of 360° delight is exactly what turns a single innovation into a cult favourite.

Lip Rehab Oil won at TheIndustry.Beauty Awards. In your view, what set this product apart and resonated most with the judges and consumers?

Lip Rehab Oil reimagines what a lip product can be. It’s not just a gloss or a balm - it’s an advanced skincare ‘treatment-meets-makeup’ hybrid that delivers instant results and long-lasting care. It bridges the gap between skincare and colour, offering sensorial pleasure and genuine performance. I think your judges and consumers really responded to that combination of indulgence and functionality.

Also, most lip oil brands fail to include humectants in their formulas, which makes a product nourishing but ultimately drying. Our formula strikes a great balance: highly refined shea butter used in double concentration, combined with humectants and encapsulated in our super lightweight, serum-like formulation that feels premium but works hard.

This product perfectly embodies what Wonderskin stands for.

What was the significance of winning the New Product Makeup (Prestige & Luxe) Award for Lip Rehab Oil?

It was an incredibly proud moment for us. As a young brand, being recognised in such a competitive category validated our commitment to pushing the boundaries of what beauty products can do. The award celebrated not only Lip Rehab Oil’s innovation but also our belief that beauty should be both effective and practical -thoughtfully designed to enhance everyday life.

Can you share some insights into the development process behind the product? What were the key priorities you focused on to ensure performance and experience?

Our key focus was balancing indulgence with efficacy. We wanted a lip product that felt like a sensorial treat but performed like a serious treatment. That meant fine-tuning the texture until it felt weightless yet nourishing, and choosing actives that would visibly repair and improve lip condition over time. Every element - from the formulation to the applicator - was designed to make the experience of using it feel intuitive, enjoyable, and instantly gratifying.

What do you think are the biggest opportunities and challenges in the beauty sector today?

The greatest opportunity lies in performance-driven simplicity. Consumers are looking for products that deliver results and make life easier - fewer steps, smarter solutions. The challenge is keeping pace with those evolving expectations without losing authenticity. There’s immense pressure to move fast, but true innovation takes focus, patience, and purpose. The brands that thrive will be the ones that balance creativity, authenticity, and credibility.

What does it mean to be an innovator in beauty today?

For me, innovation means courage and the willingness to question conventions, to imagine new possibilities for familiar products, and a readiness to heavily invest in education. In today’s market, being an innovator also means staying deeply connected to the consumer, understanding their world, and designing beauty that fits seamlessly into it.

What trends are influencing the next wave of innovation in beauty?

We’re seeing incredible momentum in hybridisation - the merging of skincare, makeup, wellness, and fashion. Consumers are no longer confined to categories; instead, they’re focused on outcomes and efficiency. There’s also a continued emphasis on long-wear, transfer-proof, “life-proof” performance, reflecting how dynamic lifestyles are today. And sustainability has evolved to mean more than packaging - it’s about creating products that truly last, reducing waste through longevity and value.

How does Wonderskin maintain its position in such a competitive industry?

By staying relentlessly true to our DNA, we don’t chase trends; we set our own rhythm. Our process is grounded in continuous innovation and direct engagement with our community. We listen, we iterate, and we perfect before we launch. That focus on performance, creativity, and consumer feedback allows us to stay agile and relevant, no matter how fast the industry moves.

What can customers expect from Wonderskin over the next year? Any exciting innovations on the horizon?

We have some truly exciting launches coming that expand on our ‘life-proof’ beauty philosophy. We’re exploring new textures, next-generation delivery systems, and transformative formats that simplify routines while elevating results. Our goal remains the same: to give people beauty that empowers expression, saves time, and enhances confidence - all effortlessly.

This month, we launched our Hyper-Bond Serum Foundation, which took two years to perfect, and, in the same way we approached and disrupted the Lip Stain category with our Wonder Blading technology, our mission was to create something new and unrivaled. The result is a science-driven serum-foundation hybrid engineered for all-day performance and natural, weightless, buildable coverage that sets to a breathable second skin within 10-15 minutes, giving you time to apply, blend, and build a full face of makeup that lasts for up to 24 hours. It’s sweat-proof, water-proof, transfer-proof, life-proof. It’s everything we stand for.

TheIndustry.beauty The Innovators Awards will be back for 2026. Find out more at theindustry.beauty/awards. For sponsorship enquiries, please email partnerships@theindustry.beauty.