Inside the world of Alicia Lartey and Supernova Body
Getting your foot in the door behind the scenes in the beauty industry is hard. As a Black woman that route in is even tougher (thanks, misogynoir). So, getting to a position to have a hand in creating beauty product formulations with you in mind is no mean feat and it's exactly what aesthetician, educator and content creator Alicia Lartey has achieved as Head of NPD (new product development) for Supernova Body. Here, the cosmetic chemist in training talks us through her journey in the beauty space.
A lot of people view the beauty industry as this shallow tank where self-esteem goes to die. But, if you’ve ever had acne or eczema for example, this space can become the home you never knew that you needed. Instead of drowning, I found myself floating through the industry looking for any way I could be a part of it and anchor myself down with an impactful career.
The pathway to Product Development is not as linear as most would think. Within the skincare space specifically there are a multitude of disciplines that can give you a good bank of knowledge and expertise that allow your opinion to hold weight. Some people come directly from scientific backgrounds, while others transfer knowledge gained through roles such as a beauty journalist or aesthetician. I did a hybrid of both actually.
Through connections established via content creation, I began to provide product consulting services to larger corporations and smaller indie brands. By the time the founder of Supernova Body, Cecile 'Cici' Stefanova, reached out to me, I was well versed in the development role.
It goes down in the DMs
As silly as it sounds, it really did start with a DM on instagram! Cecile worked for L’Oreal at the time and found me through a trend report that she had written about the future of science-backed influencers. That was more than three years ago. I initially began consulting for Supernova Body, but Cici really believed in me and I had proven myself with a refreshing take on body care formulations which landed me my position today, as Head of NPD + Education.
As the Head of NPD I finally get to control some of the nitty gritty aspects of building a brand. I’m in charge of formula ideation, finding the cosmetic chemists that can execute my vision, consumer trials and ensuring product functionality matches up with product efficacy. The role is actually quite creative and usually starts with a question.
It's no secret that the facial skincare market is inundated with repetitive launches every single week, which always left me questioning why no one opted to focus on the body. Our body skin makes up the majority of our skin real estate, sharing the same concerns as that on our faces.
Most people are concerned about hyperpigmentation, body acne, KP or just want better formulated products so it was truly a no brainer for me to start speaking about body care on socials. The body care industry varies greatly depending on what region you’re in, however the appetite for body care is growing rapidly across the globe.
In the UK, we are used to throwing a shower gel and cream into our weekly grocery shop. I can't say I’m particularly impressed by most of the body care on the market, a lot of it is very scent focused, rather focused on ingredients and efficacy. Truthfully, it's very expensive to create body care products as you have to work with much higher ingredient volumes, heavier products (impacts freight cost) and then you have to bear the burden of re-educating people about body skin needs.
Figuring formulations
What differentiates Supernova Body is our formulation philosophy. It holds two key principles. The first: all key active ingredients must be at efficacy for [body] skin. The skin on your body is thicker than the skin on your face and therefore requires higher percentages of ingredients to deliver performance (in most areas).
The second principle: our active formulas are composed of ingredients that work in harmony with one another. We know that routines deliver results and it is ridiculous to rely on a single ingredient or product to achieve results.
Using Power Play as an example we chose colloidal sulfur for its keratolytic and antimicrobial properties which are complementary to those of salicylic acid and kaolin. We also recognise that in your routine you may want to use a blemish targeting treatment one day, a scrub another day or an active wash so we made Power Play all of those things. Power Play is also formulated with pumice for the physical exfoliation angle and to help you actually remove the product from your skin; kaolin which gives you the treatment mask element and a gentle surfactant to improve cleansing.
Supernova Body is honestly mine and Cici’s baby, but for me, it has allowed me to actually be seen and respected within the beauty industry. Being a Black woman working in beauty can feel quite lonely at times, especially working behind the scenes. I’ve only met one other Black woman who sits in my role.
To put it bluntly there are barely any Black women in high positions within beauty brands, when I factor in my age and the way I choose to dress, it's just me. Most people my age are struggling to find jobs at the moment and I slowly see things becoming a bit less diverse again. The beauty world is missing out on so much talent as no one wants to give a chance to anyone unless you have years of experience or have a specific background which means people that look like me are often not considered for these roles.
The main barrier I have to grapple with is having people take me seriously, I often find myself having to appear more stern than I would like to, to force a level of respect. One thing that has never wavered with me is my audacity, showing up as a young black woman with bleached blonde eyebrows, heavy tattoos and insane nails, is another reinforcement that the talent the beauty industry seeks comes in all skin tones and looks.
With that being said there needs to be major reforms in the people hired behind the scenes to execute brand vision. There is no use hiring diverse models or influencers when behind the scenes everyone looks the same. That almost feels like using people of colour as a shield.
Navigating new launches
As every brand wants to stand out and have the next Holy Grail product, we are losing out on having truly efficacious formulas and claims to match. Brands should definitely evaluate their NPD pipeline and aim for more interesting formulas that actually work and hire robust professionals to substantiate some of the claims being made. Customers are very intelligent now, and will no longer accept ingredients that are only used at label claim values or products that simply smell nice but cost a fortune.
We’ve seen brands spend a fortune on innovating their facial skincare products, it’s time for the same to happen in the body category. Nothing excites me more than planning out our next couple of launches, not to toot my own horn but Supernova’s formulas are about to shake the tables. As a body specialist brand, we intend to elevate the body-care category to face-care status. We create high-performance body care designed to treat, improve and maintain [body] skin, but our mission extends beyond product alone.
One piece of feedback Cici and I have received is how much people love the imagery we use. Giving full credit to Cici, who has described her vision for Supernova as ‘making body skin fashionable’, we chose models who reflect us as individuals and everything we stand for. There is nothing more transparent than a brand creating a campaign solely based around inclusivity, just be inclusive from the start. It's not rocket science.
Working on Supernova everyday fills me with almost Christmas-like excitement, as the self proclaimed Miranda Priestly of body care it is truly a joy to set the pace and innovate the category.
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