Gender-free + sustainable = Non Gender Specific

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From contributor Allie White.

You know there’s something unique and worthwhile afoot when the founder of a skincare line openly states, “we’ve never promised perfect skin — that’s impossible — but we do promise healthy skin.”

And when those words are coming from Andrew Glass and the skincare line in question is the groundbreaking Non Gender Specific, well, you’ve struck gold.

With the products and pedigree to back up his promise of healthy skin for all, Glass is changing the game with every single formula Non Gender Specific introduces. (Spoiler alert: there are only six products in the entire line but more on that later.) Not only is NGS determined to create skincare for every human, but they’re doing it as sustainably as possible with an impeccable arsenal of botanical ingredients and an attention to detail that is truly unparalleled.

Read on for more about how NGS is leading the charge into the future of self-care, why genderless skincare should be embraced, and the mind-blowing, incredibly science-y way they ensure their products to deliver the right ingredients to the right area of the face at the right time.

Why did you decide to start NGS?

Non Gender Specific is a culmination of my professional background and personal experience. I was born in a really tiny town in South Africa called Phalaborwa, right near Kruger Park/Groot-Letaba Wildlife Reserve. My whole family lived a really sustainable lifestyle, we were always surrounded by nature. I grew up appreciating our earth so as I got into beauty, that was always something I was trying to incorporate into my career.

My background is product development and I was finding myself working for a lot of speed-to-market, large cosmetic brands that were really trend-driven, churning out so much product. It was so wasteful and it was driving me nuts.

I was working for a men’s skincare brand that was really ahead of its time, [comprised of] really innovative, cool products, but we couldn’t sell it anywhere; the category [of men’s skincare] was so tiny. So the idea for a genderless brand came to mind — that’s where the seed was planted. And then incorporating sustainability was really important, so that’s something we’ve done since the beginning.

We launched four and-a-half years ago with only one product, the Everything Serum. The whole concept was that it was a serum that addressed every major skin concern in one formula so you could reduce the amount of products people were using and consumer waste. It was the only product we had for the first year. Now every product in our core collection has the “Everything” name: Everything Serum, Everything Cleanser, Everything Cream, Everything Mask. They’re all multi-correctional, they all address at least seven major skin concerns. And we use glass packaging that’s recyclable, and post-consumer waste boxes.

A few years ago, there was a huge rise in the popularity of multi-step skincare routines that required 10-20 products. Then the pendulum swung the other way toward a minimalist approach and single-ingredient products. NGS seems to fall somewhere in the middle: You don’t ask people to use a ton of different products but your products have a lot of ingredients. How do you guarantee this is skincare for everyone when the niche is less obvious?

What really sets us apart is that all of our formulas are botanical-rich. We use a lot of different botanicals that tackle a wide range of issues but they’re in a single product, which is how we’re able to address so many skin concerns simultaneously.

Everything we do is lightweight but incredibly nourishing — it’s finding that balance. We have a long development period so that we can make sure our formulas are covering a wide range of [both] skin concerns types.

Most recently developed a proprietary delivery system called Phytonutrient Infusion. It’s an encapsulation method we came up with for our botanicals: the encapsulations vary in particle size and we group botanicals together based on function. So botanicals that need to work deeper into the skin for a more reparative function are made smaller and more absorbable, and ingredients that need to provide surface-level protection are larger particles….Our products are an invisible, botanical armor that not only protect skin from harmful UV rays, free radicals, environmental pollutants; they’re also working on a deeper cellular level to repair at the same time.

You said it was difficult to sell the men’s skincare brand you worked on. What are you hoping to change with Non Gender Specific?

From the start, our goal was to break down gender barriers. [The beauty industry] is so innovative in some ways and so backwards in others. It’s so segregated; even as a male consumer in the beauty industry, I wasn’t even comfortable going into some of the larger beauty retailers because I felt like everything in there was marketed towards women. Our whole goal with NGS is to erase that. I think it’s taken time but I do think social media is a big player in men taking care of their skin — everyone is trying to have some social media presence these days and everyone wants to look good on camera!

For instance, the Everything Serum has a unique texture. We did a study where we found that men typically wouldn’t use a face oil because oils are finicky to use with your hands, they can drip through the fingertips. So we designed our formula to be a higher viscosity using a natural gelling agent to keep the product together in the hand but melt as soon as it’s applied to the skin. We’re really conscious of everything from ingredients to texture to drydown to make sure it’s going to work for a wide range of people.

If you’re able to address such a wide array of skin concerns with a single product, is it fair to say that the idea of skin tone and skin type is a fallacy?

There are definitely various skin types. But the idea of different skin types between men and women…that’s a marketing ploy.

Skin tones, it really depends on the ingredients and products. Some ingredients may deliver a finish that may not look good on one skin tone versus another. For instance, we’re coming out with a couple products where we’re using a proprietary liquid crystal technology called the Liquid Crystal Botanical Complex. With that, we had to be mindful of a lot of different skin tones because we’re leaving microcrystals on the skin that reflect a lot of light and on darker skin tones, it can cast a certain way. So you have to be careful about ingredients you’re using that are staying surface-level that might cause a different appearance on different tones.

Talk to me about your ingredients.

With our ingredients, we have a cohesive story: we use a core collection of botanicals in every product that work well together and offer cumulative results. If you were to start with our cleanser and move onto our serums and creams, they give cumulative results when used together in a more efficacious way than I think they would [with products from other brands].

We use a core list of botanicals in every product – we love the results they deliver. If we want to launch a product that’s brightening, we’ll look at what we’re already using but also what we can incorporate to build on the other ingredients. If we were to line all our products up, there would be an invisible thread flowing through: everything is cohesive as far as the botanicals. They all work seamlessly together. You can go from step one to step four without steps two and three and still get good results.

What made you decide to launch a fragrance?

We named it Flooid because it’s a gender-fluid fragrance. We did a ton of research on what we thought a genderless fragrance would be and how we could create the perfect one. It started with the formula: a lot of fragrances don’t have ingredient transparency. In “eau de toilettes” and “eau de parfums,” [the main ingredients] are alcohol. It was important for us to develop a pure fragrance — an “extrait de parfum” — where we’re using not only the highest quality ingredients, but also a low percentage of alcohol. When you spray our fragrance, you don’t have to wait for the alcohol to dry down to experience the notes; you’re getting hit with the notes right away.

Flooid is the perfect balance: we have citrus top notes like bergamot, grapefruit, and orange peel, and warm mid-tones like amber and patchouli. But we based it on earthy undertones, like moss and vetiver. It’s a really nice balance of not only being fresh, but also being warm and connecting with nature at the base. It’s dynamic and kind of changes based on personal body chemistry.

It was also the first product where we introduced plantable packaging. We use a biodegradable box that’s infused with six kinds of non-invasive wildflowers, so you just tear it up and plant it in damp soil, and it’ll grow a really pretty garden of wild flowers.

What’s next?

We have so much in the works. The phytonutrient infusion technology is something that’s being incorporated into all products going forward. We have a new product launching — the Phytonutrient Steaming System — the world’s first at-home facial steaming kit where the steam itself is infused with our botanicals. You’re getting the benefits of steam and really potent skincare in one step with the steam as a carrier to bring botanicals to your skin. We use ylang ylang as the base so it has a really beautiful, earthy, floral aroma. That’s our next launch.

We’re using a liquid crystal technology and our phytonutrient technology together, and calling it the Liquid Crystal Botanical Complex. It looks iridescent in the bottle but as soon as you apply it to the skin, it offers extreme hydration, extreme plumping, and gives a really beautiful, translucent appearance to the skin. It’s also leaving thousands of invisible microcrystals on the skin that reflect light so as the botanical complex is working for cumulative and reparative results, you’re getting the immediate benefit of a brighter, plumper appearance.

What would you say to someone who doesn’t buy into the idea that they should be taking care of their skin?

Give it a try! It creates a world of difference. My father is the typical dad who used nothing but a bar of soap on his skin until NGS launched four years ago. Once he started using our Everything Cleanser, he was amazed at how different his skin looked, the texture, his pores. Now he’ll never go back. I even got him to start using the serum!

When you use effective, efficacious skincare, you don’t know until you know. When you’re used to seeing your skin in a certain state and then you see how much it can be improved, it can be life-changing. I think everyone should take care of their skin.

What does “wellness” mean to you?

Wellness is treating your body the best you can treat it. Not feeling guilty about taking care of yourself. Taking a bath, using a face mask, getting a massage — it does so much more than what it’s just doing physically for your body or skin. There’s a lot of mental wellness and health there.