Discovering Natural, Wild, and Free Skincare with Girl Undiscovered

Written By: Jaye Younkin

It’s a popular belief that beauty isn’t just skin deep and in recent years society has focused more on mental health than physical health, like choosing to eat vegetarian or experimenting with more exotic ways of working out (acro yoga, pilates, etc.). With such a focus on what we’re putting into our bodies, you’d think we’d also want to know what we’re putting on them— but rarely is that the case. Girl Undiscovered is a beauty brand that wants to know and share every detail of their ingredients, even including details about the people from the countries that provide organic products. By supporting other female entrepreneurs, Girl Undiscovered is part of a global movement and believes that beauty is also about being true, honest, adventurous, and free.

We sat down with co-founder and lead product developer Charlotte Devereux so she could tell us about their story.

JY: How did your skincare line, Girl Undiscovered start?

CD: I started Girl Undiscovered about three years ago. I was looking at natural skincare alternatives for myself, friends, and family. I have always had a fascination with natural skincare. My mother started a natural skincare company 38 years ago called Les Floralies— now it’s called Matakana Botanicals and my brother owns it now. She was always blending different ingredients together at home when she first started the business. So, as a teenager, the skincare business was a big part of my life. I watched her work, mixing essential oils. I was inspired by my mother.

JY: What makes Girl Undiscovered different from other natural skincare lines?

CD: We’re 100% wild, meaning all of our ingredients are collected in the wild. All the amazing people who supply our ingredients grow them in their backyard so it’s beyond organic. “Wild” doesn’t just refer to the ingredients though. It’s about a girl with a spirit and freedom. Our products are for a girl on the go, on an adventure. That’s what sets us apart. One of the things I’m most excited about is that when it comes to our ingredients and manufacturing, we have 100% transparency. We don’t hide our ingredients. We want to celebrate the fact that they are quality. In our facemask we use 20% Kanuka honey, 18% Thanaka, and 8% virgin coconut oil. We want to share our formulas.

JY: Are you worried that with such transparency, other brands will copy your formulas?

CD: I’ve decided if people want to copy us, I want them to copy us well. The thing about our ingredients is that they are very hard to replicate. The Thanaka that we use comes from a particular place in Myanmar. It’s grown abundantly there, but we get ours from a particular region where the very best Thanaka is grown. If someone tried to order Thanaka on the Internet, it could be cut with Talcum powder or anything. You just never know. The kind that we use is very pure but also very expensive. We’ve created two unique actives—coconeka, a combination of our two hero ingredients—virgin coconut oil from Bali, which we use to extract the very best of the Thanaka. Thanaka is loaded with incredible antioxidants. That’s also very hard to replicate.

JY: We know where you’re getting your ingredients. But from who?

CD: We work with female collectives and families. We are upscaling to help a family in Myanmar— we bought them new machinery. We have a mutual supportive relationship. They know we want the best ingredients, but we want to know who we get them from—their names, their stories, where they’re from. We even get our honey from a female beekeeper in New Zealand who lives on a little island called D’urvallle off the coast. She calls me just about every day. She is so passionate about her honey and her girls (the bees). We encourage one another to make the world a better place thoughtfully, peacefully, and honestly. If your skin feels good, you feel good. It’s not what beauty looks like, it’s how it feels. If your skin feels hydrated and nourished, you’ll get that glow, but that glow also comes from within. They support us by supplying incredible ingredients and we know exactly where they’re.

JY: Where did “Girl Undiscovered” come from?

CD: As women entrepreneurs, we support each other. We share on our website stories of women all around the world. It’s very much about the girl undiscovered. If you read her story she doesn’t feel sorry for herself. She sees her blindness as a gift. She smells and feels things that other people don’t.

JY: Do you think skincare is as much mental as it is physical?

CD: We use rose quartz crystals which balance the skin. Every time you cleanse your face in the morning and night it should be a ritual you enjoy. As women we rush, rush, rush but it’s good to stop for a minute and have some peace and clarity. We like products that make you look beautiful, but also bring balance. Every morning I tell myself, ‘this is gonna be the best day ever,’ and usually when you say that, it is.