Founded in Western Australia by mother-daughter duo Catherine and Bec, N & O Skincare was born from a shared desire for skincare that felt safe, simple and genuinely effective. Inspired by their own experiences navigating pregnancy, motherhood and menopause, the pair set out to create natural, uncomplicated products that support healthy skin without unnecessary ingredients or overwhelming routines. Using thoughtfully selected botanicals and gentle formulations, N & O Skincare embraces a “less is more” philosophy, offering calm, nourishing skincare designed to fit effortlessly into everyday life.
The passion: What inspired you to set up your business?
We are Catherine and Bec, a mother-daughter team and founders of N & O Skincare.
N & O Skincare began from a very personal place, not from a business plan.
The seed was planted for N & O Skincare during Bec’s first pregnancy. Bec had always struggled with hormonal skin conditions, and this became even more frustrating when pregnant and realising it was hard to find skincare that felt safe, but was also effective.
As a mum of four navigating menopause, Catherine was also becoming increasingly frustrated with skincare that felt complicated, overly synthetic or full of ingredients that we couldn’t pronounce. With our shared love of natural health, botanicals and simple living, we kept saying, “Surely skincare doesn’t have to be this complicated”.
So, we decided to create what we couldn’t find: gentle, effective, natural and organically inspired skincare that feels safe, uncomplicated and honest. Products you’d feel comfortable using during pregnancy, postpartum, peri-menopause and menopause – gentle, low-tox skincare that supports skin health at every age and stage of life without compromising hormones.
The launch: How did you start out in the beginning?
We started very small and very hands-on.
We did a lot of research, attended workshops about formulating natural skincare products and spoke to numerous chemists who specialised in natural and organic ingredients. We undertook small batch runs and learnt as much as we could about natural skincare formulation and certification standards. We are part of a fabulous women’s business network in Bunbury, WA, and they were wonderful answering our questions and trying out samples for us for real-life feedback and research.
We didn’t rush. We focused on doing it properly, by understanding what goes into manufacturing quality natural skincare products, understanding compliance, and developed a fabulous relationship with our manufacturer to ensure we had the products that we truly believed in before ever thinking about selling.
We launched with a small-but-focused range because we wanted skincare to feel easy, not overwhelming.
From the beginning, our goal was to create a simple four-step regime that covered the essentials, without confusing people with too many choices. We designed it so customers could either follow the full routine or simply choose one product that suited their needs.
Our range includes:
- a cream cleanser – includes milk thistle and jacaranda to calm, cleanse and refresh
- a nourishing moisturiser – includes mangosteen, green tea and shea butter to nourish and restore
- a collagen serum – includes marine botanical, vitamin C and plant-derived hyaluronic acid to enhance skin radiance
- and a hydrating eye gel – includes cucumber, green coffee and sea buckthorn to awaken and hydrate
Each product was created to work beautifully on its own, but even better together, so women could build a routine that felt uncomplicated, supportive and realistically achievable in everyday life.
The innovation: What was the biggest breakthrough for you with your business?
The biggest breakthrough wasn’t a single product; it was clarity. We realised we didn’t want to compete with big beauty brands or trends.
Our breakthrough was deciding to be:
• simple
• natural
• hormone-friendly
• fewer, better products
Instead of ten complicated steps, we focused on a small routine that works. Instead of harsh actives, we use gentle botanicals that support the skin. Our products are Australian using the highest quality locally obtained ingredients available. What matters most to us is that every ingredient is safe, effective and transparent – never unnecessary and never hidden.
When we embraced “uncomplicated skincare”, the brand finally felt authentic – and customers immediately understood us.
We also very consciously reduced our packaging, ensuring no unnecessary extra outer boxes. We worked closely with a fabulous designer to ensure our product packaging reflected our brand and projected our clear no-nonsense approach.
Yin and Yang: How do you balance work and family?
As a mother-daughter business, family is naturally built into everything we do. Sometimes work and life blend together, chats over coffee become product ideas and family dinners turn into brainstorming sessions.
But we also protect boundaries:
Dedicated work hours.
Time outside, especially on the beautiful WA beaches right on our doorstep.
We believe in eat well, sleep well and exercise – all super important for Bec as a young mum chasing after a busy toddler, and Catherine navigating menopause and focusing on strength, bone health and balance.
We really aim to draw on the positives, and both have a very open and positive growth mindset, encouraging each other to embrace personal development both for the benefit of the business and personally. If something isn’t working, then we talk about how we can fix it and really believe in collaborating with each other and others around us.
