Clean Beauty: Roberta Perry Of ScrubzBody Skin Care Products On 5 Things You Need To Create a Successful Clean Beauty Brand
An Interview With Wanda Malhotra
Don’t make any claims you can’t back up. Do not make any medical claims. Just market using the emotion and the feeling that using natural and clean products gives you.
The clean beauty movement is transforming the beauty industry by emphasizing the importance of safe, non-toxic ingredients. Consumers are increasingly concerned about what they put on their skin, leading to a demand for transparency and high standards in beauty products. As a part of this series, I had the distinct pleasure of interviewing Roberta Perry.
It was 2005. Roberta was suffering from skin that was dry, itchy, and irritated. She discovered moisturizing, exfoliating products, but none were completely satisfying her needs, so she decided to make a better one herself. Roberta’s late sister, Michelle, joined her and in 2006, ScrubzBody Skin Care was born with natural sugar scrubs and lotions. Roberta offers her customers self-love and me-time, but it just happens to come in jars and bottles. ScrubzBody Skin Care was the highlighted business on the Season One finale of Sell it Like Serhant with Ryan Serhant, on Bravo TV.
Thank you so much for joining us! Before we dive in, our readers would love to “get to know you” a bit better. Can you tell us a bit about your ‘backstory’?
I was lucky enough to have my late sister, Michelle, who pushed me to take the sugar scrub I had made for myself and create a business around it. She helped me schlep to craft fairs, holiday boutiques, and any place we could set up a table and sell our handcrafted scrub and lotion. As we grew, we went from my kitchen, to my renovated garage for 5 years, to a small production shop, to a larger store, and finally to our home on a busy, thriving Main Street, in Farmingdale, NY. We shifted from wholesale and online retail to being a retail and party business. And it all started around a simple product that completely transformed my skin.
Can you share with us the most interesting story from your career? Can you tell us what lessons or ‘takeaways’ you learned from that?
Before ScrubzBody, my background included graphic design and telecom sales.
I also had a stint as a marketing director for a defunct adult education school. I had 2 other partners in that business who never seemed to like my suggestions, one of them being a donation of classes to get our name out.
When I started Scrubz, I hosted a charity fundraiser at my home. Our local newspaper picked up the story and I gained my first bit of free publicity for the business. Then I got a phone call from the buyer of a 4-store chain of natural foods and goods. She had seen the article, liked what we stood for, and wanted to consider bringing our scrub into their stores. They did.
Then I met someone there who introduced me to the local Whole Foods buyer because he used to work there. At its peak we were in 25 area stores. We then shifted to a retail model, so we left stores like that, but for a few years, I had the opportunity to meet new customers up and down the east coast, gaining their trust and their email addresses for future connection. To this day many are still customers who order online or come into the shop.
And it all started with my wanting to give back.
You are a successful individual. Which three character traits do you think were most instrumental to your success? Can you please share a story or example for each?
I believe my instinct is always to be kind and it shows. I genuinely love interacting with my customers and I think they feel seen and respected when they come in and explain what they want or what issue they might be having.
If you fall down…get up. I have had to pivot so many times since we started in 2006. When March 2020 came and we had to shut the store, we lost all our party reservations and had to give back all the deposits. We were pretty bummed. But then I had an instructional postcard printed up and we started to market our “Make Your Own Scrubz at Home” Parties. I sent the info out and it was an instant hit. People were excited to have a cool craft to do at home, especially when the end result is a wonderful sugar scrub.
Treat everyone like they are your only customer. I am so fortunate to have a group of clients and customers who make me smile and who are incredibly loyal and amazing. They share us with family and friends. I think one of the reasons is because I go out of my way to make each one of them feel special and loved and appreciated.
Are you working on any exciting new projects now? How do you think that might help people?
I am always trying out new fragrances. We have added more community events and we allow other groups to use our space for their events. I am working on a “jot down journal” series, with the first one published called Notes to Self, A Written Reminder That I Am Unique and Amazing. My next one will be Notes to the Universe. I believe journaling is wonderful form of self-care/self-love so it fits right into our vibe.
Ok, thank you for all that. Now let’s shift to the main focus of our interview. What inspired your brand to focus on clean beauty, and how do you define ‘clean’ in the context of your products?
Clean beauty for my brand was easy because I had created the original scrub for myself. I used natural, simple ingredients, like olive oil, jojoba oil and aloe vera oil. I did not include water in my recipe, so I never needed to use preservatives or additional additives. It was 100% active ingredients, so it was not only clean on its own, but cleaner than most products like it on the market!
How do you ensure the ingredients in your products meet clean beauty standards, and what criteria do you use to select them?
I have purchased our oils and butters and essential and fragrance oils from the same suppliers since we began. The quality is consistent and the rare time we have an issue, it has been addressed and corrected immediately. We compound all our products ourselves, so it is really easy to maintain quality when we see what goes in and how.
What steps do you take to educate consumers about the importance of clean ingredients and how they can make informed choices when purchasing beauty products?
Our customers are ready to learn when they walk in the door, because they have taken the first step toward self-love, me-time and caring for their skin in a better and more pampering way. This makes it easy to discuss the benefits of the ingredients and a regular exfoliating routine.
We also sell and represent other products that match our vision and mission, so again, discussion is easy when someone is eager to learn.
We love that.
What innovative or unconventional ingredients are you most excited about in the clean beauty space, and why?
I recently started selling clean deodorant, Smarty Pitz, and I love how simple, yet powerful, natural ingredients, like prebiotics, probiotics, arrowroot powder, baking powder, etc. help you smell great and move away from aluminum based anti-perspirants.
My friend at Celtic Complexion just started a new line using Mucin, which is from snail. Sounds yuchy, but it’s
a powerful substance that contains a combination of various components, including glycoproteins, hyaluronic acid, glycolic acid, enzymes, and peptides. Pretty awesome!
Can you share a story where switching to clean beauty ingredients led to a significant and unexpected benefit for your customers?
When I first began making my scrub, I was using oils I had in the house. One of them was mineral oil, because I used it to clean my large cutting board table. When I met with a spa buyer for a chain of local salons, she suggested I remove it and keep only the botanical oils. I threw out the labels and revamped the recipe and never looked back.
Based on your research or experience, can you please share your “5 Things You Need To Create a Successful Clean Beauty Brand”?
1 . Keep it simple. Use as few ingredients as possible to create something special.
2 . Test your product on people of various skin types so you know it will be great for those with sensitive skin as well.
3 . Be as transparent as possible both on your labels and on your website and with your marketing.
4 . Don’t make any claims you can’t back up. Do not make any medical claims. Just market using the emotion and the feeling that using natural and clean products gives you.
5 . Listen to your customers and tweak if necessary. Don’t be afraid to pivot as you learn.
How do you foresee the clean beauty movement evolving in the next decade, and what role do you see your brand playing in that future?
I think customers are moving toward cleaner, smaller, more Indie type brands because they are tired of all the garbage that finds its way into beauty and household products. The USA allows for hundreds and hundreds of chemicals that are banned in other countries to be included in products here. People are waking up to that and wanting something better for their skin and bodies.
Because our brand has always been that type of product(s), we are thrilled to grow along as our customer base expands.
What is the best way for our readers to continue to follow your work online?
Facebook.com/scrubzbody
Instagram.com/scrubzbodyproducts
This was very inspiring. Thank you so much for the time you spent on this. We wish you only continued success.
Thank you so much for having me.
About the Interviewer: Wanda Malhotra is a wellness entrepreneur, lifestyle journalist, and the CEO of Crunchy Mama Box, a mission-driven platform promoting conscious living. CMB empowers individuals with educational resources and vetted products to help them make informed choices. Passionate about social causes like environmental preservation and animal welfare, Wanda writes about clean beauty, wellness, nutrition, social impact and sustainability, simplifying wellness with curated resources. Join Wanda and the Crunchy Mama Box community in embracing a healthier, more sustainable lifestyle at CrunchyMamaBox.com.
