Our Brand Story
Our Brand Story
Our story begins in 2003. And it all started with food.
Convinced of the power of what we feed our bodies, Josie Rose founder Anna Daniels set out to study Food Science, Nutrition and Viticulture. Her first role out of University saw her working for a global ingredients company… supplying both the food and the cosmetics industries.
Not entirely random, Anna had been fascinated by skincare as a little girl when she’d watch her mother and grandmother at their dressing tables, methodically applying face-cream. Her Mother instilling in her a lasting appreciation of the importance of daily sun protection —not just in Australia’s unforgiving climate, but also in the UK.
But at that time, Anna’s focus was still firmly on food.
Taking things a step further… Anna qualified as a Dietitian in 2014 landing an internship with a mentor in NYC whose entrepreneurial spirit she would never forget.
Anna’s uncompromising advocacy for evidence-based nutrition meant she was frequently asked to comment in the media on the latest trends and fad diets. Alongside her media work, Anna spent many rewarding years working in eating disorders and mental health.
Yet throughout her journey in nutrition, Anna had been a self-confessed skincare addict. She was hooked on cult face-cream and the latest research coming out of the industry.
Her fascination with ingredients had found new expression. And after scrutinising enough labels, Anna recognised the same smoke-and-mirrors marketing she’d seen in food—and realised that skincare is a lot like nutrition.
It’s complicated.
"As with nutrition advice can be oversimplified, small studies can be biased or become completely misinterpreted, resulting in the public being frequently misinformed'.
What really caught Anna’s eye were topical antioxidants, which she’d encountered earlier in the wine-making modules of her food science degree. Antioxidants whilst well known for their powers in the diet, were being hailed as powerful rejuvenating compounds when used directly on the skin—despite being notoriously unstable.
Understanding the similarities in food ingredients. Anna became aware of topical antioxidants were becoming rendered ineffective when exposed to light and air, so after sleuthing through masses of product over many years, Anna’s interest in ensuring formulas were stable was sparked. Anna started to research the most effective cosmetic and sustainable packaging and airless glass was at the top of her list.
Anna’s interested continued and as she began to research functional ingredients also known as active ingredients and she sought out some of the most innovative and sustainable botanicals available, selecting award winning ingredients. Anna became almost obsessed at percentages, ensuring actives where formulated with the correct percentage and the formulation was designed to perform. Ensuring ingredients which did not have a direct function to improve the health of the skin, like essential oils, fragrance and other questionable ingredients were left off the list.
“I believe every drop within a formulation is an opportunity to treat and nourish the skin."
Anna’s regime was becoming very complicated. Anna found that multiple steps were required, involving many products for buffering and layering… adding to the endless cycle of waste which she had begun to resent.
Anna knew how to nourish skin from the inside. Now it was time to focus on nourishing skin from the outside.
"It had me wondering... What if there was a simpler, easier way?"
Fast-forward to 2018, and Anna took the plunge.
With the help of a hard-earned EU Innovation Grant, she found a team of innovative UK cosmetic scientists and they set to work on creating the ultimate facial mask, combing gold standard ingredients with NMF’s for optimal hydration. Anna had longed to design a multifunctional treatment serum that would work over time to improve the health of the skin. As with diet, no outlandish claims or oversold promises.
One of the team remarked that Anna’s combinations and her use of actives stretched even the capability of her experts. But after many trials, they managed to create a stable formulation harnessing the power of antioxidants whilst nourishing the skin.
“It's rare to create a product using such uniquely efficacious actives in such a unique combination.”
Finally, in 2019, echoing that entrepreneurship she’d seen in NYC, Anna and husband Adrian, who’d spent years in finance for the cosmetics industry, formed their own business and named the company after their beloved grandmothers.
Josie Rose was born.
