A New Vision of Beauty – Interview with Hind Sebti, Founder of whind

A New Vision of Beauty

Hind Sebti, Founder of whind, has created a beauty brand that brings uncompromising potency and performance together

Can you talk us through your career? A er a master’s in industrial engineering, I started my career a little bit over 20 years ago at Procter & Gamble in Paris – my top pick company – as a Supply Chain and Logistics Manager. Very quickly, I was in charge of the beauty category. And whilst in that role, I realised that I had a deep passion for consumers and products and against all the odds of the functional silos at the company at the time, I was able to move into a brand marketing role in beauty and the rest is history. I moved to London in 2007 to be in charge of part of the Olay portfolio, a role that has not only provided the best training in the world of skincare but also to work on a global love brand and create a bond with that category that will stay with me. Over the following years, I grew from product to brand to general management first at Procter & Gamble where I was lucky to learn world-class brand and business building to L’Oréal where my beauty passion blossomed to the next level, in the company of like-minded beauty-obsessed talent. So in the span of the last 20 years, I was lucky to lead some of the world iconic brands such as Olay, L’Oreal Paris and Maybelline and cult ones such as Essie or Pureology. In my last role as General Manager of Maybelline and Essie for the UK&I, the entrepreneurial bug finally caught up with me with the overwhelming desire to create a brand with products that myself and consumers like me couldn’t find. A new vision of beauty. What inspired you to go into the beauty space? Growing up in Morocco, Beauty – with a capital B – was everywhere: the landscapes, the architecture, the cra smanship, the food and of course the beauty rituals. As a born dreamer, I thrived on seeing beauty in everyday details, how to “sublime” the ordinary to make it extraordinary. Starting with personal beauty. Through watching women around me. The Hammam ritual. My mother’s vanity table. And most of all that beauty is as much about how it makes you look than it makes you feel. This was the birth of my fascination with that world that is much deeper than it appears. Through my academic journey, I grew up to also become a maker, a problem solver and an aspiring business builder. So intuitively I decided to find a career that would balance the dreamer and the maker in me. And that was brand building in the beauty industry. How did you come to launch your own brand, whind? The realisation that something was missing when it came to skincare. That the market had become increasingly performance-obsessed at the expense of the overall experience. That all brands started to fuse into a sea of sameness of minimalistic, clinical works. Which is great for the consumer who likes that. But there is another consumer that wants both performance and experience – like me

IMAGES: SUPPLIED

– that isn’t catered to. And experience is key in skincare as this is what makes consumers consistently use your products every day and consistency is the key to results. So this is where the idea of an evocatively potent skincare brand came to life.

When it came to the potency and performance, I relied on my 20-year experience and the best labs and chemists I knew. And when it came to sensoriality I found inspiration in my homeland of Morocco. That’s why I say that whind is powered by warm science and inspired by Morocco. For skin so healthy snd happy it glows. Beyond high performing products, I also wanted to create a brand with a di erent beauty point of view, a warmer one that reflects the values, aesthetics of our part of the world and bring it to the global stage. What is at the core of whind’s brand DNA? It starts of course with extraordinary products that are the perfect blending of science and sensoriality, products that make sure skin is so healthy and happy, it glows. Inside and out. That’s the reason for existing for whind. But its true magic comes from the new kind of brand we want to build. A brand anchored in warmth, unapologetic beauty and kindness inspired by our Arab values and attitude to beauty. It is unapologetically di erent and yet so authentic to its roots with sensoriality and warmth infused in every detail from packaging to formula to models etc. You previously told us you decided to focus on the UAE as the region to platform the brand – what was the reason behind this decision? The brand is deeply inspired by Morocco and by extension the Arab world, its beauty point of view built by me, an Arab woman who deeply believes it deserves a recognition on the global stage. I decided to not do what every other global brand does – which is come to the region when the brand is built elsewhere because this is not authentic to its DNA, vision and purpose. I built a brand that would resonate locally and I knew that consumers recognised themselves strongly in it. It was only right and true to start here. And within the UAE, I found the perfect launching pad – consumer desire, amazing infrastructure and great partners to do that with excellence. Can you talk us through the hero products from the brand? We are launching as we speak our day cream, our range hero. It is called Medina Dew Melting rose water cream. It gives weightless yet long-lasting hydration for dewy, petal-so skin. I love it because it’s the perfect embodiment of whind’s evocatively potent skincare. as children is that lightness, that ability to not take ourselves too seriously, an ability we tend to lose as we grow up, unfortunately. So I remind myself (and others around me) that a bit of lightness, humour is essential to keep not only living but also thriving. Personally, and professionally. To date, what have been the biggest challenges you have had to overcome? The pandemic has been an unexpected challenge – both personally isolating me from my family and my home which are both key sources of balance, and professionally as the brand was in its latest development stages and having to adapt to never seen before logistic complications. But we also learn from those. On the opposite end of the spectrum, what have been the key milestones? Trusting the timing and meeting the right people at the right time. whind – as has been my career – is a story of the opportunities and people that you have to make sure you are open to recognize when you meet them. Maybe a tiny bit spiritual but I do believe in that. This is The Timelessness Issue – how would you define this? Ancestral modernity. Anchored in authenticity, where you come from and heritage but open to the world, evolution and progress. Timelessness for me is to know where you come from to be better able to know where you are going. It’s continuous reinvention to remain relevant and connected to the time– whilst always protecting the core. For example, when I am back home in Morocco, I feel that I am in constant time travel, that the past Powered by science and inspired by Mo- and the future coexist in a magical state of rocco. One of the Moroccan (and the re- familiarity and discovery. gion) beauty staples is Rose Water. I grew This year we celebrate the UAE’s 50th Anup watching both my grandmothers distil it niversary – what makes this region unique at home and women around me generously to you? I am in awe of the pace of change splash it on their skin all day long to refresh and what has been built in the UAE. I was and soothe. I love that instant boost of recently in Dubai and was lucky enough to freshness and Rose gorgeousness, but I find view the opening ceremony and visit the that it always fades quickly. So I imagined expo. I was truly overwhelmed by the gena splash of rose water that refreshes and uine scale of what the Emirati women and hydrates but also lasts all day long (scien- men have built and a deep sense of pride tifically proven to instantly boost hydration in what an Arab country has achieved. It by up to 173% and deep hydration for up to represents timelessness in all its beauty – a 72 hours). A more modern, science-led re- seamless blend of ancestral modernity, aninvention of a timeless beauty ritual. chored in its heritage and powering through How does the UAE compared to the global in- towards a bright and exciting future. dustry as a whole? I love that the region has We also celebrate Emirates Woman’s 40th an unapologetic beauty point of view, a posi- anniversary. How would you now describe tive, confident in its own definition of beauty. the brand and how does it support women One that is uncompromising on results and in the region and beyond? Emirates Woman experience. One anchored in rituals. is a perfect embodiment of the ambitions What is the philosophy you live by both per- and achievements of women including the sonally and professionally? Only those who Emirati women. Beyond a magazine, it has dare to go too far can see how far they can go. been a pioneer and a timeless lifestyle bible I am a dreamer and I always felt I had that for women. A source of constant forward streak of curiosity and desire not to neces- inspiration and aspiration. It has built a sarily go the well-travelled paths, but the powerful vision of what women could aspire freedom to try and build something di er- to be, sharing aspirational stories of women ent and that di erence can be better. When I – Emirati, Arab and beyond –spotlighting read this quote the very first time more than women-led brands, business, visions and 20 years ago, it was all the signal and valida- even more so being a connector through the tion I needed to carry on and carve my own community they have built. Happy anniway, even if it sometimes felt a bit scary. versary Emirates Woman – congratulations

Also, keep that inner lightness we are on the 40 years of wonderful achievements born with, something which the world tries so far which I am sure are only the warmup to tame out of us. What makes us magical for what is to come!