About Us
Our Infinite Purpose is to help create a healthier, greener, more empowered world. That’s the first thing you need to know about us because it influences every decision we make as a brand, from the products we launch and the ingredients we use to our certifications and charity partnerships. It’s a big goal, and one we’re very proud of, but like most brands we started off a little smaller.
EARLY INSPIRATIONS
Our Founder, Susie Ma, drew inspiration for Tropic from two places. The first was her grandma, a medicinal chemist and toxicologist, who taught her that our skin needs feeding with nourishing, healthy ingredients just as much as our bodies. The second was from Susie’s upbringing in Cairns, Tropical North Queensland, Australia, where fresh aloe vera plants and exotic fruit trees pretty much grew on her doorstep! This would later have a huge impact on the beauty products Susie would create, and it’s also where we got our name from.
2004
SUCCESS IN A JAM JAR
After moving to London as a teenager, Susie decided to start selling her favourite body scrub recipe to help her mum with the household bills. While most of us were smuggling our favourite snacks into the cinema at age fifteen, Susie was pouring her first batch of body scrubs into fifty jam jars to sell at Greenwich Market. While she was studying, Susie devoted nights and weekends to formulating recipes and making products – with her mum’s kitchen quickly turning into a makeshift beauty lab.
2011
BUILDING OUR FOUNDATIONS
You may recognise Susie from her appearance on BBC’s The Apprentice back in 2011. Lord Alan Sugar was so impressed by the products that he invested to become a 50/50 partner, and Tropic moved from Susie’s mum’s kitchen to our first ever Tropic HQ. SS 2021 | ISSUE 2 | GLOW | 5
