Empowering Women to Listen to their Skin with Nuria Founder Naomi Furgiuele

It's always so inspiring to meet women who are roaring! What does it mean for you to roar and can you share about a time you had to learn to step into your voice and power, especially as a woman in business?

First, I love the expression “women who roar.”  It perfectly describes the importance of women feeling that they not only have a voice, but also have the power and freedom to use it.  There was a time, early on in my career, when I did not feel as confident using my voice to challenge those above me. When you start your first job, it’s natural to think that those with more experience might know more or have the answers.  What I learned was that I could bring a unique perspective to conversations and given that I was often the only woman in the room, I had a responsibility to do so. Without sharing my perspective with the rest of the team, I knew we would not fully meet the needs of the women we served.

You have launched an amazing vegan, plant-based skincare line! There is always a story behind the brand. What inspired you to create Nuria?

Nuria was born out of my experiences over my product development career traveling the world and speaking with women about themselves and their families. 

First, I observed firsthand that women did not all have the same opportunities that I had and that I was able to provide to my two daughters, and I wanted to change that.  I also wanted to show my daughters the importance of making an impact and bettering the world around you. It’s 2019. All women should have a chance to grow and flourish. 

Second, I discovered that women around the world really connect over their skincare.  Whether it is in the bathroom when someone sees you touching up your makeup and asks what you are using or good friends sharing their latest finds, women love to share their beauty routines and wisdom, and I wanted to work to help make that connection. What makes this so fun is that women around the world use different beauty rituals to address skin problems arising from where they live. They turn to local, natural ingredients to create their own solutions, and I am inspired to share these nuggets of wisdom more broadly.

So Nuria is the result of combining these two dreams – connecting women globally to share skincare wisdom and helping women and girls achieve their potential.  I even chose the name Nuria because it means brightness and light, and we are helping women’s skin become brighter and helping girls have a brighter future through education.  

What does empowerment look like to you and how do think Nuria empowers the women who use it?

For me, empowerment is having the courage and confidence to speak up, make changes, and challenge the status quo. There’s a lot of noise in conscious beauty caused by trends, influencers, and lack of attention to research. Consumers have been told they have “one skin type” which would imply one set of skin needs. In reality, skin needs evolve daily, driven by factors such as weather, seasons, hormones, stress, diet, and pollution.  Because it’s impossible to isolate the variables affecting transition skin, a lot of women buy products that don’t meet their needs, leaving them skeptical and frustrated.  

Our goal with Nuria is to turn down the volume. We want to empower women to listen to their skin and to feel confident addressing its needs. Each of our product lines clearly outlines the needs it addresses so she can mix and match to create the routine that is perfect for her lifestyle.  We’ll soon have an online quiz as an added tool to help her gain confidence in her assessment. The bottom line is that we want consumers to feel good about and have confidence in what they put on their skin. Clean, vegan, and cruelty-free represent our commitment to providing the highest quality products to our customers with the utmost transparency. Our consumers are smart, and they deserve to know exactly what they are using, where it’s from, and that it can be trusted to be both effective and safe. All of these things will empower her to make the best choices for her.  

Any skincare tips that you would want to women to consider that might be a game changer? 

Toners are so under-appreciated! They help prep the skin to receive moisture, which is critical to having a healthy skin barrier.  If you think of your skin as a dried-up sponge, it cannot absorb much until you moisten it, and by first using a toner, you soften the skin and your subsequent treatment steps will be absorbed more easily and therefore be more effective. Toners can also help restore your skin’s natural balance, which can be thrown off when cleansing, especially if the cleanser is more alkaline. Basically, toners are an underrated step in a beauty routine that can benefit everyone!

The question I get most often, though, is “what is the best anti-aging product?”  And the answer, hands down, is to wear sunscreen every day. Nothing helps prevent skin aging like the regular use of sunscreen.  It’s why I am so excited about the sunscreen we are developing for launch next year. We want to create a product that consumers will love to use because the best sunscreen is the one you use every day.

For young women that want to become a boss business owner like yourself, what would you want them to know?

Surround yourself with people who are different than you.  If you talk to or take advice from only people who think just like you, your ideas and impact will be less than they could be.  I have taken this advice to heart by joining teams who were thinking and acting differently. When I travel, I take the time to listen to the people I have the privilege to meet, learning from the challenges they face and the ideas they want to share.  This simple career advice actually led me to found Nuria and create a community of women who listen to the best of beauty wisdom from every corner of the globe and use their collective power to make an impact on the next generation of amazing women.

If you could go back in time and coach yourself in a season of self-doubt, what would you want her to know?

Don’t worry, you will find your confidence and your strength.  When you do, you will be ready to take on that risk. You don’t have to do any of this alone to be strong. It is empowering to look to the people around you for support. I look back on some of the biggest decisions in my life, and I realize that my family and friends often gave me that little push to have the confidence to take a risk.

And wear your sunscreen and take care of your skin!  Trust me, you’ll thank me when you hit 40.

Naomi Furgiuele is the Founder, Chief Strategy Officer, & Chief Curator of Nuria, a vegan skincare line that’s committed to empowering women in their skincare choices.