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How was Rowse, plant-powered skincare line, created? 6 questions with founder Nuria Val

  • Nuria Val went from photography projects for the likes of Vogue and Chanel to launching a luxe clean beauty brand using natural oils

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Nuria Val, photographer and co-founder of plant-powered skincare brand Rowse, talks to the Post about giving clean beauty a new, luxe look. Photo: Rowse

Nuria Val worked as a photographer and creative director for years before she felt the entrepreneurial itch. Having done projects for clients such as Vogue, Chanel and Uniqlo, Val craved a longer-term undertaking she could truly call her own.

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“I felt a need to create something where I could say, ‘I do this’,” the Spanish creative tells the Post.

She spent a year considering her options and looking through her archives – a process that showed her creative work was often related to nature.

However, although she decided she wanted her business to have strong ties to the natural world, it took a while for Val to land on beauty.

We could have had cheaper formulas and an easier image for mainstream shoppers to buy [into], but we wanted something different
Nuria Val

“I didn’t think about beauty at first, because I felt so far [removed] from the beauty industry. I was working with beauty companies but I didn’t connect with any brands.”

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It was only when she met her co-founder, now chief executive officer, Gabriela Salord, that she spotted a niche. “We understood that the purest thing you can get from a plant is an oil, so I thought OK, let’s make an oil for the body, and see what happens.”

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