This WOC-Owned Skin-Care Brand Wants to Challenge Your Perception of "Good Skin"

Not everyone has the same definition for "good skin" — especially not Topicals cofounders Olamide Olowe and Claudia Teng. More often than not, it's characterized as clear skin that's free of acne, blemishes, or any kind of imperfections, but with their brand's newest campaign, they're challenging consumers to rethink what it actually means to have good skin.

Topicals launched its Good Skin campaign on Jan. 25 via a short video featuring several models of colour boasting a variety of visible conditions, from oily skin to hyperpigmented skin. According to the cofounders themselves, the point of the campaign is to challenge the "outdated" and "ill-informed" concept of good skin equating to clear skin and to argue that these women and others like them have good skin as well.

"We created the Good Skin campaign because society had done away with the saying 'good' hair so we knew it was time to retire 'good' skin too," Olowe said in a press release. "Topicals is a new generation of brand with a compelling social mission to change the conversation from negative and shameful, to one that is positive, inclusive, and, most of all, fun! Instead of leaning into the notion of clear skin, we at Topicals are championing the idea of less painful, less frequent breakouts or 'funner flare-ups' since chronic skin conditions aren't curable. This is good skin."

In an industry that promotes an often-unattainable standard of beauty that idealizes clear skin, Topicals launched in 2020 with a mission to help young people view skin care as less of a chore that has to deliver perfect results and more of a self-care practice that celebrates their skin for what it is.

"At Topicals, we know that you make skin look good, not the other way around," Olowe previously told POPSUGAR. "We are fluid, imperfect, shape-shifting, and real representations of you and your skin."

Check out the Good Skin campaign videos above.