Avoila Strives To Convert Consumers To Clean Beauty With Avocado Oil-Driven Skincare

After working in pharmaceutical marketing, Kristy Hunston and Grace O’Sullivan have shifted their focus to beauty with the creation of avocado oil-driven brand Avoila.

Nine years ago, the women bonded on the job over the pressures of the corporate world and difficulties finding balance within it. O’Sullivan, who struggled with eczema since she was a teen, dealt with physical manifestations of the stress she faced. In response to professional worries and personal strain from her husband and father undergoing cancer treatments, she suffered an intense flare-up that sent her searching her home for an emergency remedy outside of her bathroom cabinet, which was stuffed with skincare that was exacerbating the condition. She reached for avocado oil and it provided relief. After continued use, she couldn’t deny the benefits of the kitchen staple.

O’Sullivan told Hunston about her experience with avocado oil, and the two jumped into shaping a brand around the ingredient. During the development of the brand, Hunston was diagnosed with ocular melanoma in her right eye. Her treatment—and the treatments for O’Sullivan’s father and husband—were successful, and O’Sullivan and Hunston pushed through to bring their beauty venture to fruition. Avoila took two years and $40,000 to launch, and it debuted Saturday with a single stockkeeping unit: $72 Nourishing Face Oil. The certified organic product combines avocado oil with camellia seed, grapeseed, Kalahari melon seed, rosehip seed, sea buckthorn, rose geranium, grapefruit and vetiver oils, and vitamin E.

Avoila certainly isn’t the first brand to incorporate avocado, but Hunston and O’Sullivan aren’t phased by that. “Avocados are so good for you that they seem to transcend trends. We can see this when we look at search terms in Google Trends for ‘avocado,’ ‘avocado oil’ and even ‘avocado toast,’ which are all still on a steady rise,” says Hunston. “This is really important to us because we believe the love of and understanding of the benefits of avocados will increase adoption of our product among women who have yet to embrace clean beauty because they may be overwhelmed by the number of exotic ingredients in products.”

Hunston and O’Sullivan originally set out to introduce self-funded Avoila with three products, but the cost of releasing three products simultaneously was prohibitive. They pivoted to concentrate on the Nourishing Facial Oil and teamed up with the manufacturer Essential Wholesale & Labs to produce. O’Sullivan explains the company “believed in us and our product, and has the same set of standards regarding sourcing ingredients.” Avoila steers clear of parabens, sulfates, phthalates, petrochemicals, silicones, and artificial fragrance and color. Owning Avoila’s formulation was a priority for Hunston and O’Sullivan.

“We realized that working with an independent beauty chemist was the right choice for us. It was important to be able to work with someone who could deliver our formula based on the criteria we defined and also give us the ownership over our own product,” says Hunston. “Our criteria included them having a deep understanding of ingredients and their benefits for the skin as well as working within the clean beauty standards that we set forth. We knew we were the little guys, and there were many bigger clients than us, so we looked for partners that understood our position and were still willing to take a chance on us.”

“Avocados are so good for you that they seem to transcend trends.”

Avoila landed on pricing after much consideration. “Of course, we researched our competition and what was out in the marketplace, and there is definitely a wide range of costs for face oils,” says Hunston. “Ultimately, it came down to our cost of goods, and what we hope our market will accept for these ingredients. We believe that it’s worth paying for quality ingredients, but we also feel like there’s a price point that’s really unattainable or unreasonable to ask for many people.”

It’s crucial that Avoila’s pricing doesn’t scare off customers because it’s aiming for clean beauty neophytes. “She likes the idea of plant-based ingredients as nourishment for her body and her skin. She enjoys trying new products and is looking for an exciting reason to embrace a clean beauty brand,” says O’Sullivan of Avoila’s target customer. “She probably isn’t familiar with the newer, more obscure ingredients in skincare like blue tansy or squalene, but has definitely embraced avocados as part of her diet and understands that avocado could also be good for the skin.”

Hunston and O’Sullivan have been fostering brand awareness in the months leading up to the launch of Avoila. A year ago, the brand’s website went live to boost search engine optimization and, four months preceding the launch, Hunston and O’Sullivan hired a public relations firm that will remain with the brand for at least three months following its premiere. They’ve been reaching out to press outlets on their own, too. From a social media perspective, Avoila is zeroing in on Instagram.

The packaging process was a bumpy ride. Hunston and O’Sullivan initially turned to a vendor that didn’t give Avoila precedence, and they quickly cut ties with it. They picked another vendor that was better, but the first sample from it was subpar. “We couldn’t accept that, so we met in-person and talked to him about how critical it was for everything about our product to reflect the quality and thoughtfulness of the product inside,” says O’Sullivan. “The error was fixed and our packaging is just beautiful.” Nourishing Facial Oil’s brown bottle features lettering in white, and a symbol with three overlapping avocados, and branches and flowers below them. Avoila trademarked the symbol and its wordmark for $275.

In the short-term, the brand is depending on direct-to-consumer distribution. “We have so many ideas for new products and ways to extend the brand, so stay tuned,” says Hunston. She and O’Sullivan have constructed Avoila with an eye toward building a long-term business. Hunston says, “Part of the reason for owning our IP was to be more valuable and more acquisition-friendly when the time comes. For now, Avoila is our baby, so the thought of selling anything is very far off.”