At her dermatology office in Scottsdale, Ariz., Brooke Jeffy sees hundreds of teen and tween patients flummoxed by what they should be doing for their skin.
“They’re throwing all these products on, but they’re not really paying attention to a basic routine. I mean, they weren’t even cleansing their skin regularly,” she says. “I think a lot of it is the influence of marketing on kids, but also to a large extent parents. They were really not paying attention to the fact that you have to be consistent with using products, and you can’t just ignore the basics of, for example, washing your face twice a day.”
Jeffy, who’s put treating acne at the heart of her practice, is trying to get teens and tweens to focus on the basics with a new brand, Btwn, that sticks to them. The brand is launching today with two products—$30 Daily Moisturizer and $26 Daily Cleanser—along with a duo containing both priced at $45. Created with young skin in mind to boost acne resistance and the moisture barrier, the fragrance- and cruelty-free products adhere to clean beauty retailer Credo’s ingredient standards.
“I hear parents telling me all the time about their child’s addiction to a certain skincare line or desire to have a certain skincare line, and I think that’s nice to one degree because it means they’re interested in caring for their skin, but these products are not necessarily formulated to be friendly to their skin,” says Jeffy. “We’re looking at the tween age to the young teens, and a lot of times products are just very irritating to their skin.”
Btwn’s Daily Moisturizer and Daily Cleanser are formulated to be gentle and introduce teens and tweens to key building blocks of skincare products. The Daily Cleanser features glycerin, panthenol, lactic acid, and green tea and chicory root extracts. The Daily Moisturizer has hyaluronic acid, gluconolactone, glucomannan, niacinamide, gotu kola and green tea extract.
“We’re looking at the tween age to the young teens, and a lot of times products are just very irritating to their skin.”
It took Jeffy three years and $60,000 to develop self-funded Btwn. She surveyed about 100 tweens and teens to inform the brand and turned to her 13-year-old son and his friends for insights, too. She learned that teens and tweens generally use skincare their parents give them, aren’t drawn to splashy packaging and are united in their support of sustainability.
Btwn worked with Atomic Number 8, an agency that counts Augustinus Bader, Living Proof and Victoria Beckham Beauty on its client roster, on its design and contract manufacturer FMI to produce its products in the United States. The brand has mono-material recyclable plastic packaging and a stripped-down design relies predominantly on white and has a muted multicolored logo. Originally, Btwn considered brighter colors for the design, but teens and tweens favored restraint.
“They are in this stage of wanting to be a little bit more independent and a little bit less baby-ish. So, they actually did not like those more colorful designs that we initially had,” says Jeffy. “We decided to go more minimalist, which appealed to them more, but still keeping the logo playful and colorful so that it would stand out on the background of the bottles.”
At the outset, Btwn is concentrating on winning over parents. To that end, Instagram is its main vehicle for spreading its message for now. It will hop on TikTok later. For distribution, Btwn is kicking off by selling direct-to-consumer and at Jeffy’s practice. It’s taking care of fulfillment in-house early on. Retail is a possibility, although Jeffy admits to being nervous about placing the brand in stores where it doesn’t fully control consumer education.
“I want it to be simple for the child using it, but also the parents so that they’re not confused about what they need to be purchasing.”
She explains, “I struggle with one day potentially being in retail and a child or parent just pulling this off the shelf and not really being as connected to the brand in terms of what I think is important in terms of the basic skincare routine habits that we’re trying to foster.”
Jeffy plans to add sunscreen to Btwn’s assortment to encourage teens and tweens to take sun protection seriously. However, to remain true to the brand’s no-nonsense ethos, she doesn’t expect to explode its product range and overwhelm people. Jeffy says, “I want it to be simple for the child using it, but also the parents so that they’re not confused about what they need to be purchasing.”
There’s a spate of emerging brands in the beauty market vying for the attention of teens and tweens and their parents. Among them are Prep U, Gryt, Twiish, Good For You Girls, Indu, Miles, JB Skrub, Rile and Stryke Club. Acknowledging the competition, Jeffy emphasizes it doesn’t negate the value of Btwn’s straightforward two-step routine intended to set teens and tweens up for a lifetime of beneficial skincare habits.
She says, “There’s so much going on with social media and just the culture that we live in and the pressures. If they can start a simple routine with my products to keep their skin healthy and get that awareness out there to take that off their plate, that is what drives and motivates me, and I’m not sure that the other in this segment have that mission.”
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