Nikkia Jackson was one of those lucky teenagers who didn’t struggle with pimples. In her 20s, though, Jackson’s luck reversed, and she confronted hyperpigmentation and severe acne that wasn’t helped by prescriptions and topicals recommended by dermatologists.
Dismayed by available solutions, Jackson took her skincare into her own hands, and began concocting remedies in her kitchen out of shea butter and various oils. She ultimately landed on a recipe that worked for her skin and became the basis for N8 Beauty, her new brand that’s making its debut with Gentle Cream Cleanser.
“I realized this is an incredibly vulnerable situation, when you feel like you’re not able to put your best face forward. I never wanted people to feel like that. I really empathized with people who have skin issues,” says Jackson, now 40-years-old. “I said, ‘This is something that really needs to be addressed in a gentle, but an effective way.’ That’s how it started to evolve.’”
Gentle Cream Cleanser doubles as a face wash and moisturizer. It’s vegan, and free of parabens, phthalates, sulfates, mineral oil, gluten and colorants. It contains shea butter, silk proteins, vitamin B5, squalene and amino acids. The product is priced at $54 for a 5.07-oz. size expected to last three months.
“I realized this is an incredibly vulnerable situation, when you feel like you’re not able to put your best face forward. I never wanted people to feel like that. I really empathized with people who have skin issues.”
“Most people say, ‘You know, I don’t really need to follow up with a moisturizer. My skin doesn’t feel overly stripped.’ That’s what I was going for,” reports Jackson. “It really helped balance out my own skin and calm down what was happening with it.”
Jackson focused on developing Gentle Cream Cleanser’s formula in 2014 and 2015, but her personal life interfered with the culmination of N8 back then. Jackson’s stepfather George Howell and mother Valerie Martin passed away in 2015. The brand’s name is an homage to Martin, who lost seven children before having Jackson, her eighth try at becoming a parent. “I really believe that this is what my mom would have wanted,” says Jackson. “I’m really proud of it because of the persistence that it took over the course of four years to get it to where it is.”
Jackson, whose day job is in the entertainment industry, has poured $30,000 to $40,000 to ready self-funded N8 for customers. In its second year, she hopes the brand will round the corner on profitability. Jackson kicked off N8 with a single product to ensure it isn’t releasing too much too soon.
“We want to make sure one of the things our products do for people is make it more convenient for them to have that self-care moment. It doesn’t just have to be in the bathroom in the morning or in the evening. It’s wherever you take your life.”
“There were conversations about rolling it out as a package and bringing three to four products to the market, but I wanted to feel more like a specialty brand than just another brand that’s coming to market with all of these options,” she says, adding, “I wasn’t making decisions out of what I think the market wanted. I wanted to make decisions out of what I think who I’m targeting needed.”
N8’s target customer is a woman highly interested in wellness and self-care without many spare minutes to dedicate to herself. The brand aims to give her a chance to sneak self-care in without committing hours and hours to personal maintenance. Jackson underscores the brand’s philosophy is to help women “understand true beauty is what comes naturally to them. It doesn’t have to be complicated. It doesn’t have to have a million things going on. You can get effectiveness with just being true to yourself.”
Jackson foresees N8’s product assortment expanding with multifunctional products – a versatile face mist is a possibility – that aren’t difficult to incorporate into beauty routines. She says, “We want to make sure one of the things our products do for people is make it more convenient for them to have that self-care moment. It doesn’t just have to be in the bathroom in the morning or in the evening. It’s wherever you take your life.”
Currently, N8 is selling online, but Jackson is bullish on its brick-and-mortar potential. Goal distribution partners include Bluemercury, Beautylish, Violet Grey and Space NK. Hotels such as Le Parker Meridien, Ritz Carlton and Four Seasons properties are also on the distribution wish list. Jackson says, “I’m looking to solidify the brand at this time, and make sure that the partnerships we decide on are strategic and the right fit for us. I’m really mindful of who we choose to be in alignment with.”
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