New Brand Gntl Goes All In On An All-In-One Concept With Multifunctional Product Skin Wash

Skinimalism, multifunctionality and sustainability are coming together in a big way at new brand Gntl.

Its only product at launch is Skin Wash, which is priced at $38 for a 33-oz. bio-based recyclable pouch and can be used as a makeup remover, face wash, body wash, hand soap, shaving gel, feminine wash and bubble bath. On Gntl’s website, there’s text in small white font exclaiming, “A Skin Wash for your back,” “A Skin Wash for your arms,” and more. The brand’s tagline, “All you need is less,” encapsulates its ethos. 

“Rather than having those highly specified products with a single purpose, every product in our line is designed to fulfill the needs of five-plus products in your routine,” says founder Sydney Dake, who emphasizes Gntl’s mission is to “reduce waste and limit clutter and take care of all of your skin from head to toe.” 

She originally began toying with the idea for the brand in 2018 when she worked in innovation at E.l.f. Cosmetics. She later was chief brand officer at brand incubator Gloss Ventures and co-founder of creative studio Dakotomy. Now, Dake runs Gntl full-time and owns the brand. 

Gntl founder Sydney Dake

During Skin Wash’s development process, Dake sent prototypes to over 100 testers, including friends and family members, beauty industry insiders, influencers and editors for candid feedback and to verify the product suited a wide range of people. She ended up tweaking the formula 30 times, mostly in an attempt to pin down the right surfactant and fragrance blend—it has notes of chamomile, orange blossom, sandalwood, marjoram and tobacco blossom—that appealed to consumers and allowed Gntl to charge a reasonable price. The final formula is designed to be pH-balanced and for every skin type.

“We believe [it] paid off because of how beloved this final formula is. We have people begging us to buy it in bulk,” says Dake. “We wanted to make sure that it felt still as accessible as possible and is a larger size that you could refill multiple products with it. So, your hand soap vessel, your face wash vessel, your body wash vessel.”

In the men’s and baby care product sphere, three-in-one and two-in-one products are common, but Dake believes multipurpose products resonate more broadly today. She says, “Consumers are all looking to simplify their lives and simplify their skincare routines. And, to the uninitiated, beauty is super intimidating, and I also feel like there’s this other emerging trend of people wanting to take care of their bodies a bit better and applying some skincare principles to their entire body.”

Consumers are all looking to simplify their lives and simplify their skincare routines.”

She continues, “Multiuse, particularly for face and body, has traditionally been a very utilitarian and a male-focused category. Some multiuse products have this sort of lowest common denominator approach where it’s a shampoo and conditioner and body wash and face wash. Maybe it meets sort of the base minimum expectations for most of those functions. The development of our products started with the most challenging category, which is facial skincare, and then we made sure that it worked for every use after that.” 

Gntl doesn’t have outside investors. Dake says it cost “more than tens [of thousands] and less than hundreds [of thousands]” to get off the ground. She’s bootstrapping the business with her husband Dexter, co-founder of software company Mini and Dakotomy, which handled the brand’s website, packaging design and branding. “We really wanted to make sure that we could have full control over our decision-making,” says Dake. “Also, after creating hundreds of new products for other brands, it felt like my responsibility really to create a more sustainable alternative in beauty.” 

Gntl is in direct-to-consumer distribution at the outset, but Dake calls securing retail distribution “promising” for the brand. Gntl is expected to generate around $500,000 in sales during its initial year on the market. However, sales could double or triple should it enter retail. Discussing the possibility of retail, Dake says, “We’re open to what that could look like. Our hope, of course, is to partner with a retailer that really believes in the story and the mission and can help us grow and mutually grow together.” 

Priced at $38 for a 33-oz. pouch, Gntl’s debut product Skin Wash can be used as a makeup remover, face wash, body wash, hand soap, shaving gel, feminine wash and bubble bath. A pouch should last about two months.

Because Skin Wash is for the entire body, it may be challenging to place Gntl in a specific beauty and personal care category on retail shelves. “I like to say that we’re creating a new category in beauty, which is just skin. So, I feel like that’s maybe a little bit abstract. It’s definitely not what retailers necessarily want to hear, but I don’t like to think of us as a body care brand,” Dake says. “We’re certainly beyond just a facial skincare brand. It’s skincare for everywhere. We’re really a combination of facial and body skincare.”

Gntl is primarily pursuing organic strategies to boost awareness. “We are still looking for feedback from our customers and really want to understand what they see the value of the product is. We’re really relying mostly on word of mouth for our launch and hope that people have these really great experiences, and then feel inspired to tell their friends about them,” says Dake. “But we’re also doing some smaller scale visibility launches with paid advertisements. But, as a small company, we’re not investing super heavily in a robust ad strategy or influencer campaign.”

Future collaborations could help with awareness, too. I love to elevate other people and other companies that are doing great things. I don’t feel a need for Gntl to create every single possible product that we could,” says Dake. “I’d much rather elevate other brands who are already doing it really well.”