Three Ships Beauty Co-founders Connie Lo and Laura Burget were both recent graduates (Commerce and Chemical Engineering, respectively) working in marketing and sales. However, they were always destined to be in the beauty industry. “Laura was working on a natural makeup remover concept when a mutual friend remembered my making my own natural skincare in the fifth grade and recommended we meet,” explains Lo. What was supposed to be a quick sushi dinner turned into a three-hour business brainstorm where the duo shared their life goals and problems they sought to solve in the beauty industry. With the synergy between them, the desire to work together was instantaneous. “Laura asked me if I wanted to be her co-founder, I said yes (!), and the rest is history,” exclaimed Lo.

They started out with $3000USD of their own money and making products in Lo’s apartment kitchen. They sold their items at local markets while juggling the responsibilities of their corporate jobs. Despite the hustle and long hours, they were determined to change the beauty industry for the better. “Laura and I bonded over our mutual frustration with the natural beauty industry, particularly how ‘clean’ beauty products often don’t work, are greenwashed with misleading natural claims, and come with huge markups,” says Lo.

Ultimately, they were aligned in their desire to create a new skincare line that would only be crafted with all-natural products sourced from plant- or mineral-derived ingredients. They also wanted to make the price points accessible for all while maintaining the high quality. “We started with certifications like EWG Verified and B Corp Certified, and eventually had all of our products clinically- and dermatologist-tested,” says Lo. The duo add that the natural beauty industry can oftentimes create arbitrary labels and designations or make claims that cannot be verified. As a result, the duo strive to help people navigate these issues with transparency and honesty.

In the following conversation with Three Ships, Connie and Laura talk about dispelling beauty myths, the creation and testing of their products, triumphing over personal adversities, navigating social media, and goals for the future.

Why is the brand called Three Ships?

Connie Lo (CL): We believe in three “ships”: uncensorship, leadership, and partnership. We were once 23-year-old consumers dealing with greenwashed and overpriced beauty products. Today, we’re proud to be leaders fighting for a more transparent and accountable skincare industry, with rigorous testing, shared definitions, and clearer standards when it comes to natural skincare.

There are a lot of natural beauty brands out there on the market. What makes yours compelling and effective?

Laura Burget (LB): The skincare industry has a lot of players, but what really makes us shine is the degree to which our products are truly natural as well as clinically tested with the highest standards we’ve seen in the industry. We vigorously vet every component that goes into our formulations, and all of our hero ingredients are clinically tested and include actives and efficacious levels. Many shoppers switch to natural skincare after severe allergic reactions to synthetic ingredients. All of our products are dermatologist tested and proven safe for sensitive skin, irritant free and hypoallergenic.

Can you elaborate upon the formulation and vetting elements of product development?

LB: My chemical engineering degree helps with internal formulating and testing. But because cosmetic chemistry is a very specific science, we also partner with two expert external labs who have brought thousands of skincare products to market.

As you can tell, we like to be thorough. Each product takes 6-18 months to develop. I start by working internally with our product development, sales and marketing team. Say we’re developing a Vitamin C serum. We’ll comb through hundreds of raw materials to find the perfect actives, always prioritizing those that are clinically tested and naturally sourced. We then brief our chemist with all the product attributes we want to include in our product, including texture, scent, skin feel, results etc…We then go through multiple rounds of revisions in the lab until the product is perfect.

@ Laura, I wanted to ask how you turned tragedy into triumph with your brain tumor diagnosis and subsequent road to recovery. That is, how did it inform your appreciation of your body, your relationships, and drive you to spearhead the successes of this company?

Being diagnosed with a brain tumor at 26 was terrifying. I remember feeling numb over my entire body and thinking, this can’t be happening to me.

I underwent a 10-hour brain surgery to remove my tumor. My doctors and nurses are superheroes — not taking a single break for food, water, or the bathroom. My surgeon spent days studying my MRI scans and planning for the operation. I honestly can’t put into words how thankful, humbled, and indebted I am to them. They were able to remove 70% of the tumor and my recovery has been remarkably smooth so far. I just celebrated 5 years of stable scans!

Being a startup founder has added unique challenges to my recovery. At the time of my diagnosis, Connie and I had only been full-time with the company for one year. We were still learning the ropes and working around the clock to grow our brand.

Then 2020 hit, and we had to pivot our business goals and strategies. This included bringing on a team member to cover for me in my first two months of recovery and re-thinking our timelines for a large re-brand, which was already underway. It was an exceptionally scary and challenging time.

I strongly believe that those who keep a positive mindset actually have better health outcomes. I now have a greater sense of purpose with Three Ships, and the impact that we want to have. I find greater joy in the small moments in life post-diagnosis and view the bad times with more perspective. Growing a company isn’t life or death, and I’ve found a new sense of calm, even in the chaos.

I actually view it as an immense privilege that I have the knowledge of how precious and precarious life is at such a young age. Most people go through life in their 20s and 30s thinking that they have endless time in front of them and not approaching their life with urgency or appreciation. The truth is, that none of us know what’s going to happen to us in 1 week, 1 day or 1 hour. Having a cancer at 26 has given me so much perspective in life that I wouldn’t have had otherwise and the last 5 years while challenging have also been the clearest of my entire life. It’s allowed me to get really clear on what I want to be doing with my time and who I want to share it with. I left a relationship that wasn’t positive and pulled back from friends that didn’t leave me feeling energized and supported. This has freed me up to find my now husband and the amazing friends that I have in my life now.

With all of the noise in the digital landscape, how did you find a way to stand out and provide to prospective and current consumers that you were a go-to source for clean and effective beauty products?

CL: The beauty industry is a confusing and crowded place, so we’ve relied on three main strategies to build trust and educate our consumers:

First, we invest heavily in third-party certifications for trusted, unbiased testing. Some examples include being one of only 120 skincare brands globally that are B Corp Certified, and having our products be EWG Verified. All of our products are also clinically-tested for sensitive skin, hypoallergenic, and dermatologist-tested, a rare and difficult feat for a natural beauty company.

Second, we’ve deliberately partnered with retailers that have strict clean beauty standards, like Whole Foods, Credo Beauty, and The Detox Market. These retailers are known to carry the best healthy and natural products, and their logos are well-recognized among our customers.

Finally, sampling has been a hugely important part of our marketing growth strategy. We sample pretty much every way that you can think of – on our site site, at in person events, cross-collaborations with other brands and with our retail partners. Our products have a 40% repeat rate — meaning that 40% of our customers will come back and buy again at least once more. This is double the industry average and is really a testament to how well our products work.

We’re quickly venturing into the fall and winter seasons. In light of this and contending with cold/harsh weather, what are your top three hero products you would recommend to readers?

CL: I recommend picking up our best-sellers that are all wonderful for hydrating during the fall/winter months. Starting off with one of my personal favorites – the Dew Drops Mushroom Hyaluronic Acid + Vitamin C Serum. Dew Drops is the perfect daily serum that brightens and hydrates the skin. It’s lightweight but delivers a powerful punch of hydration with natural hyaluronic acid, making it great for the drier seasons. I recommend applying 1-2 drops before your moisturizer, morning and night.

Everyone can benefit from a great moisturizer year-round, but especially during the colder months. Our Radiance Grape Stem Cell + Squalane Ultra-Hydrating Cream delivers long-lasting hydration and is high in antioxidants. I love how the whipped-like texture is fast-absorbing (critical when you’re rushing to put on your skincare and makeup before heading out the door!). Radiance is also fun to use – push down on the dispenser and massage one pump of the cream into your skin, after cleansing and any water-based serums you may use.

My last pick is are our cult favorite Brighter Days Red Algae + Avocado Biodegradable Eye Masks. These fully biodegradable eye masks made from red algae extract help to visibly depuff, brighten and hydrate the delicate under eye. Leave them on for 10-20 minutes, gently pat any excess serum into the skin, and place the used eye masks in hot water for around 10 minutes; they’ll dissolve and the water can simply be poured down the drain.

You recently secured a significant funding round, raising $2.5M USD. What are your future business plans with these funds?

CL: We’re thrilled to have raised our accelerator round earlier this year. This funding allows us to invest mainly in marketing. Not only are we doubling down on marketing tactics with strong ROI, but we’ll also be testing new growth marketing strategies like out-of-home, bigger investments in influencer partnerships, and retail marketing partnerships. A large portion of the fundraise is also going towards team expansion and bringing on the right talent to scale in this growth stage.

In the short-term, we will continue to launch skincare products that our customers ask for, that deliver results, and that people genuinely love. We plan to expand eventually into overseas markets like Europe and Australia, and may even create products in adjacent categories like body care.

Lastly, for aspiring entrepreneurs out there, is there any advice you’d like to offer them?

LB: If I could leave the readers with one final piece of advice, it would be to learn how to sell. Especially for other female founders out there, having the skill of sales is so critical to growing your company. You’re always going to be selling something – either selling your vision to employees to have them join you, selling the growth potential of your idea to investors or selling your product to customers/retail buyers. If you already know how to sell before starting your company you’ll have such a leg up over your competition!