#LifeLokal: One Earth Organics cares for you skin and self-deep
Skincare is more than a trend, it becomes part of a person's daily routine. It's essential to find products that will not only work for you but also take care of your skin. Afterall, it's not a one-size-fits-all kind of glove—some chemical-based offerings might harm your skin, so organic products will be your best bet.
Enter One Earth Organics, a skincare brand that uses natural ingredients to address beauty problems that everyday Filipinas experience because, for founder Tyff Short, beauty isn't just skin deep, it's self-deep.
As someone who dreamt of starting her own business, Tyff Short started her brand 10 years ago to help provide for her son, whom she had at 18. Always harboring a love for skincare, she hustled and initially sold chemical-based products on Instagram to make a living.
But One Earth Organics was birthed for another purpose, for Tyff to face her own beauty issues after the popular, imported products she used started to aggravate her psoriasis.
"10 years ago, people would buy products, especially if they smelled good, were endorsed by a celebrity, or were branded. Nobody will really read the labels. There was no awareness when it comes to ingredients," she told PhilSTAR L!fe.
So despite not having a high school diploma and needing to care for her son, the single mom did her own research and chose to source out organic, local raw materials for skincare products.
How do you develop your products?
10-11 years ago, we started with just the Underarm Therapy Set with four products that we launched [including the] Underarm Cream—it was actually my biggest insecurity so I had to address my underarm issues—and so from there, I kept thinking about every beauty problem or insecurity that I have. That’s how I keep coming up with products to produce.
Any problem that women can relate to that I feel is a beauty problem, we’ll think of a beauty solution for it to boost their confidence. That’s my core of thinking about what products to produce.
But of course, I didn’t want to just produce products that will be the same as what’s already in the market. I would always think of something multi-functioning, innovative, and addressing beauty problems of every Filipina. That’s how the product lines grew, from the underarm set, underarm cream, and deodorant, to now having facial serums, body scrubs, soaps, and a lot more.
After that I do all the technicalities, I have knowledge already of ingredients and their benefits, and I put it together and discuss it with our research and development team.
How does your Filipino heritage/culture influence your brand values and identity?
Filipinos are always very supportive of imported brands but at the end of the day, we have so much to offer in terms of ingredients. While I was doing my research before, I found that so many ingredients were being exported to other countries. I’ve always been supportive of trying to see local ingredients like coconut oil and I wanted to somehow be one of the avenues for Filipinos to also be supportive and know that we can produce something good.
It’s more on giving that awareness and using the brand as an avenue for Filipinos to be supportive of local brands and be more aware of what we can offer.
Of course, the confidence [influences the brand]. Filipinos, even if we don’t put it out there, we have this inner confidence talaga. It has to be just kinda ignited para lang lumabas siya. That was one of the core values of how it brought everything together for One Earth.
What do you think is the biggest challenge in skincare and how do you make sure your brand stands out from the rest?
I love skincare products, but then again, I’m guilty of being a Filipina supporting imported brands kasi nga, wala pa masyadong love local noon. When One Earth was launched and we focused more on the biggest insecurities of women, after six to eight months, there were a lot of local skincare brands that started to pop up sa Instagram and social media.
It was good and flattering na meron nang underarm set and meron na nag-uunderarm selfie, and I’m proud to say that we’re the pioneer to produce the underarm set and do the underarm selfie. Like I have it documented in 2012, I posted my kili-kili selfie on Instagram. But before, there wasn’t a lot posting, very few to zero.
If I thought of not starting One Earth Organics just because I’m threatened and think of hundreds and thousands of brands in the market, I would not have started it. I guess I’d say I’ve always been focused in my own lane. I’m that type of entrepreneur. I don’t do competitive analysis because I believe that I was able to produce products that weren’t even out in the market but was able to take off.
How has social media helped your brand?
Thank you, Instagram! Back then, IG was an innovation as well. When I saw the opportunity, I thought of selling on Instagram. It was our first-ever platform, not Facebook. I think you’ve come across posts that say “Strangers will support you first than your friends and family,” that happened to me.
When I was posting on Facebook, hindi ako pinapansin, nobody buys from me, even my close friends. But when I started selling on Instagram and learned how to use hashtags, I was surprised kasi there were so many people inquiring about One Earth that I don’t even know.
I also use social media to post a lot of feedback from my customers. I was chatting with hundreds of people. It was also the core of OEO and the customers loved it.
Before, people would not talk about their kili-kili problems at nahihiya bumili ng kili-kili products. I’m proud to say we were one of the avenues for women to talk about their insecurities.
How do you want your customers to feel when they’re using your products?
Confident, empowered, inspired. I always say One Earth Organics isn’t just about selling beauty products, it’s really the messaging behind it, the story of how it was built, the hard work and passion and blood, sweat, and tears behind it.
I’ve always sent that message to our customers that I really want OEO to not just be a source of beauty but a source of confidence, inspiration, empowerment, and strength. It’s been a tough journey for the brand, and for my team—that’s what I want people to feel aside from feeling good and seeing the results. It’s really not just skin deep, it’s self-deep.
It’s what my team, myself, and my son have been through to sustain the brand and establish it from the ground up. Wooh! What a journey. It’s also a sense of positivity and gratitude. It took us a lot to produce this product. It’s easy to be a businesswoman if you have all the resources in the world, but if you established everything from nothing and did it on your own with your team, iba talaga. Tagos sa laman at sa puso.