From Oil & Gas to Skincare for Guys – Scottish Entrepreneur Creates STOER Skincare for Men

10/03/2017

Scottish skincare expert and business woman, Marianne Morrison has launched STOER Skincare for Men after four years in development and investing more than £700,000.

Marianne’s background combining beauty and international business, where she worked in a male-dominated industry, provided the concept, inspiration and vision to create and launch a bespoke male skincare range to match the performance of the very best female skincare brands.

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Marianne says: “It’s time to level the playing field when it comes to male and female skincare. The advanced ingredients and technologies available in the women’s skincare market are leagues ahead of products specifically aimed at men. STOER Skincare has been created to address the need for an effective, male-specific skincare range that focuses on prevention and protection, whilst improving skin health.”

Putting her business brain into action, Marianne entered the oil and gas industry, where she spent 6 years representing oil and gas firms in a commercial and development capacity.

After working her way up to a senior level, Marianne realised that while she wanted to work in a fast paced business environment where she thrived, she wanted to focus on something she was passionate about. Her beauty and business backgrounds collided and the idea of STOER Skincare was born.

Marianne began the process of creating STOER Skincare in 2013. Facing the challenge of raising business funding during the research and development phase, she was determined to create a high quality collection that had entirely bespoke formulations that didn’t rely on ‘stock ingredients’. To reach the point of bringing STOER Skincare to market, it has required investment in excess of £700,000.

Marianne says: “Prepare for the unknown. It takes twice as long as you anticipate and determination is the only way to succeed! From the outset, I knew I had to create a bespoke high performance skincare range as my competitors were, and are, very well established brands.

“The only way to attempt to compete was to offer a brand with a clear difference which communicated in a way that stood out. I had to combine a team of leading experts in separate fields, along with raising a significant amount of finance to follow the process I wanted and needed to. A path certainly not for the faint hearted, however a path which has been an incredible journey and has led to being able to offer a product range I truly believe in, launching exclusively with a leading premium retailer.”

Stuart Brown, Head of SME, Scotland & Northern Ireland at Barclays, says: “Barclays is passionate about supporting entrepreneurs like Marianne who are a great inspiration to others. We offer a unique proposition for high growth businesses and entrepreneurs that brings together dedicated support, rewarding connections and tailored products to help drive success for companies like STOER Skincare, and we will continue to support Marianne throughout her growth journey.”

Marianne’s experience with men’s skincare and grooming habits began when she started her career as a beauty therapist. Then while working in the men’s world of oil and gas, Marianne would often get asked questions by her male colleagues relating to their appearance and how to improve their skin and hold back the years. It soon became apparent that there was a big gap in the market for an effective male-specific product focussed on prevention and protection.

As an experienced beauty therapist, Marianne has an acute understanding of the differences between male and female skin. Male skin, much thicker and firmer than female skin, requires a different scientific approach to deliver formulations that work. Marianne’s research confirmed that male consumers preferred different textures and application methods compared to females.

Another significant inspiration behind the brand is the location Stoer in Scotland where Marianne spent much of her childhood. The contemporary stag logo represents the strength, resilience and masculinity of the wild red stag that roams Stoer, combined with its ability to weather the extreme climate, reflective of the ‘environmental shield’ STOER Skincare offers for male skin.

With their contemporary men’s skincare department, Harvey Nichols was the ideal launch partner for STOER Skincare.

Harvey Nichols Group Commercial Director, Daniela Rinaldi comments: “We are continuing to grow our men’s grooming category year on year and the introduction of STOER reflects our customers’ appetite for intelligent, luxury skincare that delivers fast and effective results. Harvey Nichols leads the way in our edit of new-to-market, niche brands and we are proud to be the exclusive retailer for STOER’s first collection.”

Marianne worked with a leading creative chemist and biotech company to combine the cosmetic drone technology with the key active ingredients.

The cosmetic drone used in the STOER Skincare formulations mimic the targeted drone technology used in the medical field. Based on 7 years research, the STOER Skincare cosmetic ingredient delivery system specific to skin cells, allows the active ingredients to be released exactly where they are needed, resulting in a low, yet effective dose. Marianne says: “The cross between the medical and beauty worlds is becoming more blurred than ever. We have taken inspiration from medical active-targeting technology and applied it to skincare. For those looking for results without an invasive procedure, this is the answer.”

After extensive research, including interviewing more than one hundred men and a development process spanning four years, Marianne created STOER, a superlative product collection that delivers highly effective results formulated specifically for men’s skin. The feedback received throughout every trial and performance test has inspired STOERS’s formulations and purpose, helping to develop the most relevant and efficacious product offering to combat male skin care concerns.

On the future of the male skincare market, Marianne says “Over the next decade I believe male grooming will continue to grow steadily, whilst evolving even further as the male skincare and ‘beauty’ boundaries become blurred. The stereotypical consumer archetypes are also becoming less defined as men of all ages seek products for different purposes. Young men are now using skincare routines as teenagers, providing a new era of millennial consumers, who can access and process information very quickly on digital platforms. I believe there is a real space here to do something unique.”

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