Interview | Emma Lewisham

Emma Lewisham is not the kind of founder who arrived at beauty by accident. Thoughtful, science-led, and deeply values-driven, her entry into skincare was shaped by lived experience long before it inspired her eponymous brand.

In 2016, following the loss of her mother to cancer and while trying to conceive, Emma began questioning the safety and integrity of the products she was using. After a pivotal conversation with her doctor — and the absence of effective natural alternatives — she began to rethink how skincare could work. Backed by postgraduate studies in physiology and biochemistry at Harvard University, Emma set out to build something grounded in both empathy and evidence. Emma Lewisham debuted in 2019.

The New Zealand-founded brand launched with a physiology-first philosophy, pairing high-performance natural formulations with rigorous independent testing. Under Emma’s leadership, it has become the world’s first climate-positive, circularly designed beauty brand — a reflection of her belief that beauty should be a force for good, not compromise.

In our interview, Emma shares the experiences that shaped her, the principles that guide her brand, and the beauty routine she swears by.

What inspired you to create Emma Lewisham?

The seeds for Emma Lewisham were planted in 2016. I had just lost my mother to cancer and was trying to fall pregnant, so my health was very much on my mind. During a conversation with my doctor, she advised me against using a product I’d been relying on for hyperpigmentation because it contained hydroquinone, which wasn’t safe during pregnancy. When I asked for a natural alternative that would actually work, she couldn’t recommend one.

I set out to create products that were natural, innate to us, but also beautiful to use and that truly worked. Because I believe this is the pinnacle of what we all ultimately want to apply to our skin: something that feels right, that we can trust completely, and that delivers real results. Natural skincare had long been dismissed as a compromise; I wanted to prove it didn’t have to be.

What product makes the best introduction to the brand?

Our Skin Reset Serum. It was our founding product, born directly from my own struggle with hyperpigmentation. More than that, it was actually our proof of concept. It showed us that we could achieve natural, luxury, and efficacy all at once in one product, that these things weren’t mutually exclusive.

It’s been a real breakthrough for our way of formulating – working with the skin’s own intelligence rather than against it. It remains a cult favourite for evening skin tone and restoring radiance, and I think it’s a beautiful way to experience what our approach can achieve.

What has been the biggest highlight?

Meeting Dr Jane Goodall and having someone of her credibility, someone who was such a personal inspiration to me, endorse Emma Lewisham was extraordinary. But perhaps more than a single highlight, it’s the deeper reflection that I’ve created products I believe in with all my heart. Knowing the quality and depth behind every formulation gives me such purpose and resolve, particularly when challenges arise. There’s something incredibly grounding about knowing that in my day-to-day work, I’m giving people products that are genuinely revolutionary and that truly work. That quiet conviction is woven into everything.

What advice would you give to those wanting to launch their own beauty business?

So much of what I know now, I only learned by living it. There’s a beautiful line from Anaïs Nin: “We don’t see things as they are, we see them as we are.” And I think that’s true of building a business. You become shaped by it as much as you shape it.

But if I could sit down with someone just starting out, I would say this:

Choose your people with great care. This, above all else. I have been so fortunate with my co-founders, Kim and my husband Andrew. They are people of real integrity, people I trust completely, and that has been the bedrock of everything. You can have the most brilliant idea in the world, but who you build it with will determine whether it flourishes or falls apart. Find people whose values mirror your own and hold onto them. People are the whole thing, really – everything else follows from there.

Know your numbers intimately. Not approximately – intimately.

Have the courage to hold a distinct point of view and the discipline to stay consistent with it. In an industry full of noise, clarity is rare and magnetic.

Go the extra mile. You’ll find it strangely uncrowded there. Refuse to settle for ‘good enough’. Good enough is the enemy of something truly meaningful.

What’s next for Emma Lewisham?

Honestly, I feel like we’re just getting started. There’s such incredible momentum behind the brand right now, and so much passion and belief in what we do.

What’s next is simply continuing to be a brand with real intent and purpose. To leave this industry in a better place than we found it. To create the very best products, ones that people genuinely love using, that bring something meaningful to their day and confidence to their skin.

I’ve come to believe that if you focus on the fundamentals, if you get those right with real depth and care, the rest takes care of itself.

What does your daily beauty routine look like?

To me, beauty is a 360-degree practice. It’s who we are and the intentions we hold. It’s what we consume, where we put our energy, how we move our bodies, what we eat and drink, prioritising rest and sleep, and how we protect and care for our skin. It’s how we treat ourselves and how we treat others. That’s what I focus on when I think about beauty.

For skincare specifically, I use Emma Lewisham daily and with consistency. And from that, alongside all the other small, consistent actions I take, I feel genuinely confident and content in my skin and in who I am. There’s something very grounding in that.

What are three beauty products you can’t live without?

I don’t really think in terms of products; I think in terms of rituals. Wholesome, whole foods. Daily movement. Eight hours of sleep. These are the things I come back to, day after day. They’re simple, but together they form the foundation of everything.

What’s the best skincare lesson you’ve learned?

That the skin is incredibly intelligent, and working with it rather than against it produces far better results. The traditional approach of using one or two aggressive active ingredients isn’t how the skin’s physiology actually works. When you formulate to mimic the skin’s natural cellular pathways, using multiple ingredients working in synergy, you achieve something much more meaningful and lasting.

Which person or brand would you love to collaborate with?

I had enormous respect for Dr Jane Goodall, and having her endorse our brand felt like a full circle moment.

In terms of future collaborations, I’m drawn to anyone working at the intersection of science and sustainability, people who refuse to accept that we have to choose between efficacy and responsibility.

What’s not getting the attention it deserves in the beauty industry right now?

The skin itself. It sounds obvious, but most skincare formulations start with ingredients, trends, or what competitors are doing. We start with the skin. We research its physiology, understand how it functions, work out where we need to speak to it, and then align ingredients accordingly.

The skin is incredibly complex, with multiple pathways creating a dynamic, interconnected web of activity. When you truly understand that complexity and formulate to work in harmony with it, you unlock results that simply aren’t possible with the traditional ingredient-led approach.

UK customers can find Emma Lewisham at Space NK and Liberty London, with the brand available in the US exclusively at Credo Beauty.