US-based luxury skincare brand Redoux was founded just three years ago, but its spa-like soap bars have already been featured in a slew of glossy magazines, including Vogue, GQ, Architectural Digest, and Gwyneth Paltrow’s trend-setting wellness site, Goop.It’s not hard to see why: with its strong focus on storytelling, community, and ethical and sustainable manufacturing, Redoux (pronounced redo) has all the makings of a successful direct-to-consumer brand. And while it’s still early days, Redoux co-founders Asia Grant and Alejandro Cuevas have grand plans for the future of their business. “Our larger vision, where we want to be in 15 to 20 years, is to eventually evolve into a hospitality business – like a resort and sauna – and have a physical space,” Grant, who is also the brand’s creative director, told Inside Retail. Starting out in 2019, however, they had a somewhat smaller goal in mind.“We were best friends in college, but when we graduated, we found we weren’t taking care of our friendship,” Grant recalled. “We thought, ‘Let’s just start a company together, so we have to talk to each other every single week’.” A skincare brand was the obvious choice, given their shared passion for self-care. To stand out in the saturated market, they decided to focus on the power of scent to trigger memory and create an immersive experience for customers. For instance, Redoux’s flagship ‘529’ soap bar, with notes of sandalwood, ginger, amber, and saffron, is inspired by Grant and Cuevas’ time together as friends in New York. “Smells like summer mischief on the fire escape” the website states.“Every single scent that we come out with is meant to call back to that original purpose of celebrating experiences,” Grant explained.The new luxuryWith soap bars starting at US$16, and skincare sets, including a soap bar, serum, and balm, priced at US$145, Redoux is positioned as a high-end brand, but its branding and plastic-free packaging have been designed to make it feel accessible. “I knew I wanted a luxury brand that was ethical and elevated, but also felt kind, warm, and welcoming. I looked at other brands that I thought did that well and studied their campaigns and their packaging,” she said. Grant studied marketing and design at university and actually researched why consumers make emotional investments in products. Still, it took some trial-and-error to strike the right balance between Redoux’s luxury aesthetic and everyday appeal.“We found in our research that people love to buy luxury brands for the dopamine rush, but then they will never use the products,” she said.“That’s something I really don’t like about traditional luxury. It focuses on the consumption, but not the use.”Grant believes luxury customers today are looking for more than just beautiful branding, they want products that have a deeper meaning behind them.“We’re all concerned about the Earth. We’re all concerned about where our money is going and the impact of our choices,” she said. “We’ve all learned over the last two-and-a-half years, especially in 2020, that our dollars have power.”Redoux’s core values are empathy, intention, and accessibility, and they guide everything the brand does, from product development to communication with customers on Instagram.“That’s why I think [we] resonate, because we put people first,” Grant said. Where to nextGrant is now focused on expanding Redoux beyond skincare into other scent-driven categories. The brand recently launched a candle and room spray, and is currently designing exclusive fragrances for a number of fashion brands. It is also in talks with chefs to host curated dinner experiences inspired by scent.“We want to grow our business by growing with other creatives and be guided by our community,” Grant said.“We’re not trying to be ‘exponential’ and as big as we possibly can. We want to make sure that our growth is meaningful, that we practice the act of listening, because once you stop listening to your customer then everything stops.”