Baie Botanique

49 Beauty Awards. Founded by a Make-Up Artist Who Decided to Fix Skincare.

Baie Botanique was founded in 2015 by Sophie Oliver — a professional make-up artist who spent years applying other brands' products to other people's faces and gradually reached the conclusion that the market was not doing nearly well enough. The result of that conclusion is a certified vegan, organic skincare range that has since accumulated 49 beauty awards from publications and organisations that do not hand them out lightly: Natural Health Magazine's Best Small Beauty Brand 2019, Green Parent Magazine's Gold Award Eye Cream, Top Santé's Best Cleanser, and a further 46 recognitions across the Rose Renew and Baie Soleil ranges. Sophie is listed among the UK's 100 most inspiring female entrepreneurs. The awards are the consequence of the work, not the point of it.

The Rose Renew range is the brand's heart — built around rose and rosehip and the inclusion of plant stem cells, which have the unusual ability to develop into different types of cells and therefore support genuine skin regeneration rather than surface-level hydration. Serums, eye creams, face creams, facial oils, cleansers and face washes, all certified organic and vegan, all working toward the same aim: skin that looks better without requiring a layer of something else on top of it. The Baie Soleil suncare range extends into mineral facial sunscreens, face and body options, and a baby sunscreen — Soleil Bébé — formulated around non-nano zinc oxide and designed with the particular care that follows from Sophie being a parent as well as a formulator. It won Best Baby Sunscreen at the Beauty Shortlist Awards and Gold at the Organic & Sustainable Baby Team Awards. Gua sha tools, organic rollers and a 30-day guarantee round out a brand that is confident enough in what it makes to let you return it if it does not perform.

For more independent women-led brands doing things properly, explore our Women-Led Brands directory, or discover brands chosen for their values through Sustainable Brands and Shop by Purpose. For considered gift ideas, browse our Gifts for Her guide, or discover more independent makers through our Small Batch Artisans edit.