BEAUTY RITUALS WITH THE WOMEN BEHIND LUI, REBECCA HARDING AND INGRID KESA

Meet Rebecca Harding & Ingrid Kesa, the inspiring and hard working women behind the razor and bodycare brand LUI. We spoke with them to find out more about the brand and their beauty rituals. 

What is your morning ritual?

Bec: My morning usually starts at around 6:30 am when I wake for Hot Pilates. I’ll have a big glass of water with a digestion tonic and dry body brush then walk to my class. I’m usually home by 7:30am and jump in the shower before preparing my daily Par Olive PEARL Matcha with oat milk. I’ll usually drink that whilst going over any emails that have come through overnights before taking Henrietta for a walk.

Ingrid: I like to start my day exercising, so I will usually go to a vinyasa flow yoga class first thing. I cannot start my day properly without a coffee, so I’ll make an oat flat white adding Par Olive PEARL collagen powder. I’ll then shower and do my morning skincare routine, using a Vitamin C serum, plenty of hydrating ingredients and SPF50. If it’s the weekend, I like to go for a walk around the Royal Botanic Gardens and take my time to ease into the day. 

What is your evening ritual?

Bec: Each evening is different, but on a night where I don’t have any work events to attend I’ll usually cook Andy and I dinner. I love cooking and find preparing my meals quite therapeutic. After dinner, Andy and I will take Henrietta for another quick walk and then settle in to watch a show. I love a shower before bed and lathering myself in the LUI Body Moisturiser. I’ll take my nighttime supplements and turn down the bed with a spritz of a calming linen spray. Lights are out by around 11pm each night.

Ingrid: I usually go for a walk after I finish work to spend some time off the screen and in nature, or I’ll often do yin yoga to wind down. I love cooking dinner and making meals at home so that I can nourish my body from the inside out. I like to light incense before bed, at the moment my favourite is Vyrao’s Witchy incense, and give myself a quick gua sha facial massage. I recently started using the Sleep Cycle app, so I’ve been a bit more focussed lately on getting into bed at a reasonable hour.

What does a typical day look like?

Bec: Every day is different for me, but most days will include meeting up with Ingrid at the office to run through any projects we have in the works with LUI, a salad from Green On in Richmond, a call with my manager, Joseph before shooting any content I have on my list. The afternoon is usually spent on Zooms with our lab, suppliers, contractors and all those who help bring LUI to life.

Ingrid: Bec and I work together most days at our office, and there’s never a dull moment. The to-do list when you run a business is open-ended, but we always try to make time to celebrate our achievements and leave space for brainstorming and dreaming new things up.

What is your PEARL ritual?

Bec: I love the PEARL Matcha! I make it at home by 2 tablespoons with hot water and then adding frothed oat milk. I need to get Ingrid’s mini whisk.

Ingrid: I mostly make my coffees at home, so I add two teaspoons of Par Olive PEARL collagen powder into my morning coffee. I like to use the mini whisk from Ikea so that it blends seamlessly.

What do you do to keep your nervous system regulated?

Bec: Walks with my dog Henrietta is usually a time to disconnect for me. I love talking this time to be off calls, emails and social media. This really helps me to focus on important things like my breathing, nature and check in with my body.

Ingrid: I am very dedicated to wellness and cultivating good mental health, it impacts every area of our lives so greatly. I started doing yoga about seven years ago and it has been one of the best ongoing practices for nervous system regulation. The combination of mindful movement and breathing is powerful and offers us so many teachings well off the yoga mat and into the real world.

Tell us more about LUI

Bec: LUI came about one day when I was taking a shower and realised that every other product I use looks beautiful in my shower, is formulated with gorgeous skin-loving ingredients and a pleasure to use, yet I was stuck with a fluro pink, plastic razor that I’m constantly trying to hide away. When I wasn’t using that, I was reaching for my boyfriend’s razor. After some research, I saw that the only options on the market for women were these pink plastic razors that haven’t kept up with society’s changing values and consumer demands. So Ingrid and I set out to change that. 

Ingrid: Bec and I were introduced through a mutual friend, we instantly got along and I felt so inspired by her vision to create a new beauty brand that was filling a gap in the market. We spent over three-and-a-half years developing our launch products. We are both huge skincare fans so it was really important to us that our formulations used the most efficacious plant-based ingredients to optimise skin health and change the way we approach body care.

What beauty products we would find in your shower?

Bec: My LUI Razor, our Shave Cream and the Body Polish because I use all three daily. But aside from the obvious alongside them you’ll find the Dermaviduals cleansing gel, Kérastase hair products and the Nécessaire Body Wash in Eucalyptus.

Ingrid: My LUI Razor, Shave Cream and Body Polish of course! I also like Christophe Robin haircare. Next to my shower you would find a Baina towel and a Beetox Method dry body brush. 

What treatments do you love? 

Bec: I have seen Mai at Skin To Heart in Melbourne for 9 years now and she knows my skin better than I do. I’ll see her every 4-6 weeks for a facial treatment and spend 15 minutes in the full body LED booth. I also love visiting Bee from The Beetox Method for her now famous lymphatic drainage massages, they’re a go-to especially before or after a long-haul flight.

Ingrid: I love getting buccal facial massages at Hands of Mine in Malvern and Her Solis in Carlton North, alternating these with clinical facial treatments at Skin To Heart in Malvern. I see Simona, she has been treating my skin for years and I just adore her personally and professionally. Popping into The Little Company for a quick LED is always good too. In terms of body care, I love lymphatic drainage massages at The Beetox Method and infra-red saunas at Nimbus Co.

What are you reading?

Bec: Do You Mind If I Cancel? (Things That Still Annoy Me) by Gary Janetti. My friend Elliot gave it to me and I’ve never laughed reading a book as much as I have reading this one. 

Ingrid: Glossy: Ambition, Beauty, and the Inside Story of Emily Weiss's Glossier.

What are you watching?

Bec: Slow Horses.

Ingrid: Three Women.

Who do you look up to?

Bec: I feel so lucky to be surrounded by so many incredible people who inspire me daily. I look up to my business partner, Ingrid. She’s got the most amazing calming energy and tackles any challenge head first without ever getting flustered and always with kindness and grace. I also look up to other incredible female founders like Liv (from Par Olive), Zoe (from Go-To) and Bec and Ava (from Ultra Violette) for their strength, work ethic and generosity of their knowledge.

Ingrid: I feel the same as Bec! I am lucky to be surrounded by so many amazing, smart, generous and inspiring women. I really admire Bec for her work ethic, creative thinking and kind heart.

What does beauty mean to you?

Bec: Beauty to me means taking care of yourself from the inside out. I feel stronger, more confident and beautiful when I’m looking after my body and mind.

Ingrid: Beauty to me is about seeing the beauty in yourself so you can see it in the people and situations around you. I love the meaning of namaste in the yoga practice; “the light in me recognises the light in you.”

What's next for LUI?

Bec: Bathroom domination! We have some exciting things in the works which we can’t wait to share with everyone soon but for the meantime we just want to continue to bring joy and beauty to women’s daily shower routines across the country.

Ingrid: Stay posted!