Amy and Sacha are advertising
graduates, creative partners, and co-founders of their own brand, Gen.u.ine
cosmetics. Gen.u.ine is believed to be the world’s first gender neutral make-up
brand specifically designed for chemotherapy patients. It has just been
shortlisted on the D&AD Future Impact ‘Ones To Watch’ list. The girls have
also been noted on Badass Gals list of influential creative women 2019. The two graduated in September 2019 and are
currently looking for creative placements in London whilst running Gen.u.ine.
They met like all great
friends do, starring across the room at each other with a preconceived dislike
for one another. It was only until 4 months after they had been studying on the
same course, Creative Advertising, that they got to work together on a brief
for the Motor Neurone Disease Association that they realised they actually
quite liked each other. Like turned to love as they got to know how similar
they are, despite being from opposite ends of the country. Both hate cooking.
Both love swimming. Both love crime documentaries.
Differences and similarities
played a huge part in choosing each other as creative partners. In the wild
world of advertising, you have to choose a partner. A work wife for life. One
is the art director and the other a copywriter. In simple terms, one of them is
better at creating the image and the other is better at crafting the words to
go with it. However, their brains work together to create an advert for each
brief.
Over the 3 year course, they
have received briefs for many brands, including PureGym, Hyundai, and Supreme.
In their final year, they started a brief titled ‘Famous & Effective’ and
were given just over a month to become famous in the advertising industry. They
had complete free range over the brief, and whist some people worked on
promoting themselves to make them famous, Amy & Sacha started to develop Gen.u.ine
cosmetics. Their initial aim was to become known in the industry for doing
good, helping people, and making a tangible societal impact.
Every idea has to be inspired
by something. This may be by surroundings, events or in some cases, people. For
Gen.u.ine it was Amy’s nan, Margaret Palmer, who inspired the initial idea.
Margaret suffered from bowl cancer for just over two years. She loved make-up, amazing
colours, and had fashion to go with it to match her big personality. When she
started chemotherapy her skin drastically changed. It became dry and at risk of
infection. This is when Amy and her mother realised that the chemicals in Margaret’s
high street make-up had disastrous effects on her skin. They had no choice but
to get rid of her make-up. This left her feeling low in confidence and not able
to be herself. This meant Margaret had to test very expensive make-up through a
tiring and disheartening ‘trial and error’ process. During her treatment, all
she wanted was to feel like herself. Unfortunately, Margaret passed away before
she was able to use any of the Gen.u.ine products, but for many others, when
they start to lose their sense of self, Gen.u.ine is there to step in, pick
them up, and help them through. With the great support of co-founder, Sacha, who
respected Margaret’s memory every step of the way, they we’re able to develop Gen.u.ine
from a university idea to a worldwide reality. You may think it ambitious for
two twenty-one year old women to start a business in an area which has not been
highly researched, but if we had never taken up the challenge, we would never
had the chance to help so many people restore their identity. The ‘Gen.u.ine’ range currently consists of three
shades of eyebrow pomade, three shades of liquid lip tint, a cheek tint, and an
eyeshadow palette with nine individual shades. Each product is dedicated to
someone who has an experience with cancer, the first eyebrow pomade being named
after Margaret.
Amy and Sacha, only wish is
that Margaret was still with them to celebrate Gen.u.ine’s achievements. They
are breaking into the London advertising scene bit by bit, and started gaining
experience during the summer of their second year at Lincoln. The pair secured
work experience at one of the best advertising agencies in the world, Grey
London. Having spent two weeks in the studio, working on live briefs, a fire
was lit under them and they have relentlessly pursued a career in advertising
ever since.
They have had ‘book crits’
(portfolio reviews) at over 20 agencies in London, including the BBC, McCann,
and Adam&Eve. The relationships they have built with senior creatives at
each agency have been the most valuable to them. Networking is a huge part of
becoming successful, and if it’s in a field you truly love, it can be really
fun and incredibly rewarding! Although getting a job in any profession is very
competitive, you just have to keep going with the grit and determination that
inspired you in the first place. Remembering your original motivation can push
you through the hard days and make the success even sweeter.
It’s great to see more and
more women entering the advertising industry, with many awards being created
specifically to champion successful, hard working women. Women in Work is a
great platform for girls on all courses at Lincoln to start networking and
getting support from other likeminded women going through the same steps. You
never know, you might even meet your business partner!
Amy & Sacha’s biggest
piece of advice, as cringey as it sounds, is to be yourself. Never change
yourself to fit into a class, industry or profession. Your personality will
shine through and people will respect you for it in the long run. As hard as it
is to not be sucked into certain preconceptions of what you’re expected to be,
look like, and dress, stick to your guns. Don’t doubt your own originality.
Trust your instincts on people, yourself, and your own ideas. Listen to
yourself and be honest with your opinions. University is a great place to
explore and experiment, to learn who you are and develop, but you don’t have to
have everything figured out all at once! It’s ok to learn! All the best of luck
to everyone involved in Women in Work and have a great year.
Insta: gen.u.ine.cosmetics
Website:
amyandsacha.carbonmade.com
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