Entrepreneur
Why less is more when it comes to skincare
How multi-use products could simplify skincare and tackle over-consumption
The skin is a direct mirror of how our body feels. Why not simplify our skincare routine and reduce waste, asks Pontine Paus, investor and entrepreneur.
Skincare products have the largest market share of all beauty industry segments and reports have shown that ‘skinimalism’ has various benefits.
Pontine Paus, entrepreneur and founder of Dr Lipp, says: “Indeed, the focus and knowledge we have today on how to live a healthy life has increased. It’s definitely good that we have this knowledgeable and know how to look after our skin, but I think it’s bad that we’re still using too many products that are not necessarily making a big a difference, but cause a lot of pollution in the world.”
Paus has launched her skincare brand 18 years ago when the multitude of brands and social media platforms we have today did not exist.
She started off with the original nipple balm that later became the signature product of the brand. “I used to have a lot of dry skin and a lot of eczema myself and I couldn’t find anything that worked until somebody said ‘why don’t you try some nipple balm’”, Paus remembers.
“I started doing a lot of research and there was just one ingredient, that’s been around since ancient Greek times and that is lanolin. So, I had this idea of taking the nipple balm out of the breastfeeding market and introducing it into the beauty market,” the founder explains.
Her main aim was to build a brand in which every product was multi-use with a maximum of 10 ingredients. “The average is 30 to 40 ingredients. So, we’ve reduced that massively. That’s probably the most effective and most important contribution that we can make when it comes to reducing our carbon footprint and helping with the biodiversity. I think if we can all consume more consciously, then that will have a big long-term impact.”
The nipple balm was just the start of her commitment to offer multi-use products in order to simplify people’s skincare routine and encourage a minimalistic approach.
“There are some great creams to help reduce wrinkles and pigmentation, for example, but the basic daily products, like hand cream, body lotion or any other cream, could all be one. In terms of washing, your makeup remover, your shampoo, your body wash, your shaving cream gel could all be one,” she says.
“I feel very strongly about the waste we’re creating and the big floating islands of plastic in the ocean,” she continues. “I’m horrified by how much rubbish every household produces every week, and where that goes and equally horrified about how polluted our food and water systems are. So, as a brand owner, I really looked at how to really make a difference.”
Statistics report that 120 billion units of packaging are produced every year by the global cosmetics industry, including lids, multi-layered boxes and cellophane that are most of the time non-recyclable.
“Everybody’s getting becoming more aware [of the environmental impacts], but we’ve got to think differently,” the founder insists. “Brands have got to offer products that reduce our waste rather than just recycling them. Nobody’s going to make it perfect, but we can improve on where we are at.”
With Latin words governing long ingredient lists, simple multi-use products can also give consumers a better understanding of what they are putting on their skin, the entrepreneur tells me. “I wanted something simple and 100 per cent natural,” she says. “A lot of brands do natural, but there’s no real big brands out there that do 100 per cent natural. But I think when it comes to these basic steps in our daily life, it’s much easier to make things simple.”
Paus’ hope is that more companies will come up with compostable packaging in the future.
“It would really make a huge difference, but sadly, the technology isn’t there yet. I hope at least we at Dr Lipp could make everything much simpler for both the people and the environment.”
Shop: The best-selling multi-use products from Dr Lipp
Dr Lipp Original Nipple Balm £12
Dr Lipp Superfood Tint Pack for Lips Cheeks and Eyelids £18
You have until Friday to nominate your femtech company of the year.
The award is one of 10 featuring at Femtech World’s third annual awards event, which attracts entries from across the UK, EU and Europe.
The Company of the Year Award is for companies that have demonstrated exceptional leadership in tackling women’s health needs through groundbreaking products, services or platforms that are shaping the future of global femtech.
If your company is driving innovation, impact and growth in this space, this award was made for you.
About the sponsor: Femovate
The category is backed by Femovate, the global femtech incubator using design to fuel innovation across every stage of a woman’s health journey, from proactive prevention through to personalised treatment.
Femovate has invested over US$2 million in design capital, working side-by-side with founding teams to bring market-ready solutions to life.
The startups it supports have collectively raised US$120 million, launched 30 products, and secured seven FDA clearances.
Why enter?
The Femtech World Awards are free to enter.
Winners and shortlisted companies receive extensive coverage across all Femtech World platforms.
Winners will also receive a trophy and the opportunity to be featured in an interview for the publication.
Find out more about the Femtech World Award and enter here by 4pm BST on Friday 17.
By Chaitra Vedullapalli, founder and president, Women in Cloud
Today’s leaders are carrying more than responsibilities.
They are carrying caregiving roles, financial pressures, legal complexities, and the quiet emotional weight of sustaining performance in unpredictable times.
And yet, most leadership forums still focus on productivity, growth, and scale, rarely addressing the human systems that enable sustained leadership.
At Women in Cloud, we believe the next generation of leadership will not be defined by endurance alone, but by discipline, preparation, and self-respect.
That is why we are proud to announce the #WICxWellness Summit 2026: The Disciplined Advantage.
This is a wellness summit focused on leadership preparedness.
Why This Summit Matters Now
Across our global community, a clear pattern has emerged.
- More professionals and executives are quietly navigating:
- Life-threatening health crises, personally or within their families
- Financial stress caused by medical, caregiving, or business shocks
- Legal and healthcare decisions with long-term consequences
- Career interruptions due to caregiving responsibilities
- Chronic exhaustion, grief, and emotional isolation
These experiences are widespread, yet rarely discussed in executive settings.
#WICxWellness 2026 brings these realities into the open with compassion, clarity, and practical guidance, so leaders can prepare, adapt, and continue forward without breaking.
This is wellness as a leadership discipline.
What We Will Explore
This year’s summit is designed to provide grounded, immediately applicable insights for founders, executives, and senior leaders.
Executive Function Under Chronic Stress
Keynote with Jennifer Brown
Focus Areas:
- Understand how chronic stress alters judgment, focus, and emotional regulation
- Identify early warning signs of cognitive overload in leadership roles
- Adaptability as a Cognitive Anchor: Navigating rapid change without compromising decision-making.
- Resilience Through Connection: Building human-centric teams to mitigate the stress of uncertainty.
- Navigating Change with Emotional Intelligence: Regulating stress responses to maintain clarity and empathy.
- Systemic Agility in High-Pressure Environments: Creating foundations of psychological safety that protect organizational function
Labs That Matter (And What to Do With Them)
Fireside Chat with Chelsey Galipeau and Chaitra Vedullapalli
Focus Areas:
- Which health tests are worth the time and investment
- Interpreting results without panic
- Preventive strategies for executive longevity
- Avoiding unnecessary medical spending
Caretaking Without Collapse
Panel With Karen Fassio, Anca Platon Trifan, Scilla Andreen, Clara Schroeder, Sheena Yap Chan
Focus Areas:
- Managing family and professional demands without burnout
- Setting humane boundaries
- Building sustainable support systems
- Ending silent sacrifice in leadership
Food as a Stability System (Not a Diet)
Fireside Chat with Nancy Watt and Meagan T. Copelin
Focus Areas:
- Nutrition for sustained energy and clarity
- Blood sugar and decision-making
- Realistic eating during travel and stress
- Food as operational resilience
Autoimmunity, Hormones & Cardiac Risk in Real Life
Fireside Chat with Dr. Linda Bing
Focus Areas:
- Managing invisible health risks
- Hormonal transitions and stamina
- Flare prevention at work
- Energy mapping for leadership performance
A Different Kind of Leadership Conversation
At Women in Cloud, we have learned something fundamental:
Performance is visible. Discipline is invisible.
Yet discipline determines whether leaders can serve, build, and lead over decades, not just quarters.
The Disciplined Advantage is about building that resilience intentionally.
Through science, lived experience, and practical frameworks, this summit equips leaders to:
- Anticipate strain instead of reacting to a crisis Design sustainable work rhythms
- Protect cognitive and emotional capital
- Lead from grounded strength
This is leadership infrastructure for the next decade.
Join Us
If you are a founder, executive, technologist, or senior professional navigating complexity and determined to lead well without sacrificing your health, clarity, or longevity, this summit is for you.
The #WICxWellness Summit 2026 is where performance meets preservation. Where ambition meets sustainability. Where leadership becomes truly durable.
We look forward to welcoming you. The Disciplined Advantage begins here.
Secure your spot: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/wicxwellness-summit-2026-tickets-1981616382945?aff=oddtdtcreator
Femtech World is continuing the search for a company to be crowned Startup of the Year.
The award is one of 10 to feature at the third annual Femtech World Awards.
The Startup of the Year Award celebrates an early-stage company making a bold impact in women’s health through innovation, vision and execution.
The winning startup will have demonstrated strong potential to transform care, accessibility, or awareness in women’s health with a scalable solution.
Consideration will be given to innovation, market traction, inclusivity, impact and the ability to address unmet needs.
The award is sponsored by Future Fertility.
The company is transforming fertility care with AI-powered solutions that close critical information gaps along the IVF journey.
Its clinically validated, non-invasive tools analyse oocyte images to predict each egg’s reproductive potential, supporting decision-making across key pathways: VIOLET™ for egg freezing, MAGENTA™ for IVF-ICSI, and ROSE™ for donor programmes and egg banks.
These reports deliver personalised insights into egg quality and ploidy potential, empowering patients and clinicians to make more informed decisions regarding next steps.
Today, Future Fertility’s technology is used in more than 300 clinics across 35+ countries.
Developed with the world’s largest oocyte image dataset linked to reproductive outcomes, Future Fertility’s AI models generate quality scores that not only guide treatment planning and manage expectations, but also serve as objective, actionable KPIs for labs—driving improved outcomes and transparency in fertility care worldwide.
The awards are free to enter, with winners receiving a trophy and an interview with Femtech World.
Find out more about the awards and enter for free here.
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