One of Australia’s leading beauty brands, freezeframe, is renowned for its innovative formulas and clinically proven skincare. In fact, one of its products has been the number one selling eye cream in Australia four years in a row.
But on top of freezeframe’s great success, just as importantly, the brand is all about empowering women with the confidence to live their best lives by making them look and feel their best.
For founder Sonia Amoroso (who was awarded the prestigious Young Entrepreneur of The Year title in 2004), achieving this means understanding the most crucial aspects of success – kindness, equality and inclusion.
Below, BD sits down with Amoroso, who chats about everything from freezeframe’s journey, to being a woman in business, and her advice to others wanting to follow the same path.
Can you share with us the journey to creating freezeframe and where the idea came from?
I’ve actually been researching and developing skincare for over 20 years! I started whilst I was at University, which led to my first skincare brand, Skin Doctors. After achieving great success in Australia and internationally, I sold the brand but kept my passion for creating life enhancing skincare.
I felt there was a real gap in the market for clinical grade skincare that focuses on solving individual problems, rather than selling a regime or routine. I wanted to build a range which solved women’s most common and frustrating beauty problems with clinically proven products that don’t cost a fortune, but can deliver real changes from the comfort of home.
What is freezeframe's beauty philosophy?
We believe every woman deserves to feel beautiful and we are passionate about helping women look and feel their best. It’s all about empowering women with the confidence to live their best lives.
Has the success of the company surprised you in any way?
I’m constantly humbled by the millions of women who have chosen to share their skin perfecting journey with us.
What’s important to you as a woman leader in the beauty industry?
For me it’s not about being a woman, it’s what’s important to me as a human being. It shouldn’t matter whether I am a male leader or a female leader – the same things are important as we are all sharing the human experience.
As a leader and as a person, kindness, equality and inclusion are extremely important and this relates equally to gender issues, gender identity, race, disability and quite simply is the basic right of every human being. I am also very focused on impact – both positive and negative so it is important to me that as a business we are conscious of the impact we are making on both people and our planet.
Best business advice you’ve ever been given?
I would have to say that this came from a book called the Power of Nice by Ronald Shapiro. In any negotiation, in business or life, look at both sides and try to create a situation where both sides win. When both sides win you naturally win, and you get to win whilst making other people happy too.
What is one of your favourite launches to date?
My favourite launches are always the ones I’m right in the middle of – innovation excites me! Currently, that’s our new non surgical EYELID LIFT. The technology in this is so incredible. It’s taken me 10 years to find a technology that can help to lift sagging upper eyelids without surgery – but it was worth the wait! This eye serum can actually lift and open up the eyes by up to 43% - what’s not to be excited about!
What has been one the hardest formulations to perfect?
Without a doubt that would be our INHIBOX formula. This is a breathtaking serum that instantly wipes away wrinkles and puffiness within a few minutes of application. You just put it on and watch skin smooth and tighten instantly.
A lot of companies have tried to copy this but it is incredibly hard to achieve this effect without whitening, flaking or cracking. After perfecting the formula over 12 years, I am happy to say INHIBOX does none of those things, and it is still one of our most popular products.
What has been a standout campaign/product for the brand and why?
Revitaleyes is definitely the standout – not just because it was the first product to address three major signs of – deep wrinkles, chronic puffiness and serious dark circles – in one clinical solution, but because of the response we have had from millions of women around the world with one sold every 20 seconds. In fact, Australian women have loved it so much, it has been the number one eye cream in the country for four years in a row!
What would you say to other women wanting to pave their own path in the beauty industry?
I would say that the most important things to arm yourself with are passion and a unique proposition. There are literally thousands of brands competing in this space so it is important to be very clear about why you are different.
What excites you about the future of freezeframe?
I’m always looking for new technologies to solve even more beauty problems for women, so building our range is really important, but I think the most exciting thing about freezeframe’s future is how new technologies are enabling us to enter new markets and reach more women across the globe via e-commerce. This is a key focus for us right now.
Any new launches we should keep an eye out for?
Definitely our non-surgical EYELID LIFT, which is launching mid November. It’s clinically formulated to target sagging upper eyelids. In over 20 years I have never seen a topical product that could lift eyelids long term, but this peptide enriched serum lifts eyelids and opens up the entire eye area with dramatic results in just 28 days.
You really just need to look at the before and after pictures to see what a difference it can make – years fall away and the whole face looks lifted, happier and fresher. We all want smoother skin, but nothing can make an impact as dramatic as lifting and opening up the eyes.
You can find the freezeframe range and download hi-res image here.