“If you need help, ask.” That’s one of the key lessons Pippa Harman, Co-founder & CEO of Renude, has learned along her journey in the personal care industry. With a background in formulation chemistry and years of experience in both corporate and startup beauty, she saw first-hand how overwhelming skincare choices could be for consumers. So, she set out to change that.
For #InternationalWomensDay, we spoke with Pippa about the biggest challenges facing personal care today, being a woman leader in the personal care space and empowering other women, and the role of AI in simplifying skincare and re-defining how consumers shop within the beauty industry.
Navigating Today’s Skincare Challenges
LEHVOSS Personal Care: The personal care industry is constantly evolving. From your perspective, what are some of the most significant challenges brands and consumers face today?
Pippa Harman: The modern consumer is more discerning than ever, but also more overwhelmed. With thousands of products on the market, finding the right one can feel like an impossible task. For brands and retailers, the challenge is reducing overwhelm while providing comprehensive information about a product, to drive confident purchasing decisions.
This is why we built Renude. The confusion skincare consumers face results in them buying the wrong product in 62% of cases, wasting their time and money in the process. For brands and retailers, the result of a poorly matched purchase could be turning someone off the brand for good.
Renude’s white-labelled solution allows brands and retailers to offer personalised skincare support to their customers, reducing confusion and overwhelm by providing simple and clear product recommendations and advice.
Leading as a Woman in Beauty & Tech
LEHVOSS Personal Care: As a co-founder and female leader in the industry, what have been the most rewarding aspects of building Renude?
Pippa Harman: One of the best parts for me is hearing how we’ve helped people feel more confident in their skin. For a lot of us working in the beauty industry, that feeling of creating things that make people feel better is the reason we do it. Whether that be making effective formulations or building a tool like Renude that can recommend the best suited products to get results, delivering that confidence to consumers is the ultimate end goal.
Getting to build a dream team of talented, passionate individuals is also a huge perk of the job! Your team is your biggest asset, and we have been privileged to build a team of smart, kind individuals who feel excited about solving this problem in the market.
LEHVOSS Personal Care: Do you think female leadership brings a unique perspective to business challenges?
Pippa Harman: I have had the fortune of spending most of my career surrounded by amazing female leaders and company founders. Prior to Renude I was working for Beauty Pie, led by the phenomenal Marcia Kilgore and an incredible female leadership team. I do think about my time there as an example of what fantastic leadership looks like.
I don’t necessarily believe that this approach is exclusive to females, but the elements which I aim to embody are empathy, calm and transparency. In my experience, if you hire the right people that really care about what the company is trying to achieve, then as long as you foster an environment where everyone feels respected, appreciated and challenged in the right way, this will result in an unstoppable team!
Empowerment & the Role of Personal Care
LEHVOSS Personal Care: The beauty industry has long been debated—does it empower women, or does it reinforce outdated beauty standards? What’s your take?
Pippa Harman: It’s a complicated issue. We’ve made progress, but unrealistic beauty standards are still a challenge. Social media, in particular, has changed the game—before, it was professional models and celebrities being retouched, but now, everyday users are editing and filtering their images. It creates this illusion of perfection that even the people in the photos don’t actually look like.
That said, I do believe that personal care can be empowering. It’s about how we engage with it. We are seeing more consumer awareness now about ingredients, supply chains, testing processes etc and this rise of awareness in turn means that transparency of information has become more important.
More consumers are choosing brands that align with their values, prioritizing transparency, sustainability, and authenticity. If consumers choose to support these brands through purchasing, their voices will become the loudest and they can shape our beauty standards. We also see self-care playing a bigger role, where beauty rituals become moments of mindfulness rather than just routines. The power is in the consumer’s hands.
The Future of Personalized Skincare
LEHVOSS Personal Care: Looking ahead, what’s next for Renude and AI-powered skincare?
Pippa Harman: Our vision is to make personalized skin support accessible anytime, anywhere. We’re focused on expanding our reach by licensing our AI technology to more brands and retailers, bringing Renude’s expertise directly to their customers.
Through our white-labelled AI, we offer skin analysis, personalized recommendations, and conversational skincare advice—all in real-time. By integrating these tools into the shopping experience, we hope to set a new industry standard for personalized beauty.
We’ve already seen incredible results—94% of users experience visible skin improvements within six weeks—and we’re only getting started. The more we learn, the better our technology becomes.
Advice for Women in Beauty & Beyond
LEHVOSS Personal Care: For women looking to step into leadership roles in the personal care industry, what advice would you give?
Pippa Harman: If you need help, ask. Throughout my journey, I’ve been amazed at how generous people are with their time and advice. Whether it’s a mentor, a peer, or even someone you admire on LinkedIn, don’t be afraid to reach out. You’ll be surprised at how many doors open when you take that step.
And don’t get in your own way! As the saying goes, perfection is the enemy of progress.