Eight years after launching her Mount Airy skincare company, a Philadelphia founder is undertaking the latest rebrand with the hopes of landing in a big-box retailer in 2024 and scaling e-commerce.
Lakisha Bullock launched SCB Naturals in 2015 as a result of her own skin ailments which she struggled to cure with modern medicine and other over-the-counter products. After giving birth to her son, Bullock developed eczema, the inflammatory skin condition characterized by dry, scaly skin and rashes that afflicts some 31.6 million Americans, according to the National Eczema Association. Her son, too, developed the condition and she decided to focus her early formulations on products that would work for them both.
She began researching natural products made with ingredients like shea butter and essential oils, which she found soothed her skin.
Her decision to pursue skincare dated back to her own childhood. Starting at the age of 11, Bullock became interested in the beauty industry, dabbling in skincare, haircare and nails after being bullied. She used her skills to do her own hair, nails and skin, as well as friends and family.
“I wanted to feel empowered,” she said of her foray into the industry early on.
Always thinking she could make a career of it, Bullock didn’t think at the time she would launch her own brand. That changed at the age of 16 when she discovered Lisa Price, the founder of multicultural beauty brand Carol’s Daughter, which makes hair, body and skin care products. Price began the brand in her kitchen, something that resonated with Bullock, who went on to make her own products with items she found at home, such as bananas, yogurt and honey.
“That’s where the dream kind of came in,” Bullock, a West Philadelphia native, recalled.
That dream never wavered and in 2011 Bullock attended cosmetology school, becoming a licensed cosmetologist.
Today SCB Naturals – SCB stands for she creates beauty – is known for its hand-made bar soaps, face oils, cleansers, moisturizers and serums.
Bar soaps are $10 a piece and include the best-selling Charcoal and Rose Clay Soap Bar, as well as those made with coffee, aloe and sage, lavender and chamomile, and hibiscus rose and geranium.
Other products include a natural deodorant ($12), beard balm ($18), rosewater facial toner ($22) and an array of body lotions ($24). Bullock also offers a selection of haircare products like oils, moisturizers and shampoo bars.
To determine her suite of products, Bullock considers her own needs as well as common ailments others face. That includes hyperpigmentation and signs of aging. As she developed the brand, Bullock knew she wanted it to serve multiple skin types, not just one segment of the population, and so has geared products toward an array of skin tones and genders. “I wanted to make sure I had products that can work for everyone,” she said.
The certified woman and minority-owned brand is also vegan and Bullock favors using natural ingredients that are environmentally friendly, in addition to sustainable packaging, an extension of her own ethos.
Products are made with ingredients found in nature, including herbs and flowers. Bullock even grows some of the ingredients, like damask roses, which she said are “very good for anti-aging, very good for hyperpigmentation, … for acne breakouts, and it’s also good if you have dry skin or sensitive skin.”
The branding shift to focus on sustainability was among the changes Bullock made in 2020, a banner year for the company that built on momentum from 2019.
In 2019, prior to Covid-19 lockdowns, Bullock was heavily focused on in-person events to drive business, something that helped set her up for success the following year when consumers didn’t have access to hair and skincare professionals. The added focus on self-care and wellness also helped boost business. Many turned to local brands, including SCB Naturals, and from 2019 to 2020 Bullock said business quintupled.
It was such a boon that she decided to leave her nonprofit job to pursue SCB Naturals full-time, something she did until recently. Maintaining a foothold in the beauty industry, Bullock is fittingly doubling as a career planning specialist at Empire Beauty School in Philadelphia.
“It wasn't something that was planned. It just happened and it felt good. It felt right,” she said.
Her focus for SCB Naturals is now on scaling e-commerce. Presently, she said business is evenly split between e-commerce, retail and events but wants to scale back events so that e-commerce and wholesale drive business.
To get there, she is working with a marketer on another brand update and strategy which she hopes will see SCB Naturals land in a big box store next year.
Presently, SCB Naturals can be found in a handful of Philadelphia-area spots like Plant and People, Philly Foodworks and Forin Café in Philadelphia, plus Makers Off Main in Doylestown.
E-commerce sales are concentrated in Greater Philadelphia, but extend throughout the country, with upticks in California and Florida.
Though non-gendered, SCB Natural’s core demographic is primarily women between the ages of 30 and 50.
In addition to bigger wholesale and retail partnerships, Bullock has her eye on her own brick-and-mortar space further down the line.
