Earlier this month, the team behind Australian beauty and aesthetics distributor Derma Aesthetics hosted an extravagant lunch to celebrate the launch of the SIMKA SPF range.
Professional Beauty’s Editor-in-Chief Hannah Gay had the pleasure of traveling to Byron Bay to join SIMKA founders Reika Roberts and Simone Vescio at the upmarket Raes on Wategos. The event was hosted in partnership with long-standing Derma Aesthetics stockist and esteemed local clinic, The Aestheticá Byron Bay. SIMKA national educators Lisa Paone and Kai Atkinson were also on hand to navigate guests through the distinguishing characteristics of each product and how they are best used.
Affordable, effective sun protection
In Australia, 1300 lives are at risk of skin cancer yearly. The SIMKA SPF range seeks to provide an affordable, yet effective offering to the booming sun protection market. “We want you to think differently about sunscreen,” Reika and Simone expressed to the intimate group of editors and influencers present. The name SIMKA is a play on the names of the brand’s founders Simone SIM- and Reika -KA. “We created SIMKA to embrace the principle of ‘less is more.’ Our products are meticulously crafted to deliver powerful results without overwhelming your skin.”
Alongside sun protection is the provision of long-term support and results to the skin – an aim that speaks to the founders’ decades-long investment in skincare innovation. “Every choice we make—whether in ingredient sourcing or packaging—reflects our dedication to skinimalism and corneotherapy.” They added, “it’s just as important to leave out ingredients than it is to put ingredients in. It’s also hard to produce a product that is corneotherapeutic because it’s so clean.”
“Corneotherapy is rooted in protection, repair and maintenance of the skin,” Lisa discussed. Formulations are protected via the inclusion of photostabilisers. Formulas were also designed as such to protect the skin against matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) – enzymes, Lisa said, are known to break down collagen and elastin.
The SIMKA SPF range
The SIMKA Invisible Facial Fluid SPF 50 served as the day’s hero unveiling – a featherlight, stable chemical formulation incorporating the brand’s trademarked SIMKASHIELD technology. “SIMKASHIELD works on 24-hour technology to help fight oxidative stress built up throughout the day,” Simone explained. Invisible, Lisa described, has a “powder-like finish”.
The product is one of three dual-filter formulations to make up a line of UVA + UVB Broad Spectrum face products, with the SIMKA Sheer Mineral Milk SPF 50 recently hitting the market. Boasting the same SIMKASHIELD technology, the mineral-based, non-comedogenic alternative is rich in lipids and works to elevate symptoms of skin inflammation and acne. A third, tinted solution is also set to launch in coming months.
Rounding out the range is the SIMKA Lip Therapy SPF 15 to protect and repair sun-exposed lips. The team revealed an additional four lip balms are set to launch in the new year, as well as a range of day creams and serums boasting a variety of active ingredients for different skin types.
Australian made sunscreen
The SIMKA SPF range is Australian made and manufactured in NSW. Products are cruelty-free and fragrance-free, as “fragrances are the biggest aggressors for pigmentation”. “Being Australian made is important to us as founders,” the duo said. “I’ve (Simone) loved watching our team develop every touch point of SIMKA.”
The “pure, potent and active” skincare-suncare hybrids have gained TGA approval – a process Reika and Simone described as “expensive and time-consuming. “It costs $AUD22,000 a year to have a product re-tested by the TGA,” they admitted. The products’ packaging is also said to be the only one of its kind in the world.
“If someone had told me three-and-a-half years ago that this is what would be involved in gaining TGA approval, I wouldn’t have gone through it!” Simone admitted, further showcasing the effort SIMKA placed into developing a product that was just right. “I’ve made a lot of mistakes; it’s been a real learning curve.”
Since launching in August 2023, SIMKA has experienced an unprecedented uptake of as many as 900 clinics across Australia and New Zealand. When it comes to the SIMKA SPF range, Lisa said “we’re sticking to our own lane; we’re not worried about trends.”
To stock SIMKA, visit this link.
Photography: Kat Rollings Photography
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