Newport family business offers all-vegan skincare range

Arcade Skincare is run by biochemist Michael Ford with his husband Alex and sister Emma.

The team have been hard at work creating a completely vegan range of skincare products after extensive research revealed a gap in the market for affordable, ethical products.

Biochemist Michael has worked as a cosmetic formulator for a number of big brands over the years and discovered that many aren’t always completely vegan.

He explained: “Some companies add extras in, such as colours, preservatives, or other items that make them not fully suitable for vegans. That’s something we want to combat.

“Our company ethos is simply that everything has a purpose. If something doesn’t actively need to be in one of our products, we don’t put it in.”

All of their products are environmentally friendly, including biodegradable tape and packaging, with many ingredients being plant-based.

There are a range of vegan products available, from creams to cleansers to conditioners (Image: Sallie Phillips, Newsquest)Creator Alex says being accessible to everyone is something really important for the company. “We want to be accessible and affordable to all customers," he said.

“It became obvious during our research that a big problem for a lot of people was that being ethical was really expensive, so we made it our mission to keep our costs down and as affordable as possible.

“We know that some of the costs of natural ingredients can be more expensive, but we work fair-trade, so all the money goes straight to the growers, and we do our best to balance that out.

“It’s exciting to be the first ones to find this niche and to know how to appeal to our market.”

Alex makes all of the products by hand in his specialist kitchen at their headquarters (Image: Sallie Phillips, Newsquest)Mike describes the business as “selling a dream” as they are able to completely be transparent about what is in their products and can prove that it is all completely vegan.

One of their biggest sellers since launching four months ago is a vegan version of Sudocrem, which they have dubbed ‘Susan’s Crème’.

Some of their best-selling products to date are the Susan's Creme, Gel to Milk cleanser and Good Roots shampoo bar (Image: Sallie Phillips, Newsquest)In order to help keep prices low, the business is operated fully online, but does provide a click and collect service from their office in Newport’s Market Arcade.

If you would like to explore the range of products on their website, click here.