Scarlett Johansson Launches Minimalist Skincare Line 'The Outset'

Scarlett Johansson Launches Minimalist Skincare Line ‘The Outset’

By Molly Davis

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Another celeb has thrown her beauty hat into the ring and launched her own brand — actor Scarlett Johansson.

Her brand is called The Outset and takes a minimalist approach to skincare with its simple navy and white packaging, which is how Johansson approaches her own skin care.

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She co-founded the brand with entrepreneur Kate Foster, though Johansson says she had been working on it for years.

“The path to creating The Outset was a labor of love. Scarlett spent three years learning about the beauty business and experimenting with formulations before meeting Kate via mutual connections in the industry, and The Outset started to take shape,” says the duo.

“When the global pandemic hit in 2020, the duo spent time together but apart, building the business over video conference, text, phone calls, and sending samples back and forth via FedEx. Two years later, they are excited to share their new beginning with the world — The Outset, a brand of clean beauty essentials to simplify and elevate your everyday routine.”

About The Outset

“Founded by Scarlett Johansson, The Outset believes that clean and effective skincare should be universal, accessible and essential. We create purposeful products that are consciously clean and mindfully designed to elevate your everyday. Driven by our values of radical simplicity, conscious minimalism, and universal optimism, we help people embrace the elemental and find freedom in the uncomplicated,” says The Outset.

“We learned that customers were really struggling to find clean products they want and clean, nontoxic products that are also effective,” Johansson said.

How Is The Outset Different From Other Brands?

The ingredients are “Sourced from the seeds of the Cassia flower, our botanical alternative to hyaluronic acid delivers immediate and lasting moisture to plump, smooth and nourish the skin.

“Hyaluronic acid is a fundamental component of skin, and we wanted to recreate it in a natural, plant-based way. Hyaluroset™ Complex is a botanically-derived ingredient blend that provides the same moisturizing and plumping benefits to the skin.”

Key features:

Delivers immediate and lasting hydration
Plumps skin to smooth the look of fine lines and wrinkles
Boosts radiance

Why Johansson Created The Brand

Johansson “Struggled with acne from a young age, from the moment she was “pubescent,” she said. “[I was] hyper-aware of how the way my skin looked on any one day affected my sense of well-being. And maybe because I’m in the public eye, it was more amplified in a way,” she said.

“After representing other brands as a character in their campaigns, I wanted to build a brand that was reflective of me and my beauty ideals. Because I have spent so much of my life in front of the camera, I’m acutely aware of how much my skin is linked to my confidence. There are so many brands and formulas and harsh ingredients, but for me, the simpler, the better. Finding freedom in the uncomplicated was something I wanted to make available to everyone,” she said.

Johansson strove to create high-quality items that would not break your bank. All the products are under $55 and exclude 2,700 harmful ingredients. She thought skincare should be simple and approachable, and while researching products, she found that others agree.

So, Johansson and Foster got to work.

In the development process, they tried experimental product formats, like a self-warming mask. “I forgot to tell Colin [Jost, her husband and “SNL” star] that it was self-warming and he thought his skin was melting off,” Johansson said.

“Our tagline is ‘begin again,’” she said. “It’s like every day is an opportunity to start fresh. And when I think about skin care….The first person you see is yourself, and every day, you have the ability to reconnect with yourself and state your intention, refocus and restart and recharge. And I hope that’s a moment that people take with our brand.”

The brand first launched direct-to-consumer in March with five products: a micellar cleanser (Gentle Micellar Antioxidant Cleanser), a serum (Firming Vegan Collagen Prep Serum), a moisturizer (Nourishing Squalane Daily Moisturizer), a night cream (Restorative Niacinamide Night Cream) and an eye cream (Smoothing Vitamin C Eye + Expression Lines Cream).

The Outset is fragrance-free, vegan, gluten-free, nut and allergen-free, and dermatologist tested.

The Outset is available here and will soon be at Sephora — you can shop below!