Sweaty, acne-prone young guys are largely ignored by the beauty, grooming and wellness industries, especially in the clean beauty space. Meet 31st State.
Developed specifically for Gen Z guys just as they enter the grooming market, 31st State is a tight edit of vegan/gluten free essentials for skin, hair and body -- just enough choice and convenience for the guy who can't be bothered with an elaborate daily routine and whose needs are well, basic. Made with hero ingredients from nature like copper, magnesium, zinc, silver and lactic acid, 31st State ticks all the grooming boxes and is created in line with Gen Z's personal values like greater focus on animal welfare, the environment and reducing their carbon footprint.
"Sweaty, acne-prone adolescent boys are largely ignored by the beauty grooming and wellness industries. It's the teenage girl who normally gets all the attention from brands and marketers, while any boy in need of a hair, skin or grooming fix is left to root around products geared toward grown men or women" 31st State Founder, Stephanie Capuano.
Founder Story Stephanie, a California native who lives in London, discovered when her 14-year-old son was packing up for boarding school a few years ago.
“About two weeks before he left, I think stress — and puberty — hit. His skin started breaking out with those pesky little spots across his nose, and then he started to smell — there was this crazy body odor that came on. And there I was, a mother always wanting to make smarter choices — about food, laundry care and bathroom cleaning products. But the products I found for young men, and teenagers, were not up to scratch,” Capuano said.
She recalls making trips to Boots and reading the labels of popular products. She found aerosol deodorants that were bad for the planet, and skin care laden with harsh chemicals.
She ended up at Space NK, and bought an expensive tub of clearing pads for her son’s spots — cutting them in half to maximize the supply — and said the whole experience got her thinking.
Hunting in pharmacies and beauty counters, Capuano did find some suitable, all-natural products, but they smelled strange, and often the packaging was frumpy — or at least not appealing to urbane kids who are into streetwear and shopping on Depop.
“I wanted something stylish and aspirational, something that they would actually use,” she said. In a bid to satisfy those requirements Capuano, who’d had a career in pharmaceutical and biotec public relations before moving to London, created 31st State.
She named the brand after her native California, the 31st state to join the Union in 1850, and tailored the products around adolescents and young adults. She tried to make them smell good, and look good on the bathroom shelf with gender-neutral branding, sun-bleached colors and a typeface that looks like it’s been handwritten.
