Corinne Morley is the global in-house beauty expert for New Zealand natural skincare brand Trilogy. A passionate international beauty specialist, she has a comprehensive industry background encompassing beauty therapy, training, research and product development.

N. Congratulations on recently celebrating 15 years in the skincare business, a remarkable achievement! Can you tell us how Trilogy started out?

Thanks! We’re really excited to be celebrating our 15th year of innovation! Fifteen years ago, New Zealand sisters Catherine de Groot and Sarah Gibbs started the rosehip oil revolution following their discovery of the skin-loving properties of rosehip oil.

Sarah and Catherine built Trilogy from a boutique local operation into an international beauty brand stocked in over 20 countries. In September 2010, they sold the brand to luxury home fragrance company Ecoya, which took control of the business in 2012. The brand now sits under Trilogy International Limited (TIL), a NZX and ASX listed company which comprises of high-performing consumer brands; Trilogy Natural Products, ECOYA and Goodness Natural Beauty Lab, leading New Zealand beauty distributor, CS&Co and Lanocorp New Zealand Limited, developer and manufactures of skincare, bodycare and haircare products.

Trilogy’s success has been by no means by accident or luck - the quality of our Certified Organic Rosehip Oil cemented our reputation as a pioneer in the natural beauty oil category. This, combined with our focus on ethical, sustainable and high-performance natural skincare, has gained us international respect within the beauty industry and we have been awarded as such. Trilogy has secured over 140 international beauty awards since 2009, with over 50 being specifically for our Certified Organic Rosehip Oil – a cult beauty product that sells every 20 seconds around the world. With the environment close to our heart, it’s no surprise that we were the first New Zealand skincare brand to achieve NATRUE certification back in 2012, as well as the first New Zealand beauty brand to achieve carbon neutral status.

N. To mark the celebration, Trilogy launched the No. 15 Limited Edition Beauty Oil. What makes this oil different?

For over a decade, we’ve promoted the skin-renewing benefits of Certified Organic Rosehip Oil. How we have developed this beauty oil has cemented our reputation as the pure plant oil experts. Therefore, to celebrate our 15th year of innovation, we wanted to launch our most ground-breaking pure plant oil blend yet!

Trilogy No.15 Limited Edition Beauty Oil is an ode to our brand heritage. We’ve travelled the world, from the tropical shores of Hawaii to the mountainous regions of Africa, to source 15 of the finest pure plant oils to blend a clinically proven anti-pollution super-seed oil.  According to a recent report by the World Health Organisation, air pollution is viewed as the largest environmental health risk factor and people are starting to recognise its harmful effects on skin - experts believe that as much as 70% of skin ageing is caused through over exposure to UV light and indoor and outdoor air pollution.

Air pollutants rob the skin cells of oxygen and encourage free radicals to form. Free radicals initiate the deterioration of the skin's structural support, increasing skin sensitivity and damaging collagen and elastin fibres, resulting in loss of elasticity and suppleness.  They are often implicated as a cause of dullness, uneven skin tone and hyper pigmentation (age spots). Air pollutants can sometimes be higher indoors than outside, so it is important to protect skin even if you are indoors. Housed in a limited-edition amber glass bottle with a chic gold dropper, Trilogy No.15 Limited Edition Beauty Oil is easily absorbed and can be used as a head-to-toe beauty treatment.

N. Alongside this beauty must-have, Trilogy launched a ‘One of a Kind’ campaign, featuring 15 real women to showcase their natural beauty. What inspired you to use these women for the campaign?

In a world rife with image retouching in advertising and media, women are constantly inundated with images of unrealistic and unattainable representations of beauty. This perpetuates the fallacy that ‘flaws’ such as wrinkles or freckles are a bad thing that need to be hidden away, which has the effect of taking a toll on self-esteem, self-perception and of course, the regular use of makeup, which many women are hesitant to be seen without. When we released our innovative limited edition oil, we coupled this with our new ‘One of a Kind’ campaign, which features 15 real-life Trilogy customers to showcase and celebrate the diversity of natural beauty. As with all imagery, the women included in the campaign are completely untouched and showcased in their natural glory.

N. The Trilogy Rosehip Oil has gained international cult status, reportedly used by Kate Middleton, and with one being sold every 20 seconds. What do you think has contributed to the unprecedented success of the product?

Performance and quality is the key to the success of our brand and our hero product.  The quality of our Certified Organic Rosehip Oil cemented our reputation as a pioneer in the natural beauty oil category and for over a decade, we’ve promoted the remarkable skin-renewing benefits of Certified Organic Rosehip Oil, which independent clinical studies have shown to be an effective treatment for scars, stretch marks and wrinkles.  Rosehip oil is rich in skin-loving nutrients and has been used for centuries to heal and rejuvenate skin.

When we launched our Certified Organic Rosehip Oil in 2002, it was one of the first cosmetic certified organic rosehip oils to market. I don’t think we realised what an impact it was going to have. Over a decade later, you’ll find our rosehip oil stocked from Norway to Antarctica. Despite the plethora of brands which have since followed, we’re very proud to have been at the forefront of the rosehip revolution.

N. Can you tell us a bit more about the benefits of Rosehip Oil?

Our Certified Organic Rosehip Oil is a superfine, easily absorbed pure seed oil which helps improve the appearance of scars, stretch marks and wrinkles. Its skin-loving natural actives are highly effective at treating dry and dehydrated skin, ageing skin and uneven skin tone.  Men love it as much as women, it’s the ideal choice for mums and mums-to-be for a growing tummy and it’s perfect for babies delicate skin too.Essential fatty acids (omegas 6 and 9), fatty acid (omega 9) and vitamins moisturise, soften and smooth, helping repair and restore radiantly healthy skin.

N. The brand is largely known for its ethos surrounding natural and eco-friendly products, how does this stance impact business decisions?

While Trilogy’s business is fundamentally based on the performance of our products, our culture is based on our philosophy of sustainable, ethical business practices. Building a meaningful business is not just about making high-performance products in a sustainable manner, it's about being responsible with every choice we make, big or small, and trying to do better ethically, environmentally and socially.

As Trilogy has grown, we have maintained our commitment to a journey towards sustainability. Whether designing a new product, revising an old one, creating packaging or transporting products around the globe, we look for ways to minimise the impact of these activities on our world.

N. Trilogy adopted a carbon neutral status in 2002. What does this mean and what impact does this have on the brand?

Right from the start, we focused on being a sustainable skincare business. In 2007, we achieved carbon neutral status, the first New Zealand skincare brand to do so, and this year we achieved another company milestone by achieving carbon-neutral status as a CarboNZero certified organisation through Enviro-Mark’s CarboNZero program.

The CarboNZero programme is the world’s first internationally accredited greenhouse gas (GHG) certification scheme under ISO 14065. It provides tools for organisations, products, services and events to measure and reduce greenhouse gas emissions (otherwise known as carbon footprint) and offset them.

Along with an independent annual audit, we work to reduce our carbon footprint and we offset what remains. We like to keep it local too. We buy carbon credits in Pigeon Bush, a permanent native forest regeneration project in Wairarapa, New Zealand. In addition, we purchased credits from a wind farm project in India, where the glass bottles and jars for its most popular products are manufactured. Glass production is energy-intensive, and the electricity generated by this project displaces fossil fuel-generated electricity from the national grid, helping reduce emissions.

N. How has social media enabled Trilogy to speak to your audience and increase sales?

Outside in-store activity, we love to connect with new and existing fans via our website, weekly e-newsletters and across a number of social media initiatives.  This is an extension of our retail experience and rather than simply push information out, we engage in the channels our fans and new fans choose and invite them into the brand with expert knowledge, support and exciting offerings to reward them and further their discovery of Trilogy.

Trilogy products are available from selected Farmers, pharmacy, department and health stores nationwide.  For more information, visit www.trilogyproducts.com