Scence

Scence is a British natural skincare brand based in Falmouth, Cornwall, that makes vegan, plastic-free balms by hand in a small coastal laboratory. Its range centres on solid balms rather than lotions or creams: natural deodorants, perfume balms, face and lip balms, body and hand balms, and after-sun products. The company sums up its approach in a three-word tagline, "Vegan. Natural. Plastic-free", and sells directly to customers, shipping within the United Kingdom.

The brand was founded by two sisters, Krista Taylor and Melanie Stiles, both trained in anatomy, physiology and complementary therapies such as aromatherapy and massage. Its first and best-known product was a natural deodorant, which grew out of a wish to make an effective plant-based deodorant while avoiding single-use plastic packaging. Scence remains a small artisan operation and continues to trade through its own website.

Scence was created by Krista Taylor and Melanie Stiles, sisters who had earlier careers outside cosmetics — according to one retailer profile, Krista ran a graphic design and fine-art studio while Mel worked in hospitality and retail. Both later qualified in complementary therapies, including anatomy and physiology, Swedish massage and aromatherapy, and it was through blending oils and products for clients that the idea for a skincare line took shape.

The company presents the two as its founding team, though sources describe their roles slightly differently. Scence's own site lists Krista Taylor as "Founder" and Melanie Stiles as "Director" [2], while the eco-retailer Peace With The Wild describes Krista as the sole founder. The Plant Shift profile frames both women as co-founding sisters [3]. The founding date is likewise unsettled: the brand's site gives no explicit year, describing Scence only as "a new company" whose formulas had been developed and tested for over five years beforehand [4], whereas Plant Shift states that the brand "was launched in 2018" [3] — a date broadly consistent with its earliest press coverage in 2019.

Scence positions itself as natural, vegan and plastic-free skincare, hand-crafted in Cornwall from what the company calls the highest-quality natural and organic ingredients, chosen to be "both nourishing for your skin and kind on the environment". The brand frames its purpose around helping customers "make good choices that care both for their skin and for our planet," and repeatedly stresses that it does so "without compromise".

Because the products are anhydrous — that is, made without water — the company says its balms need no preservatives and therefore contain no parabens. Its natural deodorants use magnesium in place of aluminium, which the brand describes as a natural and effective alternative.

The Scence line consists chiefly of solid balms across body and skincare uses, including deodorant balms, perfume balms, face and lip balms, body and hand balms, and after-sun care. According to the company, natural deodorants are its best seller [3]. Among individual products, its Fresh Cedar Body Balm was singled out by the skincare site Tajmeeli in a 2021 feature.

Formulations draw on plant oils and butters such as mango seed butter, rosehip seed oil, jojoba oil, calendula oil and borage oil, alongside frankincense essential oil, which the brand calls the "skincare king of essential oils" [7]. Several ingredients, including jojoba, borage and safflower oils, are described as certified organic by the Soil Association.

A distinctive feature of the range is its packaging. Rather than plastic tubes, Scence uses a paper-based design with a push-up applicator that the company says is fully plastic-free, recyclable and "100% domestically compostable" [7]. Development of this packaging is presented as a core part of the brand's founding project alongside the deodorant itself.

Sustainability is central to how Scence describes itself. The products are certified vegan, carrying the Vegan Society trademark, and the company states that all its ingredients are plant-derived and cruelty-free [1]. It says it uses organic ingredients wherever possible and, where organic certification is not available, ensures no pesticides are used in production, adding that all its suppliers are UK-based [4].

The laboratory in Falmouth is described as eco-friendly and solar-powered, generating its own electricity from rooftop panels [7]. The brand also reports membership of the ocean-focused charity Surfers Against Sewage and of tree-planting scheme Plant One [4].

Scence has received a number of awards from the natural and organic beauty sector. It won The Janey Loves Platinum Awards and was recognised in The Beauty Shortlist Awards in 2020, and received a Juno Magazine Best Buy Award in 2021 [8]. Its natural deodorants featured in early press coverage during 2019, including a My Green Pod "Hero Product" listing.

Scence is treated as active. Its website remains live and selling, with UK-only delivery and orders dispatched weekly. The most recent dated awards and press coverage on the company's press page run to 2021 [8], and its products continue to be stocked by several UK eco-retailers.