The Principles Behind Every Ye Olde Biddy Skincare Formula
What makes YOB different?
The answer isn't a single ingredient, trend, or claim. It's the way I think about creating products.
As an artist and designer, I learned to think about how individual parts work together to create a cohesive whole, and that perspective shapes how I formulate products.
When I began studying skincare formulation, I discovered the same principle applied there as well. Ingredients interact with one another. Small changes can have a significant impact on the final product.
But formulation doesn't end with ingredients. The person using the product, the experience of using it, and the role it plays in a daily routine matter too.
At its core, Ye Olde Biddy is shaped by a holistic rather than mechanistic view of the world.
I've encountered this way of thinking everywhere that has captured my interest—from art and design to botany, herbalism, and skincare formulation. The relationships between the parts are often just as important as the parts themselves.
Beauty & the Senses
Beauty matters.
Not beauty in the conventional sense, but the role beauty plays in our daily lives. Too often, aesthetic experiences are dismissed as frivolous, yet the environments we create and the things we surround ourselves with influence how we feel, think, and move through the world.
There is growing evidence that exposure to nature, art, and thoughtfully designed spaces can reduce stress, improve mood, support focus, and even influence our physical wellbeing. To me, that makes beauty anything but superficial. Beauty isn't a luxury for a few; it's an essential for all.
That belief carries into my formulations.
I want products to support healthy, vibrant skin, but I also want them to feel good to use. Texture, scent, and color all contribute to the experience. Skincare can be functional while still providing a moment of beauty, pleasure, or sensory escape.
Adaptability & Flexibility
Adaptability is one of nature's greatest strengths, and I think the same principle applies to skincare.
People rarely fit neatly into a single skin type or concern. Our needs change over time and often from season to season.
Rather than creating unrelated products designed to solve isolated problems, I wanted to create a collection that could be mixed, matched, layered, and adjusted based on individual preferences and changing needs.
Many of the formulas are intentionally related to one another. Similar ingredients and goals appear across the collection in different forms, allowing people to adjust their routines based on skin type, sensitivity, season, preference, or desired level of support.
The goal isn't complexity. It's flexibility.
Long-Term Vitality Over Hero Ingredients
The skincare industry loves a hero ingredient.
An ingredient becomes popular, appears everywhere, and is presented as the answer to all our problems. Eventually attention shifts to the next ingredient, and then the next.
Many of these ingredients are genuinely effective. What I don't believe is that any one ingredient is responsible for healthy skin.
The reality is usually less exciting and more complex.
Hydration, moisturization, consistency, and supporting the skin barrier may not be the most marketable concepts, but they are often the foundations of healthy skin.
When evaluating a formula, I find myself returning to the same benchmarks: radiance, clarity, even tone, bounce, and firmness. Those qualities matter more to me than any single trending ingredient ever could.
The Importance of Plants and Botanicals
Plants are what first drew me to formulation.
Throughout history, they have played a central role in how people care for themselves. They are woven into the story of medicine, food, beauty, and culture across continents and generations. I find that relationship fascinating.
I start with plants because I value their complexity, compatibility, and connection to the larger story of how people have cared for themselves throughout history.
Most of my formulas begin there. Botanical oils, extracts, hydrosols, infusions, and other plant-derived ingredients form the foundation of the collection.
At the same time, I am grateful for the researchers and ingredient manufacturers whose work has expanded what is possible in formulation.
Their innovations have improved stability, texture, performance, and the overall user experience while making more plant-derived, natural-origin, and sustainable ingredients available than ever before.
What matters most to me is creating products guided by a simple principle: more healing and less harm. Whether that comes from a whole botanical ingredient, a modern active, or a combination of both, the formulation is what matters.
Serious Formulas, Without Taking Skincare Too Seriously
One of the things that made me uncomfortable when observing the beauty industry was how much anxiety seemed to surround skincare.
Too many conversations felt centered on correction, perfection, or the constant pursuit of fixing ourselves.
That was never the relationship I wanted to have with skincare, and it's not the relationship I want Ye Olde Biddy to encourage.
I care deeply about formulation, ingredient selection, and product performance. But I don't believe aging is a failure, and I don't believe skincare should become another source of pressure.
There is already enough pressure, criticism, and anxiety in the world. I'd rather contribute a little more beauty, creativity, humor, and joy.
Looking Ahead
The collection will continue to evolve. Existing formulas may improve. New products will be added. Ideas will grow and change.
But the principles behind it will remain the same.
References
Nature exposure and physical & mental wellbeing
Jimenez MP et al.
Associations Between Nature Exposure and Health: A Review of the Evidence (2021)
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8125471/
Nature exposure and mental health (systematic review & meta-analysis)
Bettmann JE et al.
A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis on the Effect of Nature Exposure on Mental Health (2025)
https://www.mdpi.com/2076-328X/15/2/153
Viewing art and wellbeing (systematic review)
Trupp MKD et al.
The Impact of Viewing Art on Well-Being: A Systematic Review (2025)
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/17439760.2025.2481041
Art and psychological wellbeing
Mastandrea S et al.
Art and Psychological Well-Being: Linking the Brain to Health (2019)
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6458291/