In a category built on 10-step routines and the next fashionable active, new Australian skincare brand, ONOURE is making a quieter argument.
Skin is a living biological system with its own capacity for balance, and healthy-looking skin does not necessarily come from doing more.
Founded by Australian clinical skin therapist, Paula Cliffin, the brand is an amalgamation of more than 35 years of experience, coming together to formulate the Complete Serum, the first product from ONOURE.
Now available in Australia and New Zealand, the serum brings together three biotechnology-derived ingredients in a formula independently certified microbiome-friendly by KIND TO BIOME®.
BD spoke with Cliffin all about ONOURE's launch, the intentional decision to start with one product, the shift she’s has seen with customer attitudes towards skin health, and the innovation behind biotechnology in skincare.
Image: Australian clinical skin therapist and ONOURE founder, Paula Cliffin.
A brand built from experience
What gaps in the Australian skincare market did you see that led you to create ONOURE?
We're very good at telling consumers what's wrong with their skin, and there's always something new to buy to put it right. I've watched people become increasingly confused by conflicting advice, complicated routines, and the constant pressure to do more.
Somewhere along the way, we've lost confidence in our own judgement about our skin, and I find that troubling.
Skin is a living tissue, not a surface that needs endless correction. It responds to health, environment, stress, and everything we put it through. I know that professionally, but I also know it personally from living with psoriasis and eczema. Sometimes the answer isn’t another intervention. Sometimes we need to understand what is already happening.
I wanted to make products grounded in that understanding, using the best of contemporary ingredient science without losing respect for the skin itself. That’s the point of ONOURE.
Establishing with intention
With Complete Serum as your first launch, what was your thinking behind starting with a single hero product rather than a broader range? How does this reflect your approach to building the brand?
Launching with one product was entirely intentional. I wanted to establish what ONOURE stands for before introducing a broader range.
I've never believed that skin needs an endless number of products to function well. In practice, I often found myself asking clients why they were using so many products, rather than recommending another one.
Complete Serum was developed as our foundation – beginning with the environment skin depends upon rather than a particular skin type or concern. Its three pillars, Protection, Vitality and Clarity, reflect that thinking, bringing together carefully selected ingredients and advanced biotechnology in one considered formulation.
Independent KIND TO BIOME® certification was important to me because microbiome compatibility is fundamental to how we approach formulation.
We have more products in development, but they will be introduced with the same discipline. Each must serve a genuine purpose and have a clear place within the range.
I want ONOURE to be known for the thought behind its products, not the number of products we produce.
The future of biotechnology science in skincare
Biotechnology is becoming an increasingly important part of beauty innovation. Can you explain this process and what does it allow you to achieve that traditional ingredient sourcing might not? How do you see this space evolving?
This is one of the areas of skincare science that genuinely excites me, because it can change how ingredients are made, not just what ends up in a bottle.
Nature gives us extraordinary molecules. Traditionally, obtaining some of them has meant growing, harvesting and extracting plant material. Biotechnology offers another way. By using biological systems such as microorganisms and fermentation, scientists can produce certain molecules under controlled conditions, sometimes the same molecules found in nature without having to extract them from the plant.
That opens possibilities for more consistent, precisely defined ingredients and access to molecules that would otherwise be difficult to source. It also has enormous environmental potential, including reducing our dependence on certain crops, agricultural land, and conventional extraction processes.
Complete Serum includes biotechnology-derived Naringenin, a flavonoid also found in citrus.
I work directly with Debut Biotech in San Diego, where ONOURE's formulations are developed and manufactured. Having access to that level of scientific expertise has been extraordinary.
I bring my experience of skin, a very clear idea of what I want each formulation to achieve, and I'm certainly not afraid to challenge the team along the way. It's a genuine collaboration, and one that allows us to bring together advanced biotechnology and a lifetime of working with skin.
I think biotechnology could change this industry enormously, not only in what we can achieve for skin, but in how responsibly we produce the ingredients we use.
Image: ONOURE's Complete Serum
Shifting consumer attitudes towards skin health
Over your 35+ years experience in the skincare industry, how have you seen consumer attitudes towards skin health change?
I think we’ve gradually handed too much authority over our own skin to other people.
Clients used to tell me how their skin felt and what they had noticed. Increasingly, they came in worried by conflicting advice, trying to keep up with the latest routine or ingredient. There’s wonderful information available now, but we’ve also been marketed out of trusting our own observations.
Social media has blurred beauty and skin health. Filtered, almost identical faces have become a kind of benchmark. Where did we get the idea that pores, lines and texture were faults? I’ve never wanted everyone to look the same. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and individuality is a good thing.
Beautiful-looking skin isn’t necessarily healthy skin. Skin can look lovely and still be uncomfortable or reactive. And a person living with a visible skin condition is no less beautiful. I understand how deeply appearance can affect confidence because I’ve lived that experience myself.
I’m pleased to see people questioning these narrow ideals. I want them to feel able to look like themselves. Of course, qualified medical advice matters when there’s a skin disease or persistent symptoms. But nobody else lives in your skin. Your observations count. We should be helping people build that confidence, not taking it away.
Confidence in knowledge
What are the most common skin concerns you see in clinic today? And what are your top three expert tips for overall skin health?
The thing that stays with me from clinical practice isn't one particular skin condition. It's how often I saw skin under pressure, and not just from skincare.
Skin lives through everything we do. Heat, cold, humidity, changing seasons, stress, poor sleep, hormones, illness, medication, the environment we're in. Then, on top of all that, we ask it to cope with products, actives and treatments, often changing them before we've really understood what is going on.
I saw people trying to correct every change in their skin when sometimes the first question should have been: what's happening in your life, and what might your skin be responding to? I wasn't seeing a shortage of skincare. I was seeing skin being asked to cope with an awful lot.
My three tips would be:
1. Pay attention to your own skin. You know how it normally feels, and you notice when something changes. Think about the weather, your health, your stress levels, and your routine before reaching for another product. Persistent or worrying symptoms deserve proper medical advice, but your observations matter.
2. Give skin some consistency. Its barrier and microbiome are part of a living protective system. Be thoughtful about cleansing, active ingredients, and treatments. Ask what each product is there for, rather than assuming that adding more must be better.
3. Let your skin be your skin. It will change through life, and it won't look or feel identical every day. Protect it from the sun, support it appropriately, and don't feel obliged to correct every line, blemish or change in texture.
I want people to have confidence in what their own skin is telling them again. Somewhere along the way, we've been marketed out of that confidence. Good advice should help us understand our skin, not make us afraid to trust ourselves.
Three technologies, one considered formulation
Complete Serum is designed to sit at the centre of a routine rather than add to it. In one formula, it brings together what people most often ask of a serum: hydration and barrier support, the look of firmer, smoother skin, and a brighter, more even-looking tone.
It is built around three biotechnology-derived ingredient technologies, selected for complementary roles:
– Naringenin (InflammagePRO™ by Debut) – A biotechnology-derived antioxidant, selected to help skin maintain comfort and balance as it responds to everyday environmental stress.
– Pichia Ferment Lysate Filtrate (BeautiFerm® Lift by Evonik) – Produced through controlled yeast fermentation and selected to support the appearance of firmness, elasticity and smoother-looking texture.
– Hydrolyzed Yeast Extract and Glycolipids (Brighlette™ by Lubrizol) – A marine biotechnology-derived complex, selected to support luminosity, a more even-looking tone and the appearance of dark spots.
These three ingredients are supported by niacinamide, which helps maintain visible skin balance, and squalane, shea butter and jojoba seed oil for hydration and surface comfort.
You can shop ONOURE Complete Serum ($250 / 30mL) from onoure.com here.
You can also download hi-res product imagery for editorial inclusions via ONOURE's brand listing here.
Image credit: Supplied/ONOURE
