In Her Element: “I really wanted to create something I could use myself.”
Stine Wincentsen, Former Mentor and Founder of Roots of Kin (Photo: Nicole M. Gomes)
In Her Element is an editorial series of portraits – written and shot by Nicole M. Gomes – spotlighting women from The Soulfuls community.
This is the third portrait of former mentor Stine Wincentsen, Founder of skin care brand Root of Kin. Read more and get a behind-the-scenes view of what it looks like to be a skincare brand owner whose personal experience and struggles led her to pursue a path that eventually resulted in starting Roots of Kin.
Walking into the home and office of Stine Wincentsen, Founder of skincare brand “Roots of Kin”, I look around at the beautiful interior design choices - mostly chic Scandinavian minimalism but what strikes me most is the green art piece on the wall. As a fellow Chinese Singaporean, I immediately associate with the green with Jade (a stone traditionally worn in our culture) and then I also notice Stine is wearing a Jade ring. There is a strong presence of both her Danish and Singaporean roots. In Stine’s own words:
“Roots of Kin is “a skincare brand that focuses a lot on sensitive skin and using calming ingredients from Asia, mixing it with the simplicity of the Nordics, both in how they use skincare and also the aesthetic design of the products.”
Stine studied business and international marketing, but it was her personal experience and struggles that led her to pursue a path that eventually resulted in starting Roots of Kin.
“I always had sensitive skin, I struggled a lot with allergies and hives and sometimes just had breakouts I couldn’t really explain. I had a period in my life where I had time to reflect and research a bit more of how to live a healthier life in terms of both what I put in my body as well as what I put on my body and in that process I wanted to figure out why I was sometimes breaking out when I use certain products and other times not. I really wanted to create something I could use myself.”
“Naturally I’ve always been really interested in Korean and Japanese skincare because it’s been a really big thing and also having that side from my own cultural heritage and also just grew up knowing more about these types of ingredients.”
What began as a personal investigation gradually became something more. Stine found herself getting more and more excited about building the products and started to think it might be something she could do as a business, but she needed to know if it was a viable plan. She started talking to friends and people in her network, and found that her experience was actually more common than she had expected. People were frustrated with trying new things all the time, “it’s expensive, you keep adding more steps and you just don’t know what is working and what is not working.”
Her research took her across markets in Europe, the US and Asia, “I came to learn quickly that especially in the EU and the US we are very keen on products that show results really quickly. This often means that the actives in the products are at a higher percentage, which can also break your barrier and then you create the same issue over and over again.”In contrast, she found that Asian skincare tends to have more calming ingredients and excluded a lot of the oils that can clog pores. “Naturally I’ve always been really interested in Korean and Japanese skincare because it’s been a really big thing and also having that side from my own cultural heritage and also just grew up knowing more about these types of ingredients.
Stine Wincentsen, Former Mentor and Founder of Roots of Kin (Photo: Nicole M. Gomes)
“More than anything I think that in this field we want to see people that have normal skin that is not retouched, that are not some kind of models that we will never look like or be like.”
That cultural thread runs directly through the brand's name. “Roots” speaks to the natural ingredients but also to something deeper, our own ethnic roots. “Kin” meaning friends, family and community, holds great importance to Stine, who credits her kin for all their support through her journey. “All the photos of the ‘so called models’ we use on the pictures we have online are all my kin, it’s all my family and friends. It was important for me to represent them and represent their beauty. More than anything I think that in this field we want to see people that have normal skin that is not retouched, that are not some kind of models that we will never look like or be like.”
The brand name is also quietly dedicated to her Singaporean mother Oi-kin. Stine describes her as "the backbone of our family" — a quiet but formidable woman who, in her twenties, made the extraordinary decision to leave Singapore and build a life in Denmark with Stine's father. “I find that so impressive at that age, someone that had never really travelled much, she decided to move all the way here. I think that’s one big step but more than anything she adjusted so well. ”She speaks of her mother with such love, awe and gratitude. “I had her make spring rolls for the launch party, I think she made 300 and everyone loved them!”
Growing up mixed race in Denmark wasn't always easy. "I myself personally don't always feel I have a space or place to be," Stine reflects. "I feel like I grew up most of my life in Denmark and I share a lot of those values, but there's still some part of me that's somewhere else." Neither fully Danish nor fully Singaporean in the eyes of either world, she describes spending much of her younger years in that uncertain in-between. What shifted things was exposure — studying in the US and UK, meeting people who were also mixed or had navigated their own questions of belonging. "As I grew older, I'm now really proud of my Asian side and I really want to celebrate that."
Stine Wincentsen, Former Mentor and Founder of Roots of Kin (Photo: Nicole M. Gomes)
That pride is now woven into everything Roots of Kin does. "I feel super happy and lucky that I get to celebrate both sides of myself and bring that into the business.” The brand runs a series called Back to the Roots — conversations with people who grew up somewhere, moved somewhere else, and carry the complexity of that in different ways. "I don't think it's so black and white or in between," she says. "Everyone's story is different and nothing is right or wrong. "There's a generosity in how she talks about identity — no hierarchy of experience, just curiosity. “There is a strength in being different, you might not know it when you’re younger but you grow up to be older and understand that being different gives you other opportunities, might give you different struggles as well but from that you can help others and inspire others.”
Before meeting Stine I had assumed that there was a whole team behind Roots of Kin, but as she puts it she is a ‘one woman army’. “A lot of my time is just about administration and planning and figuring out communicating different things to different people so it all comes together.” She works with a chemist team based in the UK who collaborate with suppliers and manufacturers across Asia, but day-to-day, it's her coordinating the moving parts. “It’s tough at times I will say, I really love what I’m doing and I think sometimes it would be really nice to have someone to share that journey with and celebrate the wins together.”
“The doubts don’t disappear — they just change shape. ”
She is candid about the reality of working solo, “What I’ve learnt about being a founder is it’s doesn’t get easier on the other side! Yes you have a product, now you need to sell the product. ”The doubts don't disappear — they just change shape. “Honestly I think being a founder will continuously be hard and challenging, I don’t think it’s for everyone, some days I don’t think it’s for me but then you have to remind yourself of the passion. I think wherever you are on your journey, I think if you’re new and starting up or maybe you have multiple ventures, it’s just a life that is constantly putting you under pressure. It’s definitely something I struggle a lot with still, I try to remind myself of all the achievements I’ve had so far and I’m very lucky to have people around me that also remind me. I think that’s the key thing - surround yourself with people that support and understand your journey. I have amazing family and friends that always hype me up and are saying amazing things and really trying to push me. I know if things go wrong they are also there to catch me again.”
Community has been a consistent anchor for Stine, and that was exactly what she was seeking when she joined The Soulfuls Dreamers and Doers as a mentee. “I think it’s so important that you find your community and people you can lean on. Not that I enjoy hearing other people struggling but it’s sometimes nice to hear that other people are the same as you, you know? You hear all these success stories online, it’s just not realistic for most brands. But that’s what we see all the time online - the good beautiful life on instagram.”
“I was so surprised on the first day when we met everyone, I don’t even know that many women of colour!”
Through the mentorship programme she found peers who understood the particular pressures of building something creative while navigating barriers that others might not see. “I was so surprised on the first day when we met everyone, I don’t even know that many women of colour! I met these amazing people who are so impressive that have had a hard background and then have turned their life around...Everyone should hear and learn from these things. This is for me a whole new world of hearing about how people struggle in different ways.”
Photo: Nicole M. Gomes
She's since built real working relationships from it, collaborating with the Gemini Twins, a pair of identical twins from Sri Lanka who run their own production company and helped with a recent photoshoot. She is also In conversations with some of the other mentees about putting something together for Copenhagen fashion week. I asked Stine what success means to her, “My goal was to bring this brand to life. It makes me extremely happy to see how people are experiencing the products and also getting orders from strangers really warms my heart. I try to remind myself that I have succeeded in what I set myself out to do, but of course there’s so much more to do.” Always pushing forward, I personally am excited to see what lies ahead for her in the future.