There were not many geniuses in beauty, ones who created a huge breakthrough in our era. Brandon Truaxe was definitely one of them. He created a very accessible skin care line without the fluff. A Tribute from both Astrid and Dorit.
Which beauty geek would not know about The Ordinary? One of Deciem’s brand, for a price range of around $10 / €10, you can hack your way to great skin, one previously only achievable if you have the budget of upwards $100.
Together with Rihanna’s Fenty Beauty, he made beauty more accessible. – Everyone can afford great skincare products! And that made skincare democratic. Suddenly, it was for (nearly) everybody. And thus, he changed the whole landscape of the beauty world.
2018 was already a turbulent year of Deciem. They had their successes, and then Brandon Truaxe, the CEO/Founder, had his public meltdown moments, which resulted in him being ousted as the CEO.
It is with great sadness when we heard the news of Brandon
Astrid’s Tribute
One can love him for being a genius, and one can also hate him for being so volatile.
All those time, I kept thinking to myself, it’s not easy being Brandon Truaxe. Yet, from time to time I wished I had some of his genii.
He came across as a person who poured everything into what he did, having almost no barrier between the personal and the professional life. Which contributed, more or less, in the success of Deciem. We know, the current social media climate had thought us, we all love a glimpse into the life of the person behind a brand. Sometimes, at a cost of a person’s sanity.
Brandon always seemed to care very much about his customers. He answered hours of questions on an unofficial Deciem fan Facebook group. He genuinely would love to connect with the people he created the products for.
I admired him for being a genius, for his vision of creating accessible skin care, for believing that his customers are smart people. That we could learn more about our skin care and make a decision on our own, about which ingredients we would like to use on
I admired him for being so true of himself in his interviews and in his earlier candid videos. He seemed so genuine in his podcast with breaking beauty podcast.
Feeling somewhat connected with him, perhaps because he also had a background in computer science who turned into the beauty field. And perhaps because I never see myself as a very calm collected person who can weather the storm very well.
As a founder myself, I have felt what it is like to struggle with something internally and at the same time, had to deal with a lot externally. Feeling like having nobody you can trust completely. Being vulnerable at that scale is (mostly) still being frowned upon. Here’s hoping that what we learn from this is to not judge anyone, because we never know what truly happened. May we have the strength to seek help when we need one.
Thank you Brandon, for being such a visionary and sharing with us the gifts that you have. May you finally find your peace <3
Dorit’s Tribute
Brandon’s splash into the world of beauty was truly disruptive, in the truest sense of that word. He spurred change, and growth, and was never easy. Especially during the last year, it was difficult to watch him and his struggles. Watching someone with a mental illness is always difficult, and Brandon, who denied having one, in fact, even more so. It definitely garnered reactions on social media, from ‘friends’ and ‘foes’ and fascinated bystanders alike.
Today, I’m only extremely sad that a life was cut short, and that we can’t see with what a brilliant, brilliant mind would come up next.
I can only hope that we will be able to talk about mental illness more. And I hope that we can do that without blame, shame and pointing fingers.
If you’re depressed and have suicidal thoughts, please talk to someone! If you’re in the US, you can call the Suicide Prevention line (1-800-273-8255). In GB you can call 116 123, and in Germany 0800 1110111. In Indonesia, you can call 119 (it’s currently a general health line, while the government set up a real prevention line). If you’re not in any of these countries, please google suicide hotline. You’ll find somebody to talk to or chat with.
