How City Life, Pollution, and Purpose Sparked a Skincare Brand

I have been working in marketing in the corporate world for almost 20 years now. And whilst I loved it, I would say within the last 7 years or so, as I started to climb further and further up the career ladder, I started to realise more and more that I wanted to do something different. I always had a feeling that this couldn’t be it, that I was meant for so much more, something that felt mine. I just didn’t know what that thing was.

Skincare and wellbeing has always been an obsession of mine for as long as I can remember. As a teenager I used to save up money from my Saturday job to go to Boots during my lunchbreak and buy the latest Lancome face cream. I just loved doing that! I think growing up in a traditional Indian household influenced that, where DIY beauty was a normal thing to do including turmeric face masks and hair oiling every Sunday. My obsession with the skincare market meant that I always got asked about advice, latest products, latest ingredients, routines etc. by my friends and family and so in 2017 I launched a skincare blog on Instagram called Care Soaked Skin. I loved posting about my routines, my recipes etc. whilst still working in my full time corporate job in the city.  

I grew up in a small village outside of London and moved into London to work and live there. It wasn’t until I started noticing the impact that the pollution, the fast pace and the environmental stressors were having on my skin, and the fact that through my knowledge of the skincare market I realised that there was nothing on the market to address these specific urban challenges – that I thought – this is a gap that I could fill really well.

That moment became the catalyst for Modern Standard. Creating the brand Modern Standard allowed me to take everything I cared about - skincare, wellbeing, high standards, and real solutions, and build it into something I could dedicate myself to wholeheartedly. I started formulating a face and hair oil in my kitchen, before I took it out to markets to gauge customer feedback. Hearing how much they loved the products and that the urban challenges really resonated with them, I took a course during Covid to understand how to legally sell the products. From that point the branding started, and it took off from there really! To this day I still formulate, hand pour and package all the bottles myself because the quality of the finished product is so important to me. There have still been some challenges on the way including a legal challenge from a global competitor who forced me to change my brand name; falling pregnant just as I was about to go out to market which meant I took two years off; but all these things have paved the way for where Modern Standard is now. And this is only just the beginning.

If there’s one thing I’d tell someone considering their own leap, it’s that your purpose often reveals itself in the moments that feel inconvenient or unexpected. Pay attention to what frustrates you, what excites you, and what you can’t stop thinking about – your business idea may be hidden in plain sight. You don’t need to quit everything immediately or have the perfect plan. You just need to be open to seeing opportunity where others don’t.

Also, trust your instincts more than you trust the fear of the unknown. Coming from corporate, it’s easy to get comfortable in structure and predictability, but growth happens when you step into the space where you’re building something from the ground up. It’s scary, yes, but it’s also where you discover what you’re really capable of.

And finally, build something you can genuinely dedicate yourself to. Passion isn’t just a buzzword – it’s the thing that keeps you steady when things get difficult, and the thing that makes the wins feel extraordinary. When your business aligns with who you are and what you love, it doesn’t just become your work – it becomes your purpose.

Tarjinder Ruthu founder of Modern Standard - https://modern-standard.co.uk/