Written by Menswear Style in Interviews on the 2nd March 2022

Proverb co-founders, Kirstie, and Luke Sherriff met at Oxford University from where Luke signed a professional rugby contract playing for 11 years in the topflight of English rugby. Understandably he developed a dedication to elite health, diet, and wellbeing. His career was literally based on sweat and mud. In 2005 while playing at Harlequins RFC he was introduced to the concept of endocrine disruptors within beauty products related to a potential negative impact on performance by a new fitness & nutrition coach Phil Richards who went on to train Amir Khan and currently Eddie Hall, The World’s Strongest Man. With over 20 years of skin expertise, Kirstie was listed as the Number One Most Influential Person in the Natural Beauty Yearbook ‘Who’s Who’. In 2019 they product crowdfunded their Proverb Refillable Deodorant. Customer reviews have included ‘This is the Tesla of Deodorants’ and ‘This isn’t a run of the mill deodorant; it is something much better.’

In a recent episode of the MenswearStyle Podcast we interviewed Luke Sherriff, Co-Founder of Proverb about his professional rugby background and how he met co-founder Kirstie whilst at university. Together they teamed up to create a plant powered skincare brand. Our host Peter Brooker and Luke talked about sustainability, using natural ingredients, the process of launching a new beauty product, how lab testing works, what makes their deodorant unique, the dangers of using antiperspirant, and future plans to sell products from gyms and spas.

“If you wouldn't eat it, I wouldn't want to put it on me. And if ultimately, it comes from nature, and there's nothing bad being said about it, then that's a good place to start. We've tested our ingredients together as a combination to prove that they moisturise. It took us two and a half years to develop the brand which seemed to go by quite quickly. With our deodorant product there's formulations for people that are transferring over from aerosol or anti-perspirant. When you move over from a non-natural deodorant, there could be a period where your body adapts. People have different skin and that’s why we have a sensitive option for those who don't react well to fragrance, even though our fragrances are essential oils. We've had hundreds of positive reviews, and people are looking for natural products because they're concerned about what they're putting on themselves, but they also want the results too.”

This is a shortened transcribed edit of episode 161 of the MenswearStyle Podcast with Luke Sherriff, Co-Founder of proverbskin.com. You can listen to the full version on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or your favourite podcast player.

We discuss Deodorant, Skincare, Natural Ingredients, and Sustainability with Luke Sherriff of Proverb for our podcast show.