From Center Stage to Skincare Empire: How One Bold Move Turned Personal Struggles into Unstoppable Success

What happens when a music industry insider—one who’s rubbed shoulders with Arctic Monkeys and Fontaines D.C.—decides to drop the mic and dive headfirst into the world of skincare? Sara Stokes did just that, swapping backstage passes for serums and lotions, driven not by science textbooks but by raw, personal experience. Facing pregnancy skin struggles and zero guidance, she realized the gap was real—and it wasn’t just about ingredients; it was about empathy, support, and transparency. Enter SKN to SKN, a brand born from frustration, fueled by passion, and now stocked in over 180 Boots stores across the UK and Ireland, shaking up the beauty game for moms-to-be everywhere. Curious how a lack of retinol knowledge at a Boots buyer meeting launched a new skincare revolution? Buckle up—it’s a story of grit, hustle, and heart. LEARN MORE

Sara Stokes left a career in the music industry to launch her own skincare brand. She tells Sarah-Jayne Tobin about the very personal reasons behind the start-up

When Sara Stokes left her 15-year career in the music industry — where she worked closely with artists like Arctic Monkeys and Fontaines D.C. — to launch a skincare brand, she didn’t have a background in science or dermatology.

What she had was a lived experience, an entrepreneurial drive and a clear vision to create a brand that truly supported women through pregnancy and beyond.

That brand is SKN to SKN, a pregnancy-safe skincare range stocked in 183 Boots stores across the UK and Ireland.

Just a few weeks after its launch, the brand has become a talking point in both beauty and retail circles.

And it all started with frustration, hormone-fuelled acne and one pivotal conversation in a hospital room.

The lightbulb moment came during the birth of Stokes’ first daughter.

A midwife asked, “Do you want to do skin to skin?” and the phrase stuck.

“That’s the name,” Stokes recalls thinking at the time. “It was immediate. It was personal. It was perfect.”

The idea solidified during her second pregnancy, at the height of the pandemic.

“My skin just erupted again, and I couldn’t find anything that was truly safe. I was being sent to the maternity aisle beside the nappies and baby wipes to find skincare — it was insulting.”

After years of relying on premium skincare and facials, Stokes found herself in a retail void where products either lacked transparency or used ingredients contraindicated in pregnancy, like high-level retinols.

Her GP dismissed her concerns.

“He told me, ‘It’s hormones,’ and sent me on my way,” she says. “There was no advice on ingredients like salicylic acid or vitamin A.

“I later learned GPs get just eight days of dermatology training. I needed more than that, I needed a dermatologist.”

Armed with consumer insight and a network built from years managing artists’ global brands, Stokes dove into research.

She began working with leading dermatologist professor Caitriona Ryan of the Institute of Dermatology in Dublin.

Together, they began formulating what would become the core SKN to SKN range.

“I had nothing — no product, no website, just an idea and a very vague business plan. But I knew if I was going to do it, it had to be now,” Stokes says.

She invested the remainder of the proceeds from the sale of her London apartment into R&D, branding and product development.

She bootstrapped for over a year before eventually raising €60,000 in a friends-and-family round.

Later, she secured €750,000 in angel investment from nine private investors.

SKN to SKN’s major retail break came last September when Stokes pitched the range to Boots UK at its Nottingham headquarters.

“They gave me 30 minutes, so I packed everything — samples with homemade labels, tote bags, caps, even merch — to make us look like we were already established,” she says.

Her opening line was: “Over 50 per cent of women don’t know you can’t use retinol during pregnancy.” The buyer responded: “I didn’t know that — and I work in skincare.”

The meeting ran over. By the end, Stokes had a verbal agreement to launch nationwide in July.

“I hadn’t even made the product yet,” she laughs. “We were thinking of 500 units per product. We ended up ordering ten times that.”

From testing (which cost over €100,000) to packaging to regulatory compliance, Stokes’s focus has always been on getting it right, not rushing it.

“We’re not here to scare or shame women. We’re here to support them with facts, empathy, and effective skincare,” she says.

She credits much of her momentum to a network of female founders.

“This WhatsApp group, Founder Social, has over 1,000 women in every industry you can think of. I found my marketing consultant there, got advice, sales — it’s been invaluable. It’s just women supporting women,” she says.

With launches in Ireland’s biggest retail centres in Dundrum, Liffey Valley, Blanchardstown, Cork (two), Galway and Limerick, SKN to SKN is already making waves.

But Stokes has global ambitions.

“I’d love to take this to the US,” she says. “But I’m not here for a land grab. I’m being strategic about where our customers shop. I want to grow with intention, not pressure.”

It’s rare to see a brand launch into a legacy retailer with this level of velocity and clarity. But for Stokes, it’s deeply personal.

“This is my third baby,” she says. “And I’m building it exactly the way I would have wanted it when I was pregnant — safe, informed and completely focused on the woman.”

Photo: Sara Stokes SKN to SKN