Lianna Albrizio, Assistant Editor05.30.22
Vegan skincare and clean beauty brand Three Ships Beauty Co-Founder Laura Burget has always been the captain of her life. Speaking to her earlier this month, she's as well-versed in the department of good health as she is a picture of it.
In February 2017, six months after graduating from the University of Toronto with a degree in Chemical Engineering, Burget and her Co-Founder Connie Lo had been in the process of rebranding her skincare line, Niu Body, when she noticed something amiss about her functioning. Tasks that were once simple but required a strong focus suddenly became impossible to complete. Exerting mental energy for extended periods made her confused and like she wasn’t fully present, she says.
These spells, which were later confirmed seizures, lasted for 10-15 seconds before they passed. Given her young age and otherwise healthy lifestyle, it was easy for her to shrug off any health concerns, which she initially dismissed as fatigue. Months later, another spell hit that made her woozy and weak.
“It didn’t really feel the same as passing out,” she explained. “It felt like my brain was short circuiting.”
When the seizures became more frequent, she finally met with a specialist and neurologist. Though stumped for a proper diagnosis and wanting to put her on anti-convulsant and anti-epileptic medication, Burget advocated for herself and demanded an MRI, the results of which proved her suspicions correct: an egg-sized mass was found in the core of her brain.
Two years after undergoing a 10-hour surgery to remove 70% of a brain tumor— a procedure that carried a 5 and 10% risk of death and being unable to walk, respectively— Burget recovered with support from family and her business partner, Lo.
Fanatics Onboard with Three Ships
Three Ships Beauty has amassed over 50,000 Instagram followers who are staunch supporters and the women have even made Forbes 30 Under 30 list.
“Organic word of mouth is our top acquisition strategy,” she said. “We have our own community called ‘The Fleet,’ where our customers are given a discount code they can then shares with their friends. We’ve found that customers who come to us from a Fleet reference have a lifetime value that’s 150% higher than customers acquired through other sources as well. It just goes to show that the best marketing strategy is to have a great product that people can’t help but to talk about and rave about to other friends and family.”
Like other in beauty, Three Ships has list of ingredients that are banned from its formulas.
“It speaks to simplicity when it comes to beauty,” said Burget. “You don’t need to have a 10-step routine when it comes to beautiful skin. You don’t have to have products with dozens and dozens of ingredients in them. It’s just about having a few high-quality products in your cabinet."
To get consumers started, they can go on threeshipsbeauty.com to take a one-minute quiz answering questions about their skin. The results will populate a three-step program to cleanse, moisturize and treat. Consumers with combination skin, or oily T-zones and dry cheeks will be recommended a Purify gel cleanser with 26% aloe vera and amino acid; a Radiance cream with grape stem cell and squalane day cream to rejuvenate the skin’s moisture barrier, and an oil serum with 49% almond to hydrate and replenish oils.
Some of Three Ships bestsellers include Dream, a bio-retinol and shorea butter night cream; Calm, a lavender-scented hydrosol toner used to balance out combination and or oily skin; and Dew Drops, which contain mushroom hyaluronic acid and Vitamin C serum.
Three Ships’ Drew Drops was awarded Self Magazine’s Best Serum for Dry Skin in its 2021 Healthy Beauty Awards.
“It combines two cult favorite skin care ingredients,” Burget said about the formulation. “The hyaluronic acid is sourced from the tremella mushroom which has a small molecule size compared to synthetic hyaluronic acid which allows it to penetrate deeper into your skin instead of sitting on the surface. This is why this product doesn’t feel sticky like a lot of hyaluronic acid products on the market that may be lower quality. The Vitamin C is from the Kakadu plum which has 100 times more Vitamin C than oranges do, so it’s a really potent formula.”
This month, proceeds from Three Ships Beauty are benefitting Make-A-Wish Foundation as part of the brand’s emphasis on Brain Cancer Awareness Month (May).
“For me, during my recovery, the most important thing was maintaining hope and a sense of positivity towards the future,” said Burget. “I really feel like that source for me was Three Ships. I feel very, very blessed and lucky for the opportunity for me to run my own business while going through such an extreme health challenge, because it gives you some sense of satisfaction and connection every day into the work that you’re doing. I see so often with other brain tumor patients they lose hope overtime and their self-identity starts to become one in the same with their disease. I have a brain tumor, but that’s not all that I am. Having other hopes and dreams and aspirations and wishes is so important for your overall health and recovery.”
Three Ships Beauty is available in the US in Credo Beauty, The Detox Market and Whole Foods, and Hudson’s Bay, Indigo, Well.ca and Whole Foods in Canada.