The biggest compliment we've received about So Topical is the overall look and feel of the brand, and I think that's really been portrayed through our launch photography.
While this is usually something that I think people would gatekeep, today I wanted to write about everything that went into our first ever shoot.
First of all, we didn't start with a mood board. We started with a much vaguer question: what does this brand actually feel like?
To answer it, I went looking in places that had nothing to do with skincare. Pinterest, obviously, but also local galleries, the stores I actually shop in, the restaurants and wine bars I keep going back to. I wasn't only looking at other beauty brands, I was paying attention to how a wine bar makes you feel relaxed before you've even sat down, or how a fashion label can make restraint look like the most lux thing ever.
Once I had a real sense of the vibe, I could brief someone else on it. Not a word I use lightly, but it's the right one here. Which is where Maria came in.
Product design and creative direction: Maria Parreno, Miraré Studios
Maria had already done our product design, so I knew she understood the brand at a material level. The actual object, the packaging, the thing you hold. What I didn't expect, until I asked, was that she'd be just as sharp at the bigger question of what the entire shoot should look and feel like.
Maria runs Miraré Studios out of Madrid. She works across beauty, luxury and fashion brands, and not just on one part of what they do, she'll take on branding, packaging and content depending on what's needed.
We gave her a brief. The kind of brand we were building, the products we were releasing, the energy I wanted people to feel when they saw it, plus the scrappy pile of references I'd pulled together. What came back wasn't a shot list, but it was something I actually needed more at that stage, a defined creative direction, and a set of references I wouldn't have found on my own, because she's spent years working in an industry I hadn't. She took a feeling and gave it a shape.
The narrative we built the day around
Once Maria's direction was there, I worked out the specific story I wanted the photos to tell. Not just pretty pictures of a mask but an actual narrative that might not be obvious, but subtly gave the images context and flow.
The idea: this mask lives in two completely different moments. It's the cosy, unwinding ritual at the end of a long day. It's also the invigorating reset you reach for before you've even started one. Same product, two completely different energies, which meant shooting for both in the same session without the images blurring into one generic skincare lifestyle mush. On top of that we needed the more functional shots too. The ingredients inside the mask, and the clean ecom imagery that actually sells the product on a page, where we need to have clarity more than just mood.
From there, we built the actual shot list. I combined my own reference shots with the ones Maria had given me and turned her direction into the specific images we needed to walk out of that studio with. That distinction matters to me. Working with Maria was collaborative because I still wanted the brand to read as us, and to sit with our own taste and vision for it. Bringing in her professional opinion wasn't about handing the vision over. It was more about checking that what I already had in mind sat right within an industry I'm not necessarily an expert in, and refining ideas I'd already started forming rather than replacing my call on them. That's just what worked for me, for what it's worth, not necessarily the right way to do it. Back your own taste, but still get a second opinion from someone who knows the industry better than you do.
Mapping all of that onto an actual day meant carving the schedule into blocks. Morning energy in one slot, evening wind down in another, and the ingredient and ecom shots slotted in wherever the light and the model's energy suited them best. Before we ever stepped into a studio, I'd also gone to friends with real shoot styling experience (shoutout Tabatha Turner) and asked the practical question underneath all of it, realistically, how many full looks could we get through in one day. This set the pace for everything else, because a narrative is great but doesn't mean anything if you can't execute it.
That PowerPoint, with the shot list and the timings and a page for every creative, became the single source for the whole day. Everyone had seen their page before they arrived, so nobody walked onto set without knowing exactly what was expected of them. And yes, we still went off script a few times when a better idea showed up mid shoot. That's usually where the actual magic happens. But it only works if there's a plan solid enough to wander away from and back to.
Hair and makeup: Franka De Luca
You might be wondering why an HMUA was needed for a skincare shoot, so maybe her presence is a hint at future products (shh).
Franka works between Sydney and Berlin, and her Instagram is basically a study in the exact skin finish we wanted for this shoot. Glowing, minimal, the kind of look that reads as your skin but better rather than done. That's a specific needle to thread when you're shooting a mask, of all things, because the whole point of the product needs to be visible in the finish you give the model.
Her background runs through editorial beauty and bridal work. That meant she was just as comfortable holding a clean, camera ready look through a long day of setup changes as she was adapting it slightly between the "end of day" and "start of day" moments we needed. Same face but subtly different energy each time, which is a harder brief than it sounds.
Photography: Sophie Brockwell
Sophie is a Sydney based photographer. Her client list includes Dior, Tiffany & Co., Camilla & Marc, Christopher Esber, Sarah & Sebastian and Elle, which tells you most of what you need to know about the level she shoots at. Her work moves across fashion, beauty and still life, which mattered because our day needed all of it. Lifestyle mood shots, close beauty shots, and the flat, considered product and ingredient shots for ecom.
She'd also just released Salt, a limited edition photography book which I highly recommend picking up!
The studio: Debut Studios, Sydney
We shot at Debut Studios, tucked in the historic Marlborough House building in Surry Hills. It's a small, considered space, with all day natural light, a big double sided cyclorama, high ceilings, and those textured walls and polished wooden floors that photograph so well.
The natural light mattered alot because so many of our references leant towards a natural, soft light.
The model: Katherine Clarke, IMG
Katherine was so lovely to work with. Professional, down to earth, and incredibly talented. Her look aligned perfectly with our references and the overall mood of the brand.
Looking back at the PowerPoint now, most of it looks almost too detailed for one day of shooting. But every page felt important to me. The inspiration gathering gave me a feeling, Maria helped me turn that into a proper direction, and I built the narrative and the shot list off the back of that. Then it was just about getting the right people together, in a studio that could actually deliver what we needed.