The Hollywood power couple is entering the skin-care arena with S‘ABLE Labs, a genderless line of essentials that draws on traditional African ingredients.
It doesn’t take a relationship expert to understand the simple fact that romantic partnerships were uniquely tested over the past few years. Young and old, couples around the world found themselves struggling to just plain get along as they crammed together in homes and work spaces for the long haul.
“The pandemic put so much into perspective, and it really set the stage for what we’re doing,” says Sabrina Elba, sitting alongside her husband, Idris, during a recent visit to Manhattan. The London-based couple—familiar in philanthropic circles and Hollywood ones, given his acting stardom—used that lockdown energy to lay the foundation for a growing joint endeavor.
First to arrive was their podcast, Coupledom, which debuted on Audible last summer. In the episodes, the married duo speak with other pairs about how to better understand their own relationships—whether they are rooted in romance, friendship, or the family business. Past guests have included the likes of Kris Jenner and Kim Kardashian; Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield (that Ben & Jerry); and Christian Louboutin and his partner, Mika. It’s a forum for honest conversation, rare in a world that favors highlight reels and where everyday struggles are rarely publicized.
Read Also; Dr. Tiwa Savage
"We realized quickly that there was no one doing it in the wellness space that looked like, spoke like or felt like us-there was no representation for people of color who wanted to be into wellness and fit in. Plus everything was gender-focused. I’d have conversations with my husband on products he didn’t think he could use due to them being aimed at women, but could.¨
To be honest, S’ABLE would not be what it is today without Idris. He’ll very openly admit that he was not a skin-care guy. That was so important in my learning and education; to be able to strip back all of the gender marketing and all of the nonsense around men’s skin care. We’re all human. We’re all in this together. Let’s just look at skin in a way that caters to all of us and educates without being misleading. I just want natural, good stuff that comes from the earth, that feels good and relates to our values and our ethics. It really helped me zoom in on that.
Idris shared :
It’s the basic essentials. For me, I work long days, long hours. I’m not unfamiliar with skin routines because in film and television every day I have makeup on. But for me, in my everyday life, it needs to be nice and simple, and it needs to be effective. I want my face to feel clean. I need a moisturizer that doesn’t look ashy at 12 o’clock in the afternoon. I didn’t realize after-shave has lots of fragrances, which is probably bad for your skin. It’s been marketed to us that you put Old Spice on and you’re good to go. But actually—especially for Black skin, melanated skin—that can be very problematic for your razor bump. So having something that is a little more gentle and works, I feel very liberated understanding that a little bit more now.
Sabrina, on African ingredients that have sustained African women for ages, is included in the skincare line:
We’re looking at traceable ingredients, which was so important to us. To know that the shea butter market isn’t being damaged because we’re putting it in our products. Qasil, which is in the cleanser, is an ingredient that Somali women have used forever. To us, we see opportunity in creating a line that speaks to us as human beings and as black women and black men. That’s what we want to be a part of.
I love baobab. I have memories of sitting under a baobab tree with my mom, and her going, It’s good for everything. I just want to share that with the world and reframe that conversation because we all recognize that these ingredients are so powerful and don’t get enough shine.
Source, Vanity Fair
