After a career in law and battling panic disorder, Jeanne Retief, founder of FIGGI Beauty, exposes why her brand heals, not manipulates
Let’s be honest, the skincare world is overwhelmingly saturated. Moisturisers, retinols, mists, essences, eye pads, eye gels, peptides, AHAs, BHAs – the list never ends.
There was a time in my life when I used to say I was the perfect target for overconsumption. I was the marketer’s dream customer. If you placed a bunch of mini skincare products by the till, you could bet I’d load up my basket with more than I actually needed.
But those days are over, I tell myself as I leave Boots with just the basics – a cleanser, serum, moisturiser, and SPF. However, now that I’ve been sent FIGGI Beauty’s entire range of back-to-basics skincare products, I imagine mine and Jeanne’s skincare shelves might look very similar. Stocked with gorgeous bottles of Rooibos-infused goodies, which aim to simplify your routine without profiting from your insecurities.
Talking about her career change, mental health journey, and the rise of “Sephora kids,” Jeanne opens up about the story behind FIGGI Beauty and what truly matters in skincare today.
Tell me a little bit about what your life was like before starting FIGGI Beauty.
I was a high-flying over-achiever with a serious “pleasing-and-proving-syndrome.” I worked hard to achieve my then-career, and I was immensely proud of it. My PhD is in international criminal and humanitarian law, and I have practiced in the human rights field for over 15 years.
I founded my own human rights consultancy, and it flourished. I worked on key government and global projects in the human rights arena with a special focus on the African Development Community. Throughout my life, I was also desperately fighting the little warnings that told me I might not be okay. I focused on survival, and so this is the only thing I paid attention to.
You grew up in South Africa, can you share a little bit about your life there?
I grew up in a modest family home with all the usual little quirks and joys. I had a complicated home life with bitterly divorced parents, undiagnosed mental illnesses that led to bizarre behaviours in the house, and childhood sexual abuse that persisted for several years. To be honest, I was a loner, and I liked it. There was a lot to deal with at home, and I didn’t always know how to translate this into healthy social relationships outside the house.
But my life was also filled with magic. My family was heavily involved in the arts and held numerous accolades in this field. These opportunities to perform on stage, act, dance, and live in an imaginary world were a wonderful escape, I think, for all of us.
You were the first in your family to earn a university degree. What inspired you to pursue academics?
I always knew I wanted more for my life – I didn’t want to repeat the same patterns, fall into the same traps, and spend my life wishing I got out. I often daydreamed of a life outside my town, outside my circumstances, and I found the idea of a bigger, wider world to explore, extraordinary!
My family was also insistent that we have better opportunities than they had, and university was always a must, which I truly appreciated. We were not well-off, and the effort my parents had to put into saving for me to go to university was immense. I will be forever grateful for this, because it allowed me to spread my wings. I have always known I wanted to serve, to help, and to make a difference in some way.
Law came naturally to me, and once I started studying, I always knew I wanted to pursue a career in some form of human rights.
On your website, you mention your diagnosis of panic disorder. Could you tell me more about it and your experience living with it?
In 2015, during a work trip I had my first panic attack. A barrage of tests ensued, and I was eventually diagnosed with an anxiety disorder – later, specifically, panic disorder and complex post-traumatic stress. It was an unwelcome reminder of my childhood trauma, a fearful realisation that I have a diagnosed mental illness and how I was not going to show up in the world.
To me, I was no longer “normal.” Many years later, I would learn that my idea of “normal” was very healthy and contributed to my ultimate breaking. I went from a successful entrepreneur to a scared little girl who couldn’t leave the house for fear of a panic attack.
Plagued by endless night terrors, recurring moments of truly believing I was dying or going crazy, I stopped eating because of my fear of choking. It was the hardest thing I have ever had to live through, and I have plenty of options I can add to “the-hardest-thing-list,” so this is saying a lot.
After earning my master’s degree in ”Denial”, my mismanagement of my diagnosis came to a crashing halt in 2020 when we moved to Portugal from my native South Africa. Rolling panic attacks, COVID stress, lockdown, a new country, and a lot of time for my body to remember all I became an expert in forgetting caused my world to turn on its axis. I lost my career, my sanity, my definition of self, and my purpose that year. But from the ashes, something beautiful was born in FIGGI.
What typically triggers a panic disorder, and how do you manage it?
No one thing triggers it. Anybody with panic disorder will agree that it’s different for all of us. It was explained to me by my psychiatrist that panic disorder often stems from complex post-traumatic trauma, which results from continuous acts of trauma perpetrated against you by a person in a position of trust to you, usually as a child.
We all have different reasons for breaking, different upbringings, different experiences, and different triggers. But my sexual abuse history as a child and young adult, combined with various other complex issues in my home life, seems to have led to my diagnosis.
How do I manage it? By doing my best on a day-to-day basis. I have had to accept that there is no cure for this. No point where I will arrive at the end of the goal point and declare to the world: “I AM HEALED!”. And that is so hard to live with and come to terms with.
Years of learning what my triggers are, how to manage them, recognising my limitations, coming back from relapses, and finding joy in my way have contributed to my continuous healing journey. Acknowledging that I am not wrong, just wired differently, has helped a lot. I have a unique manual, just like everyone else, and I needed to know how to read it.
FIGGI Beauty
You started FIGGI Beauty in 2015. How did the idea to start your own skincare brand come about?
I started FIGGI in 2021 after learning all I could about the mind-skin connection and why my skin was suddenly so much more sensitive after my diagnosis. There is so much about panic disorder that is not within my control, so many parts of me I need to give over to the powers that be – I wanted something tangible I felt I could have at least some control over. That is why FIGGI Beauty was born.
I was familiar with rooibos, our hero ingredient, but I couldn’t find skincare containing this beautiful ingredient in Europe. I needed skincare not just free from scent, but from any type of synthetic fragrance, essential oils, artificial colorants, linalool, and limonene.
And I don’t simply fear-monger about these ingredients; they are not in FIGGI because they have been scientifically proven to be common irritants to sensitive skin. Many skin types have no issue with fragrance. There are numerous benefits to essential oils, and I never want to detract from that by suggesting that everyone should avoid them like the plague.
Is there a story behind the name FIGGI Beauty?
Figs are my favourite fruit. I was outside, underneath my willow tree, one afternoon, pondering the start of this new venture. While I was eating my fig, the name FIGGI kept popping up. Since it wouldn’t leave my mind, I researched the symbolism of the fig.
Figs representing the divine feminine energy and that we are all co-creators of our destiny meant to help each other along the way. This meaning was precisely what I wanted FIGGI to be, especially with the Calm Club and soul element.
FIGGI Beauty skincare addresses the external symptoms of my anxiety, and the Calm Club, which you automatically gain access to when purchasing a FIGGI product, is an online community for others like me seeking a safe space to land. In this space, you can share without judgment or insistence on a quick fix for your wiring, where it’s okay not to be OK. It felt like divine intervention, and it had to be FIGGI.
You launched your business in the USA and recently expanded to the UK. Have you noticed any differences in purchasing behaviour between your U.S. and U.K. customers?
Yes, we have recently withdrawn from the USA. Two main factors contributed to this decision. I could not be personally present in the USA enough to make an impact on purchasing behaviour. In my experience, buyers in the USA have more time to weed out discounts and deals, and they tend to have an affinity for off-price retail shopping.
The barrier to entry in the UK, in my opinion, is less. People want to know about the story behind the brand and invest in products that work. There is less back and forth, and a greater market exists for products sold by small, indie brands that are unique and special.
Having tried your products, I can safely say that your Retinol Serum and Night Cream are among my favourites. Do you have a personal favourite?
It would depend on the season for me as my skin changes. However, I would have to say that the FIGGI Beauty night cream, which also won the Healing Lifestyles Earth Day Award for Best Rescue Cream, is my favourite. It truly is a lifesaver for me, and I love the way my skin looks and feels when I wake up in the morning. I love that I don’t feel the need to reapply moisturiser before bed because my skin still feels tight or dry. It’s such an excellent all-rounder that delivers real results.
Your products are infused with Rooibos extract. What makes this ingredient so special?
It’s a herb that only grows naturally in a small part of the Cederberg mountains of South Africa. Although we refer to it as a tea, it is a herb. It can be consumed as a tea or featured in topical skincare applications. It’s special because of its unique structure (unlike any other plant or species on earth), and its decades of peer-reviewed scientific studies and evidence behind its anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties.
For some reason, its power as an anti-inflammatory is unique. Taken as a tea, it has been proven to be cancer, diabetes, and cardiac disease preventative. New studies demonstrate its calming effects on irritable bowel syndrome, attributed to this unique anti-inflammatory property.
As a skincare product, it is proven to calm, soothe, reduce redness, and fight free radicals. It’s also a natural antimicrobial and antifungal, which makes it excellent for breakout-prone and acne-prone skin.
Food for Thought
As a skincare specialist, what are your thoughts on “Sephora children” – the growing obsession among kids with skincare products?
Less is always more and keeping it simple is the best way forward. A good foundational routine is all you need when you are so young. It’s unnecessary and can be damaging to overwhelm your skin with too many extras – often without understanding your skin type and what you should use and avoid. Cleanse, moisturise and use a brilliant sunscreen. That’s it.
Do you believe brands are turning a blind eye to their role in this trend, or are they intentionally capitalising on it?
It is the nature of the industry to create buzz around the latest it-ingredients and trends and then capitalise on them. The beauty industry is an ever-changing, oversaturated, and brutal business. However, when you look back over the decades, you often find that we tend to circle back to the old staples that have worked so well in the past. My only wish is that consumers had better education on this cycle so they can avoid falling into this trap.
What responsibility does a brand like FIGGI, or any skincare brand, have when marketing to a generation raised on social media beauty trends?
Stop fear-mongering about ingredients without understanding the scientific evidence behind them and be transparent about the regulations in the cosmetic industry that are in place to protect consumers.
Deceptive marketing, green and clean washing, leads to a lot of confusion that ends up costing consumers a lot more for their products without a valid reason for it. I think our responsibility is three-fold: Transparency. Education. Providing consumers with the freedom to make informed decisions and choose what is best for them, based on transparency and education.
Me Time
What do wellbeing and self-care mean to you?
Again, I like to simplify: self-care is about caring for the space you occupy and others who share in your energy. It’s not a product, a diet, or a new self-help book that offers the secret to life. It’s me, and it’s you. And it’s all about how I occupy space in this world and how I share that space with you. It’s about taking responsibility for who I am and how I act, and how those actions impact those around me. Therefore, I need to make time to recharge my batteries so I can show up whole and replenished for myself and others around me.
You’ve achieved great things professionally and you’re also a mother. How do you balance a successful career with family life?
I arrange my family time and schedule in the same way I do my work. I share a Google Calendar with my husband, so we’re both aware of what’s happening, when it’s happening, and who is responsible for what. We have weekly meetings on Sundays to discuss the week, what went well the previous week, and what we can improve.
When it comes specifically to my little girl, routine is key. If she is in a good routine, I can be in a good routine. For example, if she goes to bed at a reasonable time without fuss, I have time for a cup of tea and meditation before bed. If she is comfortable entertaining herself for a while on a weekend, I get essential time with hubby.
What are your favourite small pleasures in life?
Sitting on my swing, underneath my willow tree staring into space.
Future and Advice
If you could go back to the moment you started FIGGI Beauty, what advice would you give yourself?
Nothing. I don’t believe in this practice. We are meant to make mistakes, have struggles, and relish in victories. I would not want to go back and change that trajectory by advice I give to myself. And in truth, I probably would not have listened. Not because I don’t listen, but because I was not ready to hear it.
What’s next for FIGGI? Are there any exciting projects in the pipeline?
We are launching FIGGI Signature facials in our Hamilton, Scotland, store. We are entering the wholesale market and aim to expand our reach and exposure in the UK. Also, we are finalists in four categories of the Scottish Beauty Awards taking place in September 2025, and this is a tremendous honour for us. I am working on new formulations in body care, mommy-and-me skincare, and mascara for sensitive eyes.
How can people support you and your business?
Any exposure you are willing to contribute to is so amazing. Follow us on TikTok (@figgibeauty) and Instagram (@figgi.beauty), shop on our TikTok Store or online at figgibeauty.com. You can also visit our store in Hamilton, Scotland, and book a facial appointment.