Why Less Is More with Gntl | ft. Sydney Dake

Gntl has built a loyal following with two multifunctional products designed to replace an overwhelming routine. Sydney Dake founded the brand wanting to support a foundational skincare routine after finding success with fewer products.

I reached out to ask a few questions about how they formulate across skin needs and the philosophy that inspired the brand. I learned a lot from her insights, and am excited to share her thoughtfulness with you! The way she presents simplicity as a luxury is an inspiration: understanding that abundance can be found in less and how that impacts her commitment to sustainability.

You’ve talked about beginning your career at Elf Cosmetics and later becoming Chief Brand Officer at the brand incubator Gloss Ventures. What did this experience teach you, and how has it shaped your perspective as a founder?

I will forever be grateful to e.l.f. for giving me my start in the beauty industry. I met lifelong friends and mentors there, and I can't say enough about the leadership. It’s always been a unique company where great ideas can come from anywhere. Despite its large scale, the culture still expects everyone, at all levels, to understand higher-level strategy, company goals, and do ‘real work’.

Working at a publicly traded beauty company that launches at an incredible pace gave me a strong foundation. I learned how to move quickly without sacrificing quality, how to make decisions with imperfect information, and how much can be accomplished by a small, highly capable team.

I left e.l.f. to start Gntl, but continued consulting to get the business off the ground. I had the opportunity to work with several consumer incubators, including serving as Chief Brand Officer at Gloss Ventures. This meant building brands from zero, which was an entirely different discipline than launching products within an established company. You're not just creating products; you're defining positioning, building systems, establishing trust, and making hundreds of decisions that eventually become a brand's identity.

Looking back, those experiences complemented each other perfectly. e.l.f. taught me how exceptional brands operate at scale, and the incubator world taught me how they're built in the first place.

Gntl has a considered range of two multifunctional products that cover both facial and bodycare needs, or ‘skin needs’. How is the process of creating a multifunctional product different from that of a traditional product with specific use in mind?

Multifunctional products have earned a certain reputation, and in most cases, it's deserved. People hear "multi-use" and think of a 6-in-1 body wash or a conditioning shampoo. As someone who was once a skincare maximalist, I completely understood that skepticism.

The distinction is that Gntl isn't bodycare you can use on your face; it’s facial skincare you can use everywhere else. Most people aren't following elaborate skincare routines, despite what the industry might tell us, and even fewer extend that level of care to the rest of the body. They’re treated as entirely separate categories, with different products for every surface. From my perspective, that division has always been more commercial than biological.

When we develop a formula, we begin with the face, which immediately raises the technical standard. A cleanser has to be effective at removing body sunscreen while gentle enough to remove eye makeup without irritation. A moisturizer has to feel elegant on the face while being satisfying to apply from the neck down. Those are surprisingly difficult formulation challenges, because bodycare has historically relied on fragrance and harsh sensory cues to communicate efficacy.

My personal experience helped shape this philosophy. I struggled with eczema and acne since I was a tween, and tried everything from drugstore products to prescriptions and luxury skincare. Ironically, my skin was at its worst when my routine was overcomplicated. I had so many products in my skincare routine as a product developer, and the constant trial & error wasn’t supportive of healthy skin.

Everything changed when I simplified. I started using my facial cleanser and moisturizer all over my body, which reduced the number of competing actives, and built a routine around consistency. My skin became calmer, more resilient, and far easier to understand. When I added something new, I could evaluate it in isolation, rather than guessing what was or wasn’t working.

That was the beginning of Gntl. I realized the opportunity wasn't another product; it had to be a different philosophy. If we can associate satisfaction with finishing a product instead of opening a new one, that's better for our skin, our countertops, and the environment.

Sustainability is also important to the brand, with better packaging, refillable options, and plastic recovery through rePurpose Global. How do you recommend a beauty founder find value alignment within the supply chain?

Sustainability has always been one of the more challenging parts of building a new brand. In the early days, every decision competes with cash flow and profitability, so it's easy for sustainability to become something you plan to address later. For me, it couldn't be an afterthought — if Gntl was going to reflect my values, those decisions had to be built into the business from the beginning.

One lesson I've learned is to design systems that encourage the behavior you hope to see. Our Skin Wash refill pouch is intentionally priced to make refilling the obvious choice, even though it's actually our lowest-margin product. The formula itself is expensive to produce: we use exceptionally gentle, baby-safe surfactants, aloe, glycerin, and a custom fragrance developed for sensitive skin. Refill pouches are also expensive to ship, but I knew that if we wanted customers to adopt a refill habit, we had to make that decision easy.

Material selection is another great opportunity for sustainability, with both Skin Wash and Skin Emulsion being packaged in aluminum. I love that it's highly protective, infinitely recyclable, and develops a beautiful patina over time. It's almost like a small sculpture — with every use, your hands leave their mark, and the packaging takes on personality.

That said, our sustainability philosophy extends beyond packaging. We recently signed The Climate Pledge, committing to net-zero carbon emissions by 2040, though we aim to reach that milestone much sooner. We also fund plastic recovery through our partnership with rePurpose Global, and I recently brought on Danielle Azoulay, an incredible leader in the ESG space, as our Chief Sustainability Officer.

I firmly believe that sustainability deserves the same level of expertise as formulation or finance, particularly as new regulations like Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) reshape the beauty industry. If you're building a consumer brand today, I highly recommend getting ahead of those requirements rather than reacting to them later.

My advice to other founders is to stay close to innovation by attending trade shows and building relationships with suppliers. Small brands are in the best position to experiment, as suppliers operate on a smaller scale, making new materials feasible. As is so often the case, what starts as a limitation can become an advantage.

‘All You Need is Less’ is more than a marketing slogan; it’s an invitation into a more minimalist way of being. I really love the description of wanting less and living more. When did you begin to understand this, and how do you incorporate it into your daily life?

The philosophy behind Gntl grew out of my own experience with overconsumption. For most of my life, I bought clothes, shoes, and beauty products because I was searching for a feeling. My bathroom was filled with half-used bottles, and my closet was full of clothes with tags still attached. Eventually I realized I wasn’t looking for more products; I was looking for the person I was trying to become. I had wanted clarity.

To me, that’s true luxury: less noise, less mental load, and fewer microdecisions competing for your attention every day. It’s why Steve Jobs had a uniform: you can reduce decision fatigue to conserve mental energy for the things that really matter.

I don’t want to take the joy out of skincare; I want people to create a steady foundation so that everything else becomes more intentional. I always cleanse with Skin Wash and moisturize with Skin Emulsion. Beyond that, my routine changes depending on what my skin needs. If I’m feeling dry, I’ll add a milky toner. If I’m breaking out, I’ll use a spot treatment. Recently I transitioned from adapalene to prescription retinol, which my skin hadn’t tolerated before because my routine had finally become steady enough to support it.

For me, “All you need is less” extends beyond skincare. My closet is smaller, my kitchen is more organized, my countertops are clear. When you’re more intentional about what you allow into your life, it becomes much easier to recognize what’s actually serving you.

How have you best attracted the right audience in a crowded industry, and how can our community continue to support you?

I'm proud that almost all of our growth has been organic. I’ve been saying this a lot lately: your expertise becomes your operating system. My background is product development and brand building, so that's where we've invested the majority of our resources. We focused on creating exceptional formulas and a brand with a clear point of view, rather than relying on paid acquisition.

That approach has led to strong partnerships, particularly with Credo Beauty, where most of our discovery happens today. Retail can be a hard nut to crack, but both Skin Wash and Skin Emulsion are bestsellers, without any paid promotion. DTC, our repurchase rate is extremely high, which gives me a lot of confidence and makes me happy. Once people experience the products, they stay with us.

The most meaningful way this community can support us is simply by trying Gntl and telling a friend about us. Word of mouth is always the most valuable way to grow. We don't take that trust lightly, and we're incredibly grateful to the people who have believed in us from the beginning.