He\u2019s known for building multimillion-dollar beauty brands from the ground up. Now he\u2019s at the helm of one of the country\u2019s biggest appearance medicine franchises. <\/p>\n
Simon Duffy is shifting the narrative around gendered approaches to skincare. <\/p>\n
\n The global beauty entrepreneur, who co-founded Bulldog Skincare in 2006, is credited
\n by Forbes with breaking the mould for how men approach skincare.\n <\/p>\n
After noticing a lack of dedicated natural skincare options for men in-store, Duffy \u2013 who in August became the chief executive of Caci \u2013 sought to make his own, creating a range of cruelty-free products built exclusively for men, rather than rebranding women\u2019s cosmetics.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor a long time the industry told men skincare wasn\u2019t really for them, and the result is that a lot of men still don\u2019t know where to start,\u201d he says. <\/p>\n
\u201cThe answer isn\u2019t necessarily a \u2018men\u2019s version\u2019 of everything \u2013 in many cases, good advice on how best to look after a particular skin concern works well for everyone.\u201d<\/p>\n
His challenger instincts and self-discipline served him well during his tenure at Bulldog, disrupting the industry with the brand\u2019s stance around sustainability and packaging. <\/p>\n
Duffy and his co-founder Rhodri Ferrier pioneered many industry firsts in the men\u2019s market \u2013 including the brand\u2019s almost entirely plastic-free bamboo handle razors and sugarcane-based plastic tubes.<\/p>\n
While the brand began as a men\u2019s skincare line, Duffy says it eventually shifted gears to be non-gendered, dropping the \u201cFor Men\u201d from Bulldog\u2019s name 10 years after launching.<\/p>\n
A handful of brands have followed suit, but Duffy believes there\u2019s still a way to go before beauty is a truly non-gendered industry. <\/p>\n
\u201cFor example, the great majority of retailers still split their product assortments into male and female sections,\u201d he says. <\/p>\n
Duffy co-founded Bulldog Skincare in 2006. <\/p>\n
Now two months into his new role as chief executive of FAB Group, the parent company behind leading skin and appearance medicine franchise network Caci and wholesale distribution company Beauty Distributors, Duffy is already taking notice of where the industry is moving next.<\/p>\n
He says one of the major shifts he\u2019d like to see at Caci is more New Zealand men having facials. <\/p>\n
\u201cMen still assume a skin clinic isn\u2019t for them,\u201d Duffy says. Several months before he was chief executive, he was a member at Caci Ponsonby and says, \u201cI\u2019ve seen first-hand the benefit of having a dedicated skin expert build a plan unique to my skin.\u201d<\/p>\n
Caci was founded in 1994 by Jackie and David Smith and its goal from the start was making skin confidence easy and accessible for all New Zealanders. The Smiths grew the brand to 75 clinics across the country, have employed more than 400 people and have more than 22,000 active members. <\/p>\n
While Caci\u2019s core clientele is women in their 30s to 50s, Duffy says recent studies found that four in 10 men have either tried or considered treatments. <\/p>\n
His mission is to attract more men to Caci clinics, with campaigns aimed specifically at them, or to engage current customers with a partner, brother or dad who would benefit from a Caci membership. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ll be looking at how we can encourage these trusted recommendations. The job for Caci is to make all this more obvious,\u201d he says. <\/p>\n
Duffy is quick to point out the differences in men\u2019s skin, which span the physiological (skin thickness, pore size), hormonal, and behavioural (shaving frequency), but adds the right skin therapist can factor these differences in and make expert recommendations.<\/p>\n
\u201cMany of the fundamentals of skincare are the same whoever you are: how to keep your skin clean and hydrated, how to protect it from the sun, and where to get good advice when something isn\u2019t right,\u201d he says. <\/p>\n
Duffy was appointed as Caci’s new chief executive in mid August. <\/p>\n
Keeping abreast of what\u2019s next in beauty is all part of the territory for Duffy, who predicts a handful of key shifts in the skincare and appearance medicine space across the next five years. <\/p>\n
He believes clients will be arriving in-clinic more informed than ever, either from reading about the treatment or asking AI about it before they set foot in the door. <\/p>\n
\u201cThe clinic\u2019s job is partly shifting towards helping people work out what\u2019s genuinely right for them, rather than what\u2019s trending on social media,\u201d Duffy says. <\/p>\n
\u201cFor me, skin confidence isn\u2019t about chasing perfection. It\u2019s about getting the best out of your own skin, so you feel comfortable in it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Duffy also believes people will begin to approach skincare the same way they approach fitness, leaning towards \u201congoing maintenance rather than one-off fixes\u201d, and booking in for regular treatments like they would a workout. <\/p>\n
\u201cFor example, if you\u2019re a member of a gym, you\u2019re already thinking about your wellness from a fitness and strength perspective every time you visit, and you likely already know that consistency gets results,\u201d he says. <\/p>\n
\u201cSkincare is just the same: consistent behaviours will deliver better results over the long term, and if you pay for a membership at a professional clinic to supplement what you already do at home, [your skin] will look even better.\u201d<\/p>\n
Duffy also predicts appearance medicine standards will rise. <\/p>\n
He says regulation that boosts safety, transparency and accountability is good for both clients and providers, but New Zealand has room to be more formalised in this space (including cosmetic injecting). <\/p>\n
Duffy at his Pt Chevalier home. <\/p>\n
An Oxford graduate, Duffy\u2019s career began at Auckland-based agency Saatchi & Saatchi, before jetting to New York to establish Fahrenheit 212, an innovation consultancy advising brands like Coca-Cola, Starbucks and Samsung. <\/p>\n
He and Ferrier spent more than a decade building Bulldog into a global brand, which is now available in more than 40 countries and has achieved global retail sales exceeding $100 million. <\/p>\n
Consumer goods giant Edgewell Personal Care acquired the brand in 2016 for an estimated US$34m (NZ$60.6m), according to financial data and research platform PitchBook. The same year, Duffy and Ferrier were appointed Members of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) for their services to the beauty industry in the Queen\u2019s Birthday Honours. <\/p>\n
Duffy returned to New Zealand in 2024 with his wife Annabel Davidson (editor of Vanity Fair On Jewellery) and their three children Olive, Annie and Tom, when he became interim chief executive of notable fashion design duo, Paris Georgia. <\/p>\n
\u201cSettling back into New Zealand life has been easy,\u201d Duffy says, explaining it\u2019s the third time he\u2019s returned after stints living overseas. <\/p>\n
\u201cWhen I\u2019m not in [Auckland] city, we head up north to our place near P\u0101kiri Beach. It\u2019s a great community, and there\u2019s nothing better than walking on the beach with our two little dogs while the kids are in and out of the water all day.\u201d<\/p>\n
The family man says there\u2019s one major global beauty trend he hopes never lands on our shores: skincare marketed to children. <\/p>\n
\u201cOverseas, social media has driven a trend of tweens building elaborate multi-step routines with products designed for adult skin. Children\u2019s skin doesn\u2019t need an adult regime,\u201d he says. <\/p>\n
\u201cWhat worries me about the trend is less the products and more the message \u2013 that at 9 or 10 years old, your skin is already a problem to be fixed. I think that can feel like a lot of pressure to put on a child.\u201d <\/p>\n
Despite his job meaning his children will have access to Caci\u2019s premium skincare, Duffy hopes they keep their skincare routines simple. <\/p>\n
\u201cAs a parent, I\u2019d much rather my kids learned the basics [from me] \u2013 wash your face, wear sunscreen, drink water and get to bed on time \u2013 not from a 10-step routine they\u2019ve seen on social media.\u201d<\/p>\n
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