Northern Ireland skincare start-up ElastiK° Skin named finalist in prestigious global beauty awards just months after launch
A Northern Ireland skincare brand created specifically for people experiencing significant weight loss, including people using GLP-1 medications, has been named a finalist in two categories at one of the global beauty industry’s most prestigious awards, just four months after launching.
ElastiK° Skin, founded by Belfast entrepreneur Marc McKee, is a finalist in Best New Indie Brand and Best Tool or Device for its 234-LED Face and Neck Mask at the Pure Beauty Awards 2026.
ElastiK° Skin was developed following Marc’s own nine-stone transformation and the experiences shared by the huge online community he subsequently built. The skincare range is designed with the changing needs of skin during significant weight loss in mind, addressing concerns such as hydration, firmness and elasticity that Marc found were repeatedly being raised by people on similar journeys.
Celebrating their 25th anniversary in 2026, the Pure Beauty Awards UK and Pure Beauty Global Awards have merged into a single international programme, placing ElastiK° Skin alongside established beauty brands from across the world. Previous winners have included Chanel, Tom Ford and Rare Beauty by Selena Gomez.
A spokesperson for the Pure Beauty Awards said: “This year’s Pure Beauty Awards attracted the highest number of entries in the awards’ 25-year history, making a place as a finalist more competitive than ever. Every finalist has come through a rigorous product judging process by our editorial team.”
Public voting opens on Monday 31 August and runs until 18 September. From Monday, readers can visit the Pure Beauty Awards website to find out more and access voting information. The voting link will also be available through the Pure Beauty and Cosmetics Business channels, magazine and Voters’ Guide once voting opens. The awards’ platforms reach audiences across 224 countries.
For Marc, who launched ElastiK° Skin in April to coincide with in-cosmetics Global in Paris, the recognition marks another milestone in what has been a rapid first few months for the business.
Marc said: “To be named a finalist in not one but two categories at the Pure Beauty Awards only a few months after launching is something I’m incredibly proud of.
“ElastiK° Skin came directly from my own experience and from listening to thousands of people going through similar changes. To now have the brand recognised independently by people within the global beauty industry is a huge moment for us.
“What makes it even more special is knowing how competitive the awards have been this year. We’re a young Northern Ireland business standing alongside international brands, so I’d love people here to get behind us when public voting opens.”
Marc’s own journey has also developed into a much wider health and wellbeing platform. Through My Journey With Marc, he openly discusses medically supported weight loss, health, confidence and the physical and emotional realities of significant transformation. The platform has built an audience of more than 450,000 followers and generated more than 100 million organic views. His This Is My Journey podcast has reached listeners in 102 countries and 1,935 cities and ranked in the UK Top 10 on Apple Podcasts, Health & Fitness – Medicine. Its third season launches in September.
The Pure Beauty recognition also follows ElastiK° Skin achieving Innovate NI Gold Level Innovator status in July, recognising the business’s focus on innovation and evidence-led skincare.
That momentum is continuing with two additions to the ElastiK° Skin range, both selected in direct response to customer feedback. The new Renaissance Infusion Eye Patches and Peptide Solstice Day Cream respond to two of the requests Marc says he hears most often from his community: support for the under-eye area and a simple everyday moisturiser for changing skin.
Marc added: “We’re only a few months into the ElastiK° Skin journey, but there’s a lot happening. Achieving Innovate NI Gold Level Innovator status, expanding the range and now being named a finalist twice at the Pure Beauty Awards gives us real confidence that we’re building something that responds to a genuine and growing need.”
Further product development is already planned for 2027, while ElastiK° Skin currently sells directly to customers in more than 30 countries and is exploring retail partnerships for early next year.
Winners will be announced on 15 October at Grosvenor House Hotel on Park Lane, London, which has previously hosted the BAFTAs and Brit Awards.
