Beauty Bosses: Elise Tabin and Madysen Minton, Co-Founders of TWiiSH
Veteran beauty editor Elise Tabin and her daughter Madysen Minton recently launched TWiiSH, a skincare brand that empowers the younger generation to take care of their skin and feel more confident. [Photo by Nektaria Kleopoulos]
Our latest Beauty Bosses are Elise Tabin and Madysen Minton, Co-Founders of TWiiSH—an innovative skincare brand for teens that was developed with the help of a Harvard-trained chemist. Tabin, who is a beauty expert and award-winning beauty editor with more than 18 years of industry experience, decided to create a skincare line for teens with her 14-year-old daughter after noticing a gap in the market for teenage skincare products.
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TWiiSH was designed to empower the younger generation to take better care of their skin and help them feel more confident while simplifying skincare routines. All of their products are formulated with clean, cruelty-free, and highly-effective ingredients that are also gentle on skin.
The brand’s two debut products help to address pimples and oily skin, which are the most common skin issues that teens face. Despite being created with teenagers in mind, TWiiSH is ideal for people of any age—especially those that are dealing with breakouts.
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We chatted with Elise and Madysen who shared the inspiration behind the brand, favorite beauty and wellness tips, and much more.
When was TWiiSH founded and what does the name mean?
TWiiSH was formally founded in 2022 but just launched on October 9, 2023 (we did a pre-sale list to our email subscriber list one week before).
The name, TWiiSH, is a portmanteau. We combined the words “teenage” with “wish” and ended up with TWiiSH. It wasn’t the first name we came up with, but it’s our favorite and the one that stuck.
What inspired the creation of the brand?
It all started with a zit. Both of us have suffered from breakouts at one point in our lives or another (Madysen as a pre-teen and Elise as a teenager, young adult, pregnant woman, and mother).
A few years ago, when a then 12-year-old Madysen began experiencing her first bout of breakouts, we did everything possible to try and remedy her skin. As a beauty editor, Elise has access to seemingly every product under the sun. Still, all the products in the at-home beauty closet were either too harsh for her delicate skin, formulated with unnecessary ingredients, or packaged unattractively. We asked aestheticians and dermatologists for recommendations and no one had a good one. We often left store after store empty-handed and unsatisfied with the lack of options.
That’s when the lightbulb moment went off, and Elise and Madysen decided to create a line of skincare made for teenagers (but good for everyone) that will be a staple in their skincare routines for years to come.
TWiiSH is an innovative skincare brand for teens that is formulated with clean, cruelty-free, and highly-effective ingredients.
Does TWiiSH have a hero product?
We like to consider our two initial launch products, our Peachy Clean cleanser and Zit Ain’t Cute spot treatment, our hero products. While they work differently, they’re both super important to the line and are cornerstone products for getting blemish-prone skin back on track.
What are your favorite products from the brand?
Elise: I love them both but am obsessed with Zit Ain’t Cute. I still break out (yes, I’m almost 45 years old) and turn to this every time I need to flatten a blemish and take the redness out.
Madysen: Definitely our cleanser, Peachy Clean. It’s gentle but removes all my makeup.
Where are your products sold?
Right now they are available on our website.
Future plans for the brand?
We have two other products in development that will be part of our second drop. They’re really fun and people that have been testing them love them. We also want to introduce a few fun merch pieces to the website.
TWiiSH Zit Ain’t Cute Spot Treatment helps pimples go down fast with a powerful combination of salicylic acid and colloidal silver.
Who inspires you?
Madysen: My mom, for sure. I think it’s impressive that she does everything she does.
Secret to success?
Elise: Surround yourself with positive yet honest people who can help guide you. Building a brand comes with many ups and downs, so you need people to support the wins and help you learn from the falls. And there are a lot of late nights and sacrifices that come along with success, so try not to have FOMO—and a good concealer helps, too!
Madysen: Staying organized. It’s helped me do much better in school.
Beauty secrets?
Elise: Where do I start? I could go on and on. Never go to sleep with makeup on, no matter how tired or drunk you are. Wear a deep conditioning mask in your hair all day when it’s starting to look and feel drab. Trust a professional when it comes to waxes, eyebrow shaping, and hair color. Stick to a skincare routine depending on what your skin needs at any given time, which will change, so don’t lock yourself into only one type of product or ingredient.
Madysen: I don’t wash my hair every day, which I think helps keep it shiny and thick. I get a facial once every three months—having clean skin means there’s nothing for me to try to pop or pick. And eyebrow shaping while maintaining my natural shape.
TWiiSH Peachy Clean cleanser ($28) gently exfoliates skin and unclogs pores with skin-friendly ingredients including salicylic acid, colloidal silver and meadowsweet.
Wellness tips?
Elise: Find a workout you enjoy, and you’ll never feel like you’re working out. I love Pilates and strength training, but I could do without running or spinning—those are like a chore. I work out almost every day since it makes me feel good and is an easy way to get out any aggression.
Madysen: I always put a lemon wedge in my water bottle. This way, I drink more water throughout the day.
Best advice?
Elise: Years ago, I learned never to do something half-ass, which has always stuck with me. I put 110% into everything I do—whether building a brand, creating content, writing an editorial feature, or something as simple as blowdrying my hair. When I skimp or cut corners, I notice it, and I feel it, too, and it doesn’t make me feel good about it.
Madysen: Don’t count the days; make the days count.
Favorite way to relax?
Elise: It’s simple: sleep.
Madysen: Hang out and relax at home with my dog, Franklin, go to the beach with my friends, and get a massage—that’s my favorite.
For more information, visit TWiiSH’s website and follow on Instagram: @twiishskin
[Product photos by Kula Creatives]
Kamala Kirk is a University of Southern California graduate and has been an editor/writer for more than a decade. She has written for E! Online, Total Beauty, TravelAge West, Malibu Times Magazine, and many more. She resides in Los Angeles and is a proud pug mom. Follow her on Instagram: @kamalakirk