ARgENTUM: A Holistic Concept From Start to Finish
A Silver Lining
In the life of Joy Isaacs, the founder of ARgENTUM, colloidal silver* has become the inspiration for a more beautiful and balanced life. During her childhood, Joy had grown up using colloidal silver for cuts and burns and as an anti-bacterial agent. But it wasn’t until she underwent surgery in 2010 that it really changed her life. An infection developed that didn’t heal, and the doctors used antibiotics that didn’t work until they put silver mesh bandages on to the wound.“It was miraculous in its healing,” – explained Joy.
One night, Joy had a dream about silver and skincare. A dream fuelled by her traumatic experience with a necrotic wound. This may have been the moment where the subconscious mind kicked in, putting everything together and constructing it in the way of a dream. “When I woke, I started talking about it, and sharing it with people and it just seemed to snowball from there.” So, Joy got into contact with a French scientist who is a leader in the field of dermo-cosmetics, and due to his involvement, the science side behind the dream was shaped - resulting in a patented formula for ARgENTUM’s products.
*Colloidal silver is a multi-purpose ingredient used for its wonderful anti-bacterial and anti-inflammatory properties. It helps to calm the skin and helps against bacteria, but what it doesn’t do is strip away the “friendly” bacteria, so it keeps the skin and the skin’s micro bio at an optimal level. The colloidal silver ARgENTUM uses is called silver hydrosol. This type is the purest and finest of the colloidal silver categories.
The Secret of an Award-Winning Brand
ARgENTUM is a perfect example of a brand that leaves nothing to chance. The core of the brand stems from the word Argentum which means silver in Latin, but also the symbolism of silver and what it means are waved through its entire concept. For example, water and the moon represent the symbolism of silver. These elements can be found in every detail, from the packaging to the website design. Furthermore, you will notice that the brand’s colour pallet is black and white, which is rooted in yin and yang, masculine and feminine. It is all about balance and that is why all the products are designed for men and women of all skin types and ages – at the end of the day, we all have skin.
To attract the target audience, the idea of custom packaging came about, because the packaging is the very first thing people see before they can try out the products. It is also the first thing they mention. So, the primary motive for choosing a custom packaging was to allow the brand to stand out in the world of luxury. While at the same time, creating something that expressed the brand, the style, and design. This is also reflected in the consumer’s feedback. “We get a lot of love – especially on social media – from people photographing our jar because it’s such a wonderful accessory for the bathroom cabinet. It looks beautiful and is also very stylish. It’s something that men feel very comfortable using and we hear about couples sharing it all the time. It’s one of those jars that simply looks good in any space.”
So, beside the psychological side of the brand, the scientific side and naturalness are covered, addressing – as one of the very few brands – all three angles. Able to give a holistic approach to the consumer’s experience. Especially with cultures that really like meaning and depth, the brand resonates well. The main reason for this is that the brand “clearly communicates the reasons we do what we do, how we put the symbology together and why we use the ingredients we do – people just love that.”All elements combined have led ARgENTUM to win over 25 awards!
Finding the Right Packaging
While spending a holiday in the USA, Joy’s eye caught a boutique that had an original apothecary style jar. This moment became the starting point of a long search, and after browsing many internets’ pages, Joy stumbled across Miron Violetglass.
“It was so important for us to use Miron glass” says Joy. “One of the things we love about Miron glass is the science of biophotons. They vibrate when you look at them under a microscope, so the glass is alive, just like our products. We also love the idea of the violet glass encapsulating light and the symbolism behind that ~ it is hugely protective, spiritual and has its own energy, just like silver. In many ways, Miron glass is the perfect vessel for our skincare collection and offers our natural formulas a longer than average shelf-life.”
Creating an International Buzz
At the time the cooperation began, the brand was in an early stage of development. As a start-up company, having to invest so much into tooling and the energy involved in creating this custom packaging was quite stressful, “but it really paid off. And it was worthwhile.” And although the inner circle of ARgENTUM thought it was crazy to create something bespoke, the visual side of the jar became very important. Especially since at that time, there were no labels on the jars because of their unique shape. A very interesting story about that was “An A-list celebrity in Asia was using our hero product – la potion infinie – when her daughter leaked pictures of her dressing table on the internet. The photo wasn’t the best quality, but many were able to recognise our ‘little black jar’ because of its bespoke shape and minimalistic design which brought us a great deal of success in the region.”
You have to realise, the time that goes into the science, testing, and planning of a product is tremendous, “but to me, the packaging and how it looks is equally important. You need to be as good as you look – you can’t just look good and have no substance or integrity. Our aesthetic needed to match everything else that we’re doing.”