85. My Skin Feels My Skin Feels’ natural skincare line is made from rescued food by-products like tomato ketchup, olive oil, breakfast oats, and orange juice. Written by Helena Young Sponsored by Sage Published on January 12, 2026 About the Startups 100 Now in its 18th year, the Startups 100 is the definitive list of the most promising new UK businesses. There's no fee for entry or for inclusion in our index. The Startups team of new business experts judge all our top 100 entrants in collaboration with specialist industry consultants. See our guide to this year’s hottest new businesses and most exceptional founders in the complete 2026 Startups 100 index. Founder: Danielle CloseYear founded: 2023Website: myskinfeels.comHaving worked in the beauty industry for over 15 years, including as part of Charlotte Tilbury’s founding team, Danielle Close was consistently shocked by the fact that the planet was so often at the bottom of the priority list for those formulating beauty products.This is what led her to launch My Skin Feels, a natural skincare brand whose ingredients include “rescued food” – by-products from the production of tomato ketchup, olive oil, breakfast oats, and orange juice – which would otherwise go to waste.Rather than helping customers change how they look, Close aims to help customers feel good in their skin, offering them 99% natural, vegan, organic products that are free from nasties like endocrine disruptors. The products are formulated to help sensitive and eczema-prone skin.According to Close, the Brighton-born brand’s products have been launched in “the most sustainable way possible”. Plus, the brand uses a mix of recyclable packaging, and 1% of its sales goes to the Brighton and Hove Food Partnership to help fight food waste in the community.My Skin Feels wants to inspire beauty brands to think more holistically and consciously about what they are creating. As well as being kinder to the planet and our bodies, this is something consumers want – the clean beauty market is projected to be worth $39bn by 2033, up from $8.7bn in 2023.My Skin Feels’ products are sold at Whole Foods and Credo Beauty, a major US clean beauty store. They can also be found at markets, events, and pop-ups in the UK. Close tells us she believes in meeting customers on the ground, and has spent the last two years cultivating relationships with these markets.This approach has paid off, as My Skin Feels has doubled its sales every month since launch, and recently secured its first angel investors. It has also sold a product to an Oscar-winning actress.Close’s ambitions are for My Skin Feels to become a household brand and a leader of the conscious beauty movement. In five years, the business aims to have rescued 500,000 tonnes of food waste, and patented “rescued food” ingredients for eczema relief.View the full Startups 100 Index for 20261. Omnea2. HIVED3. MAGIC AI4. OXCCU5. Lightyear6. Neuranics 7. Hormona8. Burbank9. Better Dairy 10. Lenkie Technologies11. Userled12. Hoxton Farms13. Rensair14. PulpaTronics15. TradeKart16. 32Co17. Carmoola18. cheqd19. Sightline Analytics20. Adamo Foods21. Bold Bean Co22. Beams Renovation 23. Pan Galactic24. Capi Money25. Spotted Zebra26. ANTHROTEK 27. Unravel28. Perci Health29. Untap Health30. Hair Syrup31. Connect Earth 32. spacebands 33. Unfabled34. Lightning Reach35. STOCKED36. Embeddable37. XR Therapeutics38. Literal Labs39. Scooch40. Openr41. Fibe Limited42. Inicio AI43. Peachies44. Better Nature 45. Ctrl Alt46. Resting Reef47. Nila48. ROXFIT49. Finmile50. NavLive51. Volunteero52. Inntelo AI53. Zonova54. A&B Smart Materials55. Ethicronics56. Treeapp57. kennek58. Soil Benchmark59. Vox Aeris60. Asan Cup61. Nuuri62. Mindstone63. MYNDUP64. Enbiosis Biotechnology65. JUX Food66. Danu Robotics67. Wylde Market68. Air Aware Labs69. Mimicrete Ltd70. ALYVE71. Happl72. Living Things73. Grub Club Pets74. Mealia75. PetProov76. Lylo Products77. Chest78. ZIM Connections79. Uptime Labs80. Teal81. Zero Fintech82. Micro Thermal Energy 83. Kanjo 84. Merlin Cloud85. My Skin Feels86. Eleria87. Cashblack88. RevvedUp89. Cosysense90. SuperFi91. Loom92. Legacy Compass93. Meshed94. SWURF95. Main Squeeze96. Sampl Technologies97. Over the Moo98. Pioneering People99. Bikebook100. Recondition Share this post facebook twitter linkedin Tags 2026 Written by: Helena Young Deputy Editor Helena is Deputy Editor at Startups. She oversees all news and supporting content on Startups, and is also the author of the weekly Startups email newsletter, delivering must-know SME updates straight to their inbox. From interviewing Wetherspoon's boss Tim Martin to spotting data-led working from home trends, her insight has been featured by major trade publications including the ICAEW, and news outlets like the BBC, ITV News, Daily Express, and HuffPost UK. With a background in PR and marketing, Helena is particularly passionate about giving early-stage startups a platform to boost their brands. That's one reason she manages the Startups 100 Index, our annual ranking of new UK businesses. Sponsored by: Sage Startups 100 Index Sponsor 2026 Sage exists to knock down barriers so everyone can thrive, starting with the millions of Small and Mid-Sized Businesses served by us, our partners and accountants. Customers trust our finance, HR and payroll software to make work and money flow. By digitising business processes and relationships with customers, suppliers, employees, banks and governments, our digital network connects SMBs, removing friction and delivering insights. Knocking down barriers also means we use our time, technology and experience to tackle digital inequality, economic inequality and the climate crisis.