a conversation with HABELO founder Whitney Clarke

For decades, beauty innovation focused almost exclusively on the face while one of the most exposed and expressive parts of ourselves remained strangely overlooked: our hands. That is exactly what HABELO is here to change.

Newly arrived at Muse and Heroine, HABELO is the biotech luxury handcare brand currently redefining the entire category. Founded by Whitney Clarke after noticing that her hands looked older than the energy and vitality she still felt, HABELO was created around a radical idea: what if handcare were finally approached with the same scientific precision, active concentration and long-term regenerative philosophy as facial skincare? The result is a completely new generation of hand treatments rooted in peptides, barrier science, collagen support and skin longevity specifically formulated for the unique biology of hand skin, one of the first areas where visible ageing appears. Elegant, highly active and deeply performance-driven, HABELO is quickly becoming one of the most talked-about launches in beauty.

Before Habelo existed, what was your relationship to your hands?

I’ve always noticed hands. I notice jewelry, nails, gestures, the way hands reflect someone’s personal style, taste, even relationship status. Hands can say so much about a person without ever speaking. I’ve always found that interesting. But I didn’t always think too deeply about my own hands until a photograph was taken several years ago. While my face reflected the care and investment I’d made in skincare over the years in the photo, my hands told a very different story. Perhaps it had snuck up on me. But they looked more tired, more weathered, less vibrant older than I felt. That moment stayed with me. And over time, I became increasingly aware of my own hands and of how central hands are to our lives. They connect us to people. They express creativity, affection, work, identity. They help shape how we move through the world and experience it. The more I reflected on it, the more surprising it felt that something so essential to our lives had been so overlooked in beauty and skincare. That realization became the beginning of Habelo.

What makes the skin on the hands so unique and so challenging to treat?

Hand skin is biologically very different from the skin on the face and in many ways, it behaves more like the delicate skin around the eyes than people realize. It’s thinner, has fewer oil glands, less underlying fat and structural support, and is in near-constant motion and exposure. That combination makes hands especially vulnerable to collagen and elastin decline, crepiness, dehydration, texture changes, and visible aging over time. At the same time, hands are exposed to constant stressors (UV light, frequent washing, environmental damage, friction, and daily use) yet most products created for hands are still positioned as simple creams focused primarily on temporary moisture. The challenge is that hands often need much more than hydration. They need support for elasticity, barrier function, texture, tone, and overall skin quality. But many traditional “anti-aging” skincare actives associated with performance, especially more aggressive ingredients, can be difficult for delicate hand skin to tolerate consistently.

From the beginning, we were incredibly intentional about what we included in Habelo and equally intentional about what we didn’t. We wanted to create visible, meaningful results people would genuinely fall in love with, while still respecting the sensitivity and biology of the skin on the hands.

That’s why we approached Habelo from a true skincare perspective: combining biotech ingredients, peptides, barrier-supporting actives, and a thoughtfully designed delivery system created specifically for the unique needs of hand skin.

« Hands can say so much about a person without ever speaking »

Hands are one of the first places where age shows. How do you think that impacts the way we see ourselves?

Hands are incredibly visible arguably one of the most seen and expressive parts of ourselves. They’re part of how we communicate, connect, create, work, and move through the world. We notice them constantly: holding a coffee cup, typing, gesturing, wearing jewelry, touching someone we love. They become part of our personal expression and identity. Because of that, I think changes in the hands can feel surprisingly emotional and personal. When your hands begin to look older, more fragile, or more tired than you feel, it can create a quiet disconnect. Especially for women who take care of themselves and invest in skincare, wellness, style  and suddenly notice their hands aren’t reflecting that same vitality. For me, it was never really about chasing perfection or looking “younger” in some artificial way. It was about wanting my hands to feel more aligned with the energy, confidence, and care I still felt everywhere else. And I think there’s also something deeper: our hands carry our lives. They reflect experience, work, creativity, affection, motherhood, ambition, artistry. They connect us to other people. Caring for them feels less like vanity to me and more like honoring a part of ourselves that does so much every single day.

Before Habelo, you had another career. What was the moment you realized Habelo could be more than a side project?

I’ve spent my career building brands, shaping customer experience, and leading transformation inside large companies particularly across healthcare, consumer experience, and innovation. In many ways, Habelo was born from that background. I understood how powerful it can be when you identify a real unmet need and create something people emotionally connect with. What surprised me was how immediate and personal the response to Habelo became once people tried it. Women would say things like, “I’ve never seen anything work on my hands like this,” or “My hands finally feel aligned with the way I care for the rest of myself.” There was clearly something deeper happening than simply launching another beauty product. I realized we weren’t just filling whitespace in the market, we were reframing the way people think about hands entirely. Not as an afterthought, but as an important extension of skincare, self-expression, and wellbeing. That was the moment Habelo started to feel much bigger to me: not simply as a product, but as the beginning of a new category conversation.

“Our hands carry our lives. They reflect experience, work, creativity, affection, motherhood, ambition, artistry”

What pushed you to take the leap?

I think it was a combination of instinct, conviction, and seeing a very real gap that wasn’t being addressed thoughtfully. I’ve also always been a student of skincare. I’ve long been fascinated by ingredients, formulation, and the intersection of science and visible transformation, particularly products that can genuinely change how skin looks and feels over time. The more I researched hand skin and the more conversations I had with women, the clearer it became that there was a disconnect between how advanced facial skincare had become and how overlooked hands still were, despite being one of the first places we visibly age. Most products on the market were still focused on temporary moisture, not true skin health or visible long-term improvement. At the same time, I felt there was an opportunity to build something differently where science, performance, design, and emotional connection could all coexist in a more elevated way. That intersection was incredibly compelling to me. And honestly, I think there’s something liberating about building a brand later in your career. You become less interested in following convention and more interested in creating something you genuinely believe should exist in the world.

What has surprised you the most since launching the brand?

Probably how emotional the connection to hands really is. I expected people to respond to the visible results, but I didn’t fully anticipate how personal the conversation would become. People share stories about their mothers’ hands, aging, illness, work, touch, confidence, marriage, identity. Hands carry so much of our lives and history within them. There’s something deeply human and emotional about that.

I’ve also been surprised by how ready people are for a more sophisticated approach to hand care. Consumers are incredibly educated now, they understand skincare, ingredients, and performance. There’s a real appetite for products that feel as thoughtful and advanced as the skincare people use on their faces, while still delivering a beautiful experience. In many ways, I think people were waiting for someone to take the category seriously.

“Most hand care today is reactive. You apply cream when your hands feel dry. We wanted to create something more intentional and performance-oriented, closer to the way people approach facial skincare”

Your products work as a system. What changes when you treat your hands like a skincare ritual rather than a quick step?

The results change but so does the mindset. Most hand care today is reactive. You apply cream when your hands feel dry. We wanted to create something more intentional and performance-oriented, closer to the way people approach facial skincare. Our Activating Hand Serum and Treatment-Boosting Gloves were designed to work together as a system. The serum delivers targeted biotech actives, peptides, hydration, and barrier support, while the gloves create a protective microenvironment that helps enhance absorption and reduce moisture loss.  But beyond the science, ritual changes the relationship you have with self-care. Even ten intentional minutes can become a moment of restoration in the middle of a very busy life.

Can you tell me more about your powerful formula?

From the beginning, we knew we weren’t creating another hand cream. We wanted to design a truly targeted performance product for hands and that meant starting with a very clear set of requirements, both in terms of performance goals and formulation “watch-outs.” We wanted visible improvement in tone, texture, elasticity, hydration, and overall skin quality. But we also knew hand skin has very specific biological realities: it’s thinner, lower in natural oils, constantly exposed to UV and environmental stress, washed repeatedly throughout the day, and in near-continuous motion. At the same time, it can be less tolerant of many traditional “performance” skincare ingredients commonly used on the face.

So formulation became a very thoughtful balancing act. We needed ingredients powerful enough to deliver meaningful results, but elegant enough for daily life  without heaviness, greasiness, irritation, or formulas that could increase sensitivity in already highly exposed skin. At the center is our HAB-1™ Multi-Peptide Complex, which combines peptides that help support firmness, elasticity, smoother texture, and overall skin quality. We paired that with barrier-supporting ceramides, niacinamide, humectants like hyaluronic acid and sodium PCA, and biotech ingredients like sea fennel extract, a gentle retinol alternative known for supporting visible renewal without the irritation or UV sensitization often associated with more aggressive actives.