Reclaiming beauty: How Fuca turned survival into success at Mecca

Beauty has long mirrored culture, revealing who is visible and who is not. For Jess Armstrong, former L’Oréal brand manager turned founder of Fuca (“F-U-Cancer”), that mirror once felt brutally excluding.Diagnosed with breast cancer at 35, she faced not just illness, but also invisibility. The beauty industry celebrated flawlessness and often overlooked women dealing with treatment, scars and survival.Fuca, her bold and defiant response, reimagines skincare for those with sensitive or compromised skin without sacrificing joy or design.Inside Retail spoke with Jess about representation, purpose and the business of turning pain into power.IR (Inside Retail): What did your experience working at L’Oréal teach you about building a brand, and how did those lessons shape the creation of Fuca?Jess Armstrong: Working in marketing for 15 years prior to me starting Fuca meant I had made a lot of mistakes on other people’s money.I applied these learnings to Fuca and was very clear on what I wanted to spend my limited start-up marketing budget on. Branding and marketing has changed a lot in 15 years, glossy campaigns have been replaced with low-fi content and getting the consumer involved in all BTS aspects of the brand.IR: What inspired you to merge your personal journey with breast cancer into Fuca’s creative direction and brand identity?JA: I created Fuca for myself when I couldn’t find any products suitable for my skin that was left deeply compromised from chemotherapy treatment for breast cancer. So, it was natural my cancer journey became a part of the brand’s story.Post diagnosis, I also had a list of 12 ingredients I no longer wanted to see in my skincare products – for me and my family. (As they were associated with hormone disruption or ingredients known to flare up sensitive skin.) I couldn’t find a brand that was consistent in avoiding these ingredients.But, on top of this, any sensitive skin product that was recommended by doctors was clinical and joyless. Totally disconnected from the comfort I once found in my beauty routine. I was spending all day in a hospital, I didn’t need my skincare to be zapped of all life as well.When I looked around, there was also zero representation of women going through cancer in the beauty industry – and we are not a minority group. One in two Australian women will have cancer in their lifetime, with one in eight Australian women having breast cancer. I felt completely unseen and ignored at a time when my skin needed the most support.I knew if I was feeling that way, then many others would be too. That is why Fuca has resonated so deeply, because it is not just about the products; it is about making people feel seen when they are at their most vulnerable.IR: The visual language of Fuca is defiant and deeply human. How did your creative vision evolve to ensure women with cancer were not just included but celebrated in your campaigns?As a brand promise, all the women in our photo shoots have had cancer, to provide representation within the beauty industry. That promise has really resonated with our consumer base and community.We are also colourful, loud, and bold – aspects I knew I wanted to be part of the brand identity, which isn’t common for a natural, sensitive skincare brand.When you have cancer, you hide away, and from the beauty industry, you are excluded. So, I wanted the creative direction to push against that, to be in people’s faces, colourful, loud and showcase women with cancer in the campaign imagery. Fuca stands for F U Cancer.The word “cancer” is considered taboo in the beauty industry, and for that reason, I wanted to incorporate it somehow. You also curse a lot when you have cancer, and many of my text messages from friends ended with that line, “F U Cancer”. It was something we would say over and over, and it seemed fitting to name a brand after it. To show that it didn’t win. Fuca is a community dedicated to reclaiming beauty, health and empowerment in the face of adversity.The brand is still a part of me, and everything I felt was missing was from my cancer journey. We have a community group (called the Fuca Club) which connects women with cancer via face-to-face catch-ups over pilates, yoga and workshops.We donate products to chemotherapy wards to provide Fuca to those who need it most. (I would have absolutely loved a gift on those long, boring infusion days.) Proceeds from every Fuca sale are donated to Breast Cancer Network Australia. Ensuring this money goes back to better patient care and research is crucial to me.IR: From a retail perspective, how did the partnership with Mecca come about, and what opportunities does it open for the brand?JA: From our first meeting, they were engaged, they knew there was nothing out there like Fuca. They have been so supportive, and they were the first ones to test our final samples. We signed an exclusive agreement before Fuca had sold one unit or launched online.Eight hundred brands a year pitch to get into Mecca. I know my experience is unlike any other brand’s. People with sensitive skin want to patch test the product before use. If you have sensitive skin, you’ve likely spent a considerable amount of money on products in search of the right one for you.With Mecca’s retail reach, consumers can come and trial the product in-store before buying. It’s a game-changer for the brand. Plus, Mecca’s retail experience is the best in Australia and something that online shopping cannot replicate.IR: What is the current competitive landscape for skincare formulated for sensitive or compromised skin, and where does Fuca position itself within it?JA: At Fuca, we have a more holistic view that your skin is a dynamic organ that is constantly changing. Just because you don’t label yourself as having ‘sensitive’ skin doesn’t mean you are not a Fuca customer. Or you won’t need Fuca in the future.Our product development philosophy is centred on repairing the skin barrier and getting the fundamentals of skincare right from the start. This gives your skin the best chance to be at its healthiest and therefore robust against external aggressors.Our ingredient philosophy means that we appeal to pregnant women, breastfeeding women, women going through IVF treatment, people looking for low-tox skincare options, people looking for a completely fragrance-free brand.I haven’t done a competitive analysis; we are sticking to our lane, and it is working.IR: What have been the biggest learnings in balancing purpose, representation and commercial growth within Australia’s beauty retail market?JA: We are only one year old and have already partnered with Australia’s leading beauty retailer, but we still have so much growth to do in the Australian market.In terms of how we balance purpose, Fuca is a purpose-led brand. In my past brand manager roles ,I have been asked to try and build purpose into the brand strategy – it is so disingenuous.Whereas with Fuca, it’s so ingrained in the brand that it flows through every aspect organically. As the founder and also the brand’s first consumer, I am committed to cementing and communicating the brand’s values.It makes my job easy because every tough decision I have to make, I can go back to, “Is this giving comfort and confidence to our core consumer?” It’s a yes or a no answer.