Behind the Screen: Barefaced Blurs the Line Between Influencer and Customer
Interview with Ashley Buckler, Chief Brand Officer of Barefaced
Behind the Screen is a series on Following Up, featuring the minds behind brand’s influencer + community strategies. We often forget that there is a person or team behind the paid partnerships we consume, so I wanted to bring these people in front of the camera for a change.
Where are you based?
I’m based in Atlanta, Georgia!
How long have you been at Barefaced and how has it evolved since starting?
I joined Barefaced in early 2021 as one of the first employees, and it has been incredibly rewarding to watch the company evolve from an emerging brand into a category-leading business with a passionate customer community. What’s been especially meaningful is that as we’ve grown, we’ve worked hard to maintain the closeness and responsiveness that made customers feel connected to us in the first place. In many ways, our evolution has been about scaling without losing intimacy.
One of the biggest advantages of being an early team member is that I’ve had the opportunity to wear many different hats beyond my formal job description. That cross-functional exposure has given me a deep understanding of how product, customer experience, marketing, operations, and community all connect. As Chief Brand Officer today, I make decisions from a multi-channel perspective and ultimately through the lens of the customer relationship.
That has become even more important in the current marketing landscape. Consumers are more skeptical, more informed, and more selective than ever. The brands that win long term aren’t just the ones with the biggest reach; they’re the ones that create genuine connection with their community at every touchpoint.
From a brand marketing perspective, how has the industry changed since you first started your career?
The skincare industry has always been competitive, but the pace of new launches has accelerated dramatically. It feels like a new brand enters the conversation every quarter, often backed by significant funding, celebrity influence, or viral momentum.
For us, that has made clarity even more important. Barefaced is anchored by our Less but Better philosophy. We are not trying to be everything to everyone. We’re focused on delivering expert-led, results-driven skincare that earns trust over time.
I actually think one of the biggest shifts in marketing is that consumers are becoming fatigued by constant novelty. The industry has trained people to expect newness every month, but trust is built through consistency. Our challenge isn’t to launch products for the sake of headlines; it’s to continue delivering exceptional outcomes while finding creative ways to tell that story. The fact that our returning customer rate is significantly above industry benchmarks (3x!) is one of the metrics I’m most proud of, because it reflects relationship depth, not just acquisition efficiency.
What does your team look like today?
Our internal brand team has been intentionally lean up to this point: myself, a Brand Manager, and a Brand Coordinator. Together, we oversee brand strategy, creative direction, social, influencer and affiliate, PR, partnerships, events, and activations.
We’ve found a lot of success partnering with specialized agencies and strategic thought partners in key areas. I think the future of marketing organizations is less about headcount and more about orchestration...bringing together the right expertise while maintaining a clear, cohesive brand vision internally.
Another benefit of working with external partners is the perspective they bring from other brands and categories. They challenge us to think bigger, question assumptions, and stay ahead of what’s resonating in culture. I love that dynamic because it keeps our thinking fresh without compromising who we are.
Given how much of your role is about orchestrating the right voices around the brand, I’d love to hear how community fits into that. Did influencer and community marketing always play a key role in Barefaced’s strategy?
Community has always been at the center of Barefaced. What’s changed over the past few years is that the line between “customer” and “creator” has become increasingly blurred.
One of my core beliefs is that the customers who make up your community are influencers. They may not have a million followers, but they have credibility, relationships, and trust within their circles. The majority of Barefaced’s growth has come from word of mouth and direct referrals, which I still believe is the most powerful form of marketing.
We certainly value our influencer partnerships for reach and discovery, but the strongest partnerships tend to be the ones that begin organically. Baskin is an example of someone that saw genuine results from using the product and we've continued to work with her since 2023! When someone genuinely uses the products, sees results, and shares that experience authentically, the audience can feel the difference. In today’s environment, authenticity compounds; forced sponsorships often don’t.
When you think about Barefaced’s influencer ecosystem, what are the key pieces and how do they fit into the larger marketing strategy?
Yes, our team oversees affiliate programs across platforms including ShopMy, as well as seeding initiatives and influencer partnerships. ShopMy is an important channel for us because it allows creators to monetize authentic recommendations while giving us clear visibility into performance.
I think of our influencer ecosystem as three layers:
Organic advocates: People who genuinely use and love the products.
Long-term brand partners: Creators we invest in over time because there is real alignment and audience trust.
Campaign-specific collaborators: Creators who help us reach new audiences around particular launches or initiatives.
The key is that influencer marketing doesn’t operate in a silo. It works best when it reinforces product credibility, community conversations, PR storytelling, and customer experience. I think the industry is moving away from transactional influencer relationships (one-off spikes) and toward trust ecosystems. The brands that win will be the ones that cultivate advocates, not just campaigns.
You’re celebrating six years of the brand with pop-ups across four cities. What inspired that decision, and what role do in-person experiences play in building the Barefaced community?
As a direct-to-consumer brand, most of our customer interactions happen through a screen. The six-year anniversary pop-ups were inspired by a simple question: How do we create moments where our community can connect with us, and with each other, in real life?
In-person experiences create a level of emotional connection that digital channels can’t fully replicate. Customers can touch the products, ask questions, meet the team, and feel the brand in a more human way. We’ve found that these events aren’t just acquisition opportunities; they strengthen loyalty and deepen community. In a world where so much marketing is algorithm-driven, face-to-face interaction becomes a meaningful differentiator.
How do you balance brand guidelines with creative freedom when briefing influencers?
Our philosophy is clarity on principles, flexibility on execution. We provide a clear understanding of who we are, the product truths we can substantiate, the audience we’re speaking to, and any compliance requirements. But we don’t want every piece of content to look or sound the same.
The creator knows their audience better than we do. The goal isn’t to turn influencers into brand spokespeople reading a script, it’s to give them enough context to tell a truthful story in their own voice. The best-performing content usually feels like a recommendation from a trusted friend, not an advertisement.
On a practical level, we’ve found success when partners show their before-and-afters because the results speak for themselves, share how they discovered Barefaced because it naturally creates social proof, and recommend a few specific products rather than speaking broadly about the brand. Those details make the content feel more personal, credible, and actionable.
How do you measure success for your campaigns?
We look at both short-term performance and long-term brand health.
Short-term signals
Engagement quality
Traffic
Conversions
Affiliate sales
Customer acquisition
Long-term signals
Repeat purchase rate
Community growth
Brand sentiment
Earned media
Share of conversation
One thing I’m increasingly focused on is quality of engagement over raw reach. A smaller group of highly engaged customers who trust the brand is often more valuable than a large audience with low intent. In the current attention economy, depth matters.
We also pay attention to what I call “relationship momentum.” The right partnerships don’t just drive customer acquisition, they attract other creators, partners, and opportunities into the ecosystem. Some of our most valuable relationships have started because someone saw a trusted voice already aligned with the brand and wanted to be part of that story.
Are there any influencers you have loved working with?
Some of our favorite partnerships are actually the ones that started organically and through real-life experiences with the brand. I tend to value creators who educate, build trust with their audience, and integrate products naturally into their lives rather than treating every partnership as a standalone ad. Those relationships usually produce the most authentic storytelling and the strongest long-term results.
Who would you love to work with?
Barefaced was founded by a Nurse Practitioner, and that clinical expertise has always been one of our greatest differentiators. Recently, we’ve started partnering with more medical professionals and credentialed experts, and I’d love to continue expanding that. As consumers become more educated and discerning, expert voices carry tremendous value because they bring both credibility and context. I think the future of skincare marketing is a balance of aspiration and expertise, and the most trusted brands will deliver both.
Is there a Barefaced campaign or influencer post that you’re particularly proud of?
I’m especially proud of campaigns where the community became part of the story. The strongest moments for us are often when customers share their own skin journeys, routines, and results. Those stories reinforce that Barefaced isn’t just selling products, it’s helping people feel more confident in their skin. For our “Less but Legendary” campaign we interviewed some of our top influencers and the outcome was true user-led storytelling that wasn’t manufactured. I mentioned earlier that we love to blur the line between “influencer” and “customer” because we believe our customers are influencers. We brought that to live through our holiday campaign last year when we flew some of our top customers out to New York to join us for the unveiling of our Times Square billboard and interviewed them about the skincare journey. The stories that came from that were so moving! It’s one of those moments you go, “okay, THIS is what it’s all about!” and not to mention, it’s incredibly valuable from a brand perspective because it’s real and people can feel that.
Any exciting partnerships or upcoming launches you are excited about?
We have some exciting things ahead, including new brand experiences and extensions that continue to support our mission of simplifying skincare. What I’m most excited about is that every launch is evaluated through the same filter: Does this genuinely make our customer’s skincare routine better? That discipline is a big part of how we protect trust as we grow.
Now for a few final, fun questions:
Favorite product from Barefaced?
Overachiever! We just enhanced it and the formulation is incredible. It’s a 10-in-1 serum that addresses the 10 visible signs of aging and after I use it consistently I see such a difference in the overall tone, texture, and GLOW in my skin.
Book, podcast or music on your morning commute?
I tend to rotate between entrepreneurship, mindset, and content that speaks to the season of life I’m in as a full-time working mom. If you’re looking for a new podcast, I’d love to recommend IN IT, which I co-host with Barefaced founder Jordan Harper. We cover the topics women in their 30s and 40s are talking about most—from wellness and mindset to skincare, hormones, relationships, and more. We’d love to have you there:
If you were on the other side of the business as an influencer yourself, what brands would you want to partner with?
I'm drawn to brands that pull customers into a distinct world—ones that evoke emotion and make you want to be part of something bigger than the product itself. Brands like Merit, Ring Concierge, Dairy Boy, and Hotel Lobby do this incredibly well. It's so fun to watch brands adopt unexpected personas through their campaigns, creating experiences and stories that feel immersive rather than just promotional.
Can you also share the last item you bought based off of an influencer’s post and who the influencer was?
It was actually from Jordan—ha! She keeps my supplement game strong. Most recently, I purchased the Ritual multivitamin based on her recommendation.
You can stay in touch with Ashley on Instagram & if you aren’t already, give Barefaced a follow! Barefaced’s Toning Pads are a favorite part of my routine and now I want to try the Overachiever.