Bella Reid

Bella Reid is the founder of Clens Cosmetics, a company developing innovative hygiene solutions for the beauty industry. After years spent in hospitals with a chronic illness, Bella’s experience highlighted the critical importance of hygiene protocols. This, combined with her background in product design and expertise as a makeup artist, led her to address a significant gap in cosmetics safety.

The beauty industry faces severe hygiene challenges, with contaminated makeup tools causing infections ranging from acne to serious conditions like MRSA. Existing cleaning solutions often depend on chemical-intensive processes and disposable applicators, contributing to environmental concerns. Clens Cosmetics’s innovative technology eliminates harmful chemicals and dramatically reduces plastic waste, setting a new standard in hygiene and sustainability.

Bella describes her mission as “setting new levels of professionalism, performance and hygiene in the beauty industry. Improving hygiene and sustainability, keeping people safe.”

Bella’s achievements include the Innovate UK Young Innovators Award 2022/23, selection for the University of Cambridge Women in Sustainability Innovation Accelerator, and several innovation grants, such as the Intellectual Property Office IP Audit Grant.

“Winning this award is an honour and a privilege,” says Bella. “As a disabled woman in STEM, I can connect with many young people and share my story to show that you can keep going and build your dreams despite setbacks.” Through the Women in Innovation programme, she plans to advance R&D and collaborate with experienced partners to move the project towards commercialisation.

Her advice to aspiring women innovators? “Continuous perseverance and a positive approach was the key to finding the right funding for our company and our mission,” Bella reflects. “Get good people around you, people who lift you up and support you. It takes a village; empathetic supportive friends, family and business connections will be the biggest support for success.”

For more information on Women in Innovation

Find out more about the Women in Innovation Award and other support available across the Innovate UK ecosystem on the Women in Innovation programme page.