Ridge map · 04
The story
Our
first.
Skins is the first brand to carry our own name. It is held to a higher standard because of it.
First of our own
The name on the case was always someone else’s.
For years we worked inside the rolling paper trade, close to the mills, the converters and the counters. We sourced papers, handled the stock the best names were made from, and sold cases with other people’s names on them.
Skins is the first brand to carry our own name, and the first paper we could build to our own specification from the leaf out. It is held to a higher standard because of it.
Ridge map · 01A frustration we could measure
The best paper rarely had the best case.
What we measured
- Burn
- Ash
- Gum
- Translucency
- Flavour
- Roll
It started with a frustration we could measure. The papers we rated highest were always someone else’s, and the cases with the best branding rarely held the best paper. We knew this because we tested them, the same way we test Skins now.
Before we had a name, we had a pass mark. Burn front, ash residue, gum hold, translucency, flavour transfer and the roll itself, written down as the standard a paper of our own would have to meet.
Ridge map · 02To source
So we went to Spain.
The finest ultra-thin papers in the world come from one region of Spain, from mills and converters that supply the most respected names in the category. That is where Skins is made, on the same stock, to a specification that is ours alone.
We do not own a paper mill and we do not pretend to. The paper is theirs to make. The gum profile, the basis weights, the watermark and the pass marks are ours to set.
Ridge map · 03Verified in the UK
Nothing carries the mark until it has passed.
Every batch comes back to the Skins lab in the UK before it goes near a counter. It is burned, weighed, sealed, read against the light, tasted blind and rolled by hand. Six tests, in that order.
A leaf that fails the burn never reaches the roll. A leaf that fails the roll never carries the fingerprint.
Ridge map · 04The fingerprint
A mark that is only valid when it matches.
No two rolls are identical, and no two fingerprints are. The mark on every Skins case is a biometric: it means the batch was read against the specification and matched.
It is the standard we hold to and the signature that says the batch passed. On the site, it is the reader you hold to get in. On the counter, it is how you know the paper has been through the lab.
- Ridge map
- Batch
- Read
- Six tests
- Status
- Match
The standard
Six checks. Every batch.
If it would not pass in our hands, it does not leave the lab. The full protocol, with the method and the pass mark for each test, is in the Research Centre.
- 01
Burn
Slow, even, no runs
- 02
Ash
Minimal, pale, no clumping
- 03
Gum
Holds first time
- 04
Translucency
Uniform across the sheet
- 05
Flavour
No flavour transfer
- 06
Roll
No splits, no drag
Next step
For rollers
Priority access.
Releases, competitions and stockists near you, before anyone else.
For trade
Put Skins on your counter.
Trade terms, the technical sheet and a sample booklet within two working days. Distributors and wholesalers, see Partners.