I’ve been a practicing esthetician for most of my adult life. In that time I’ve worked on the most demanding celebrities, operated my own facial practice, and appeared as an on-air skin care expert. I’ve worked alongside some of the most famous tv dermatologists, consulted for major brands, and practiced my craft in various settings from surgical offices to upscale shops.

It’s been a dream career and I love what I do, but through it all I’ve been troubled by a question, namely, why do so many beauty products have so many un-beautiful things in them?

And I’m not just talking about the obvious nasties like synthetic fragrances and parabens, but the additives that we see in our skincare every day -- things like emulsifiers and preservatives, conditioners, texturizers, colorizers, consistency enhancers, neutralizers and stabilizers - things that can comprise up to 90 percent of the average skincare formula - things that when manufactured synthetically have names like Triethanolamine, a pH balancer that’s also used in the production of cement, or the density reducer perfluoromethyl trimethoxysilane, or the tongue twisting synthetic emollient called polyperfluoroethoxymethoxy difluoro hydroxyethyl ether. No wonder they started naming skincare ingredients with numbers, like CI 15620, otherwise known as red dye.

But whenever I asked the experts why we had to have all those things in skincare, the answer was always the same: The additives make the product smell good and feel good; they keep the product blended and stable and prevent spoilage. And while I understood the need for all that, I always hoped that one day someone would figure out a better way. Little did I know that with help from two unexpected sources, that ‘someone’ would be me.

David, a Harvard graduate and a professor at UCLA Medical School, came to see me because his passion for surfing was taking a toll on his skin. While I was showing David some products, he looked at the ingredients in one of them and remarked, "If you could separate this into a water phase and an oil phase and then apply them sequentially, you’d eliminate the need for almost all the excipients I see in here." His offhand remark was a revelation that led to the development of the 100% active ingredient skincare line that we blend here at the Skincare Bar.

Rick, a restaurateur with a passion for sourcing ingredients, approached me with a real skincare challenge—adult acne. During one of our sessions, Rick proposed sourcing the niacinamide I was using on him from various manufacturers for an ingredient comparison. Though I initially doubted there would be much difference, as all cosmetic-grade niacinamide is chemically identical, the samples Rick acquired proved otherwise. The differences in quality and feel were striking, and one (from a Swiss skin care lab) was so superior that today it’s the only niacinamide that we use.

Rick’s experiment proved that exceptional skin care begins with meticulous ingredient sourcing. That’s why, at The Skincare Bar, we scour the globe for the best ingredients, conduct rigorous comparison tests, and only the finest earn a place in our collection.

Lucky for me, both Rick and David saw promise in the ideas I began to share with them - ideas they’d inspired - and both became increasingly involved in the work of bringing The Skincare Bar to life. The Skincare Bar line of products that Rick sources, I formulate, and David reviews are products born of our collective passion. We hope you find as much joy in using them as we do in creating them for you.