When I was at Cosmoprof this past July I had the very awesome opportunity to meet some incredible people. Dan DeLave and Michael Lamb, founders of jeune d’age organics, among them. The best part of my job is discovering how the concept of a beauty company came to be…and I absolutely love sharing that information with you. 

Shannon: What prompted you to start an organic skin care line?

Michael: Dan came to me with the idea and within hours I knew it is was a business we should be involved in. I have suffered from minor skin irritations for years, it runs in my family and so does Melanoma. Both of us sail a lot as well. The sun, salt air and wind can be really harsh on your skin and everything I had been using was useless. I’ve always had a bad feeling about putting something on my face that contained synthetic fragrances, lots of alcohols or a compound that there is no explanation for.

Dan: I looked into the anti-aging serums for my personal use and could not believe the prices. I was thinking about going to a vitamin store, getting all the ingredients then applying them to my face while saving a couple of bucks. I opened up the CoQ10 and it was orange. I realized that this was not the same stuff used in topical applications. I started looking at all the best products on the market then figuring out what they had that should go into a serum. I was wondering if I took all the best ingredients from many other respected lines and put them all in the same formula if it would work…it does! Another part of the business plan was to make it affordable. I feel that we have all the right ingredients with a consideration for the economy of today.

Shannon: What makes jeune d’age organics unique compared to other organic skin care lines?

Michael: As best we can we are natural and organic; a lot of our ingredients are certified organic. But a lot of natural ingredients, which are not organic but are quite natural, are great for your skin. Ingredients like Hyaluronan, MSM and DMAE are found in our skin but deplete as we age. We believe in complete disclosure and will always list every ingredient and why that ingredient is in our products on our website. We are also shaking up the market by presenting a serum in mono-dose application packets. In this way we don’t worry about the anti-oxidants oxidizing and the product remains fresh without synthetic preservatives. The serum is light and we simply couldn’t find an airless pump that would seal enough to ensure the product would maintain the properties we were looking for. Other products in our line have different properties and won’t have the same problem.

Dan: Anit-oxidants are delicate so to make sure they are fresh and uncontaminated we use the mono-dose packets. We put many, not just one, anti-oxidants in the serum to make sure we are covering as many situations as we can at once.

Shannon: Beauty bloggers have been raving about your anti-aging serum; what makes it different from other serums on the market?

Michael: The serum is our “flagship” product. It is absolutely packed with ingredients that are great for your skin from the great antioxidants and vitamins to the organic extracts and maintaining those properties is paramount. It firms and hydrates. I’ve had flight attendants get really excited about how their skin felt after only one application and after a long flight. The mono-dose packets have proved to be great for travelers or people on the go.

Dan: I think that the premise of the company “Luxurious and Conscientious Skincare” is what makes us different.

Shannon: I noticed that some of your proceeds are donated to the National Afterschool Association. Why did you choose this charity?

Michael: My sister, brother and I grew up as a latchkey children raised by a single parent. I remember the feeling quite clearly but also knew my Mom was doing her best to provide for us. If there were options for us it might have saved us from a lot of heartache. I can only imagine what it must be like for children that have a more difficult childhood than I had and I want to make a difference.

Shannon: I know jeune d’age organics only recently launched at Cosmoprof North America, but do you have ideas in the works for some future additions to your product line?

Michael: During the launch we introduced a great 91% Organic Face and Body Lotion, 93% Organic Cleanser and 98% Organic Toner. We are super excited about how these turned out. We’re always looking out for that newly discovered natural ingredient that will be a great addition and have some things in mind. Our ultimate goal is to have a complete backbar product line which will include a mild scrub, mask and maybe even haircare products. We are a small company so we have to take baby steps and make sure we get it right.

You can view jeune d’age organics’ products at www.tobetterskin.com. They are also on Twitter @tobetterskin and Facebook.

Photo credit: Christopher Rogers and Shannon Nelson