It’s been one month since Ripple launched, and I’m so thankful for the support we’ve received so far. We are off to a great start in bringing safe, gentle and natural skincare products to teens and tweens everywhere.
Since launching Ripple, I’m often asked why I did it. For those who don’t know me personally, I spent decades as a marketing VP in software companies and higher education. Why did I leave that life to start a skincare line for young people? Well, here’s my story.
I believe boys and girls need to take good care of their skin beginning at an early age. Just like brushing teeth, caring for our skin is a daily routine that needs to be taught early. When my oldest son turned 11, I took him shopping for skincare products to get him started. My son is a pretty simple kid, you could even say he’s a minimalist. He wears comfortable athletic clothes every day, owns one pair of sneakers because who needs more than that, and likes 2-in-1 shampoo to cut down on the number of steps needed to care for his hair. For our skincare shopping trip, I knew I couldn’t take him into Nordstrom or Sephora, he would balk at the product overload, so off to the local drug store we went. With a large enough selection of products for cleansing, moisturizing, acne treatment and toning I was certain we would find something perfect for him.
I was so wrong.
As we searched the aisle and read the labels, I found that skincare products dominating the mainstream market are filled with ingredients I don’t like to use, let alone give to my kids to use. For starters, many of the ingredients are like a foreign language. Unless you are a chemist like my husband, you probably have no idea what’s in it. Even with a science degree, I had a hard time understanding the purpose of some ingredients and knowing if they could cause a reaction or dryness on my son’s young skin. The prevalence of sulfates, silicones, and PEGs gave me pause.
Next were the dyes. Why do companies intentionally make cleansers blue or orange? Dyes are for Easter eggs, not for our face. And, let’s not forget the “microbeads,” aka plastics that pollute our water and kill marine life. It was a bit shocking to learn that this was still a thing in skincare.
The few products that seemed reasonable from an ingredient perspective were either branded for girls with pink labels or seemed to be targeting older folks. The packaging was lovely, but nothing my 11 year old son would be inspired to use. In the end, I didn’t find anything that felt totally right, but despite my frustration, we picked up the best option and went on our way.
Surprisingly, that experience stuck with me and would resurface in my mind every once in a while in the years that followed. I grew annoyed that these products were the best the mainstream market had to offer our pre-teens and teens. I believed that a better option was needed for boys and girls who are just starting out.
Fast forward a couple of years from that shopping experience, I was ready to leave corporate America to create something of my own. The idea of a skincare line crept back into my mind and this time I couldn't shake it. I knew I needed to make a line of skincare products that met all of my standards, with my two sons as inspiration. Ripple Skincare products are made with natural, plant-based ingredients, no dyes or synthetics, no micro or nano plastics, both the product and branding are age appropriate, gender neutral and never animal tested. Ripple is also vegan and free of gluten, parabens, phthalates, and sulfates. In other words, Ripple products are safe and gentle to give young teens the right start on their skincare journey.
It’s been the most rewarding experience to make Ripple Gentle Face Wash and Daily Face Lotion. Launching Ripple Skincare one month ago was a big milestone, but only the beginning. There is so much more to bring to the market to promote health and happiness in today’s young people and I plan to do just that.
I hope you and your teens enjoy the products as much as I’ve enjoyed creating them.
-Stephani Haynes, Founder
