Age Defying Skin Care
The company currently consists of just myself on paper though I am indebted to the generosity and counsel of many (in addition to Justin), and without them, the business would not be where it is today.
We moved to Fort Collins in 2007. Before the move, I was working in an industrial formulations position, but because those positions are sparse in Fort Collins, I accepted work in a different arena. I missed making products and yearned to re-enter the field. When I ran out of face cream in 2008, I used that as an excuse to start making my own. I soon became obsessed with active ingredients and started vigorously researching their use in other brands.
What I found was that in spite of many other companies’ use of great active ingredients, often the remaining ingredients in their formulas weren’t so great. I started to realize that in spite of the overwhelming number of skin care products available to consumers, there was a meager selection of wholesome and effective products available at an affordable price. And, so Return to Eden Cosmetics came to be.
Our Values
As a long time practicing student of yoga, I thought about my intentions for the company. What intrinsic values did I want to operate under? Along what path would I lead this company? What standards did I want to uphold above all else?
From this analysis, three conditions were forged that all Return to Eden Cosmetics products must meet:
1) The product must be as safe as possible.
This condition requires that each and every ingredient that goes into a product be thoroughly researched for a history of its use on or in the body. This condition requires us to limit active ingredients to those we feel are safe for extended use on the skin. For this reason, we do not use any neuropeptides – peptides that reduce the appearance of wrinkles by blocking nerve transmission to muscles (thereby acting much in the same way as Botox).
We like to use ingredients that have been used for decades or longer so that a full understanding of their long-term effects on health and the environment can be determined.
2) The product must be as effective as possible.
We use many active ingredients in our products, both naturally occurring actives such as Vitamins A, C, & E, Coenzyme Q-10, Hyaluronic Acid, Green Tea Extract, and Acai Extract, and actives prepared in scientific laboratories, namely peptides shown to stimulate collagen synthesis and/or prevent cellular oxidation.
All peptides are composed of amino acids, which are the naturally occurring building blocks of peptides found in the body which aggregate to form proteins. Peptides created in the laboratory have been proven incredibly effective at reversing the signs of aging.
Not only do we use a variety of actives, we also use clinically significant concentrations of the actives. This adherence to using clinically significant concentrations is why many of our products are not white, but rather take on the color of the actives and anti-oxidants they contain.
3) The product must be as natural as possible.
I am much more concerned with creating a safe and effective product than a natural product per se. Why? Natural does not equate to good for you. Many chemotherapy drugs are natural products – and, while chemotherapy drugs are invaluable in treating cancer and a number of other diseases, they wreak havoc on the body.
Methyl paraben is naturally found in blueberries. Snake venom, Clostridium botulinum (the bacteria that makes botulinum toxin), oleander, and rhubarb all contain natural toxins that can be fatal.
That does not mean there are not many wonderful natural products that are good for you and good for your skin. And, naturalness does not fall by the wayside in Return to Eden Cosmetics’ products.
We feel there are enough alternatives to petroleum by-products and highly processed ingredients to keep our products as natural and plant-based as possible.
In fact, in adhering to our safe and natural values, ALL of our products contain over 97% natural, naturally derived (either plant derived or stabilized vitamin derivatives), and/or food grade ingredients. The reason this number is not even higher is that we do not consider the peptide actives to be natural even though they are made from naturally occurring amino acids.
To prove our commitment to safety and transparency, we are a member of the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics.
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