One of my most prized product creations is the LAVOAGE Refreshing Serum. It was born (or really re-born) on a 3 week trip through Northern India initiated by the wedding of one of my best friends. I had originally designed that particular skincare formula years earlier to help newborn skin transition from the amniotic fluid-filled environment of the womb to the airy environment we are born into.
It never occurred to me to use this formula regularly on myself until shortly after landing in New Delhi, the most polluted city in the world. My skin panicked and went into a blemish-ridden tailspin. While that behavior was quite out of character for my skin, the causes were clear: unfamiliar bacteria in the water supply, my own exhaustion and dehydration from being on the move, rapidly changing climates, air pollution, air conditioning, and so on.
As I thought about how to fix my skin problems, a long list of solution-oriented ingredients filled my head… yarrow… probiotics… elderberry…. cypress…. arnica… aloe… hyaluronate. Then it hit me. I had actually already made the product that would solve my “out-of-whack” skin problems. I just hadn’t realized it before.
My already existing BEB Organic Soothing Serum formula was exactly what my skin needed. It would balance my skin’s pH and microbiome, and protect from environmental pollution and contaminants, all while preventing and clearing away redness, irritation and blemishes. Perfection. The only problem was that I didn’t have it with me.
I did my best to recreate that formula on the road with the ingredients I could get my hands on – from the Aloe vera farms in Rajasthan where we stopped while driving from Jodhpur to Jaipur, to the probiotic supplements we sourced from a local pharmacy.
Right when we got home, I tweaked the skincare formula to make it grown-up specific, and relaunched it as the first product ever for a new brand called LAVOAGE. I use this product daily, and think of our journey across India every single time.
LAVOAGE 