From the day I started merging my culinary skills as a plant-based chef with my passion for formulating superfood infused skincare potions (as I used to call them), everything I made was rooted in sustainability and transparency. 

At the time, I was recovering from some health challenges. Healing myself was an integral part of my journey and I wanted to share my new passion for wellness with my yoga students and culinary clients. This goal of helping people be the best version of themselves was deeply linked to feeding the body from the outside in as well as the inside out. For me, this very much involved nourishing the body with high quality, plant-based superfoods.

While I’m not actively working as a chef or yoga teacher anymore, my commitment to exceptional, nutrient-rich ingredients has not waivered. Graydon Skincare is an ingredient-driven brand and this founding principle continues to guide us as we grow.

Sustainable for the planet

Our mission is to give you good skin days, every day, but feeling good about your skin isn’t limited to the results you see from using our products. An important part of feeling good about your skin is feeling good about the skincare brand you’re using. Ask yourself:

• Does the brand offer full disclosure about its ingredients? 
• Does it provide third party verification? 
• Does it back up the claims it makes?
• Is the brand inclusive?
• Is it committed to doing good in the world?
• Is it making an effort to improve packaging and reduce plastic waste?

I’m proud to say that at Graydon Skincare, we tick off each and every one of these boxes (and more). I acknowledge that my team and I have more work to do, but we are united in our vision to become a well-respected leader in sustainability and transparency.

Some of our efforts to achieve this goal are already evident in a few ways:

• Recyclable packaging: We use recyclable materials including glass and 50% Post Consumer Recycled (PCR) plastic to house several of our products. In addition, we’ve partnered with PACT to help recycle items that you can’t throw in your curbside bin. This ensures that 100% of our packaging is recyclable. 
• Local production: We proudly produce our products in Mississauga, Ontario, which is less than 40 kilometres (25 miles) from our office in downtown Toronto. We also print our boxes, labels and marketing materials in the Greater Toronto Area. Supporting Graydon Skincare means you’re supporting other local businesses as well.
• Carbon offsetting: We provide carbon-neutral shipping for all orders placed through our website. 

Upcycled ingredients: Upcycled ingredients are those that would otherwise go to waste but instead have been given a new purpose. Our raspberry seed oil, blueberry seed oil, mahogany bark extract and oat oil are all upcycled.

Ingredient Transparency: The Good Face Project has certified all of our products. This certification guarantees that our products are safe, effective, and comply with global regulatory and sustainability standards, based on up-to-date scientific research.

Partnerships: We’re proud to work with The Ocean Legacy Foundation and, to date, have helped them divert over 4,500 pounds of ocean plastic waste from landfills. We’ve also partnered with Ecologi to plant a tree for every order placed through our website and, too this date have planted over 3000 trees. As well, we've joined Provenance®, the global leader in sustainability evidence technology, which protects shoppers from greenwashing using verified Proof Points.

At Graydon Skincare, our commitment to sustainability isn’t just about the environment. 

Sustainable for your wallet

I cannot end this impassioned message without talking about our commitment to fair pricing and providing genuine value and quality for your hard-earned money. It would be so easy to charge more for our products, I’m sure other brands would if they were using the quality ingredients and packaging that we do, but I have a moral issue with overpriced products. 

Back when my son was little, I had just become a single parent and was feeling exhausted and haggard. I decided to splurge and treat myself to an expensive eye cream. I left the little tube in the bathroom and one day my young son squeezed it out all over the bathtub. Needless to say, I was crushed (yes, I cried) and felt so angry with myself for spending money on an overpriced product. This was around the time that I had started creating skincare products in my kitchen. As I stared at the expensive cream smeared onto my bathtub, I vowed that I would always offer fair pricing if I launched my own product line. 

You might be wondering what this story has to do with sustainability. Well, in my opinion, a skincare routine that you can’t afford is not a sustainable skincare routine. 

If people can’t afford clean beauty products then they’ll purchase other products that aren’t so good for their health or our planet. It is of the utmost importance to me that we offer sustainable skincare solutions at an accessible price so that people can enjoy what we make without any guilt. 

At Graydon, we’re focused on giving you a results-driven, luxury experience that you can afford on a long term basis, not just a one time splurge. The majority of our products are priced under $50. As the prices of everything around us increase significantly, we have only implemented very modest price increases for a few of our products. We don’t want to put a dent in your wallet the way other brands do.

Our 10 mL serums are an extraordinary value with almost 200 drops per bottle. If you use four drops per day (either in the morning, at night or blended with other products in a Skin Smoothie), you’ll get 50 days use out of our small but mighty bottle. That’s almost two months worth of Fullmoon Serum for $39 or Moon Boost Serum for $42. 

The majority of our products are also waterless formulations. That means you get a more concentrated product so you can use less and still see results. 

All of this is just the beginning. We’re working on many other sustainability and transparency initiatives that we can’t wait to share with you. One that we’re most excited to launch soon is verified proof points on all of our product pages so you can shop with confidence. We’re also working diligently to launch a sustainable product collection featuring first-to-market packaging innovation in the next 12 to 18 months. 

When you support Graydon Skincare, you’re not just helping your skin, you’re supporting our mission to be a leader in sustainability and transparency. It’s our hope that in a few years these initiatives will be built into the DNA of all beauty brands. In the meantime, we’re happy to do the work, be the change makers and lead the way for other brands to make beauty better. As they say, a rising tide lifts all boats. 

If you have any questions, our caring team of real people are happy to help. Reach out to hello@graydonskincare.com.

Cheers to being good stewards of Mother Earth and leaving our planet better than we found it.
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Click here to learn even more about our ongoing sustainability efforts.