WELCOME TO ASHEVILLE HOLISTIC
As skincare product formulations become increasing complicated, phrases like "all natural" and "ethically sourced" are wielded as advertising monikers rather than guiding principles. My endeavor is to build a company with a revolutionary approach to transparency of formulation, of sourcing, and of financials that is completely unprecedented in the skincare industry...or in any industry. We will give you the exact recipe, we'll even teach you how to make it. We will publish 100% of the our financial information. And we'll nourish your skin.
INGREDIENTS & SOURCING
Many skincare products contain unpronounceable synthetic ingredients. But they're all safe, right?
Well, no.
I was floored. I never would have known, the only reason I found out was that I started trying to sell skincare products, and the deeper I got into the rabbit hole the more I realized that teaching everyone about this is was vastly more important than selling anyone anything.
The absolutely bonkers story of the laws behind skincare products, and how to this day (August 2022) the FDA is powerless to stop massive players, and what you can do to stop it.
By the time Johnson+Johnson announced a voluntary recall on October 18, 2019, it was far, far too late. Countless people had already been exposed to the asbestos-laced product. The company released a statement that it
“has immediately initiated a rigorous, thorough investigation into this matter, and is working with the FDA...” and “has a rigorous testing standard in place to ensure its cosmetic talc is safe and years of testing, including the FDA’s own testing on prior occasions – and as recently as last month – found no asbestos. Thousands of tests over the past 40 years repeatedly confirm that our consumer talc products do not contain asbestos.”
But the ensuing investigation revealed the sinister truth: Johnson+Johnson knew that their iconic baby powder; one of the most recognizable scents in the world, (pinpointed in scent tests with greater accuracy than chocolate according to the companies own research) was regularly testing positive for arsenic since 1958. They actively suppressed evidence and closely monitored the public perception of this problem for decades. This piece details how Johnson+Johnson targeted black and latino women as a strategic response to growing public uncertainty over the safety of baby powder. Did the FDA willingly turn a blind eye, or were they just hamstrung by antiquated laws? Thousands of other companies (including Gold Bond Medicated Powder) sold this asbestos-laden powder. This is the story behind the failures that allowed this to happen, and why it's so likely that other toxic and unsafe chemicals remain hidden in our common household items.
THE TRANSPARENCY PROJECT
The concepts of a customer having rights or a business having ethics were largely nonexistent before the 1960's, and while they've improved dramatically since, ask yourself: just how ethical are our current business practices? Why is consumer trust in business so low? What should your rights be as a consumer? Let's hold our companies to a higher standard and change the way the world does business.
4%
of all sales (not just profits) donated to charity
We're all in this together.
YOUR SKIN
Learn about aging and skincare
ADDITIONAL EDUCATION
Learn more about our ingredients
OUR JOURNEY
My son was suffering...