PB Approved: “Just Like Fresh Food Is Better For Your Body, Fresh Skincare Is Better Your Skin”: All About Beauty Brand Fresh Chemistry
1. Name?
Nisha Dearborn.
2. Where are you from and where do you live?
I’m a Georgia girl, but I live in Portland, Maine.
3. When did you first find your passion for skincare?
It was early and maybe even preschool. I remember being in kindergarten and, instead of sleeping during nap time, I would take this small, brown bowl from the kitchen toys and pretend to mash up bananas and cherries to make a healthy hair mask for my teacher.
4. What inspired you to start Fresh Chemistry?
I was practically born in a skincare hand basket. My mom is a dermatologist and I spent summers working in her office. This is where I learned that good ingredients make good products. It’s all about the active ingredients. By the time I was 20, I was an intern at Estee Lauder in New York. Then I went on to work for Johnson & Johnson for almost a decade, managing well-known skincare brands like Aveeno as well as other household items like Tylenol and Listerine. Part of my job was creating new products for the brands, and in order to do that you learn all about how a product is made. That’s where I learned that not only do the ingredients matter, but how you treat the active ingredients is critical because some of the best skincare ingredients, like vitamins and antioxidants, breakdown quickly. I left J&J when my husband and I decided to move to Maine to be closer to family, and living a healthy lifestyle is part of the culture in Maine. So, naturally I started to pay more attention to the groceries I bought and started focusing on using fresh foods wherever I could and relying less on the shelf-stable packaged foods in my pantry. That’s when I had an a-ha moment: just like fresh food is better for your body, fresh skincare is better your skin because some of the most powerful ingredients break down over time. Just like we don’t want to eat shelf-stable food from our pantry that has been sitting there for a year and is filled with preservatives, almost all of the products in the beauty industry were made many months before you start using them, have been losing strength the whole time, and are filled with preservatives. If we don’t eat stale food, why are we still using stale skincare? I felt like women deserved better, so I created Fresh Chemistry®.
5. What does an average day look like for you as CEO of a beauty brand?
You’re catching me at a time that isn’t average at all, as my husband and I are suddenly working from home and my kids’ school is virtual for at least the next 5 weeks. There are always challenges to being a working mother, but this takes it to a whole new level! Before this unusual circumstance, though, my average day would look like more physical work in the morning and more mental work in the afternoon, as I found that to be what worked for me. So, an average morning would include a workout at the gym and meetings with various people who either were already helping me grow Fresh Chemistry or were a prospective partner. The afternoon would be more heads-down work on my computer, whether I’m following up with partners, planning a schedule or running numbers. Every day is different depending on the urgent needs of the business or the opportunities we’re trying to land.
6. How is Fresh Chemistry unique compared to other brands in the beauty community?
It is the only brand where the active ingredients are cold-processed and packaged separately to maximize their freshness. You mix them into the product base, activating super potent, high performance skincare that is always at its peak when it touches your skin.
7. What exactly makes Fresh Chemistry’s products so “fresh?” Are they vegan, organic, or cruelty free?
Vitamins and antioxidants are strongest when they are first activated, and I wanted to make sure you were getting the ingredients in their strongest form possible. That’s why we send the active ingredients to you and you add them in, for products that are freshly activated. The ingredients are also cold-processed, clean and cruelty-free.
8. What is one beauty product you are loving right now?
I recently discovered the Tarte Creaseless Concealer—everyone talks about Shape Tape, but the Creaseless one is so creamy and dewy and lasts all day. Highly recommend it.
9. What is one stand-by beauty product you could never live without?
Aveeno Positively Radiant Daily Moisturizer with SPF 30. I used to manage the Aveeno brand, so I may be biased, but have legitimately used this product for over a decade.
10. Do you have any advice or “tips and tricks” for the average person’s beauty routine?
I’ve talked to a lot of women over the years, and the one thing that stays consistent is that secretly, many women feel like they don’t know how to take care of their skin properly. I think that’s because there are a lot of confusing messages out there, but it can be very simple. I always say that there are 4 basic steps to facial care: 1) cleanse, 2) treat, 3) moisturize, and 4) protect. When it comes to cleansing, less is more! A gentle cleanser is better than a harsh one, so you don’t disrupt your natural barrier. If you have any issues you want to address with your skin, whether it be fine lines or an uneven complexion, then you should use a treatment that addresses that (like Fresh Chemistry). A daily moisturizer is important to replenish the moisture content you lose to the environment—your skin is your largest organ and it needs hydration, too. Finally, daily sunscreen is probably the best thing you can do for your skin over the long term.
11. Would you say it is important for the average beauty-lover to have basic knowledge of chemistry?
Definitely not! The average beauty-lover has enough going on in her life; she doesn’t need to understand skincare chemistry, too. That’s why I used my years of experience in the industry and as a daughter of a dermatologist to make amazing serums that work—because women deserve that!
12. What is next for Fresh Chemistry and their goal of creating “the freshest, most potent products for your skin?”
We just launched a few months ago, so the goal is to get the word out about the brand, and person by person start a fresh revolution. Everyone deserves fresher, more potent skincare, and now they can have it.
13. What is your motto in life?
Control what you can, accept what you cannot, and be grateful for all of it.
Nisha Dearborn.
14. Website?
www.freshchemistry.com
15. Instagram?
@freshchemistry
Interview by Alison Hernon, Editor-In-Chief, PhotoBook Magazine.
Beauty With A Cause highlights designers who support a cause such as sustainability, charities, fair trade and organic products.
