Two area entrepreneurs have launched a new men’s skin care line — a response to what they saw as a void in the marketplace for men’s products.
Founders Mary Katherine Schenkel of Phoenixville and Suzanne Zelov of Villanova recently unveiled Young Buck Skin, a line of men’s skin and body care products. With names like Fresh No. 4, Sexy No. 6 and Rugged No. 9, the skin care line includes body washes, beard softening oil, facial lotion and skin smoothing balm.
The brand celebrated its official launch Sept. 9 at Merion Cricket Club, following months of researching essential oils that are beneficial to the skin but that are also mood enhancers. Schenkel and Zelov met with one of the top experts in essential oil blending to create the signature scents.
Young Buck Skin products are all natural, and are hydrating but not greasy or pore clogging. The brand uses organic ingredients and sustainable packaging wherever possible. Ingredients include aloe, hemp seed, bedrock root, chamomile, olive oil, vitamins, minerals.
Schenkel and Zelov are not new to the skin care marketplace. They are the creators behind the women’s skincare brand Sweet & Kind, a line of natural and effective skin care geared toward the needs of women over 40, which launched in June of 2019.
Schenkel and Zelov said they started noticing that more of what their husbands were using on a daily basis was “easy” instead of effective. They also noticed that much of the soap and body washes in big box stores contain synthetic scents that are strong and sometimes a little obnoxious for adults to use.
“Our husbands are both outdoor sportsmen and have a love of nature, hunting and fly fishing. So we married our love of natural skin and body care products to an easy to use line for men that contains natural ingredients and scent profiles,” the pair said in an emailed response to questions. The product line is named after the white tailed deer, found across Pennsylvania, and all over the Eastern U.S.
The name of each of the three scents — Fresh No. 4, Sexy No. 6 and Rugged No. 9 — corresponds with the scent number each was assigned in the lab. Schenkel and Zelov found themselves saying things like “that number 6 is incredibly sexy,” and “number 4 smells so fresh and clean.” The names stuck.
Fresh No.4 is a combination of bergamot, citrus, and cedar; Sexy No. 6 is a combination of sandalwood, blue cypress, and black pepper; while Rugged No. 9 blends warm tobacco, bergamot, and balsam.
It took more than six months to formulate the scents and more than one year to formulate the products. Another six months was added on for packaging, which was delayed due to COVID.
According to Schenkel and Zelov, the company focuses on scents that are natural, not synthetic, and botanical ingredients that are effective for specific skin needs experienced by men, which sets the products apart from others in the marketplace.
When the time came to launch the products, Schenkel and Zelov said they decided to launch with friends and friends of friends first to get a sense of what scents they liked.
“We were sure one scent of the washes would pull out ahead, but all of the feedback we’ve gotten has every body wash scent evenly popular. We were thrilled,” they said in the emailed response. Since the launch earlier this month, the products have been introduced at a party with the body washes and facial moisturizer proving to be hits.
Young Buck Skin products are available at youngbuckskin.com, and also at the Main Line Co-op in Wayne. The products will also be featured on TalkShopLive — no date has been given for that debut.
Schenkel and Zelov have been friends for 17 years and have always traded skincare tips and product obsessions with each other. When they reached their early fifties, they gathered all of their favorite ingredients to formulate Sweet and Kind. Zelov has a background in retail visual merchandising and has been skincare obsessed her whole life. Schenkel has a background in advertising and digital marketing, and both women take a holistic approach to food and skin care in their lives.
All of the Young Buck and Sweet & Kind products are manufactured in the U.S. — Young Buck Skin is made in the Pacific Northwest and Sweet & Kind is made in the Southeast.
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