A chemical engineer by training, Eddie Aguirre’s latest side hustle, Libre Skincare, is a love letter to his Mexican roots, community and the brown creatives from Los Angeles who inspire him.
“I see all these amazing, amazing projects that are going on, and it’s really motivating, and I felt like I had something to offer to that, to the community, to the space, and I also just wanted to be a part of it,” he says. “There’s so much energy and magic happening here. It’s kind of intoxicating.”
Libre Skincare, which Aguirre poured $10,000 of his personal savings into developing, relies on Mexican botanical ingredients such as prickly pear, papaya and passion fruit seed oil along with well-known skincare staples such as squalene, ceramides, ferulic acid, niacinamide, and vitamins B3, B5, C and E in products intended for melanated skin.
Priced at $85, Libre Skincare’s Cielo 16 16% Ascorbic Acid Vitamin C Serum for $85 is its hero product. Aguirre explains the product pairing vitamin C with ferulic acid and vitamin E is designed to protect and soothe the skin as it combats wrinkles. He says, “It’s my most expensive product, but I think the benefits of having all those actives is extremely powerful.”
Latinx representation is at the forefront of Libre Skincare’s marketing. The brand’s imagery was shot by photographer Brittany Bravo. The models starring in it are Lidia De Los Santos, Michelle, Pablo Simental, Salmita Ocelotlxochitl, Stephanie Aquino and Tony Diazcervo. Makeup artist Esther Foster handled the makeup, and hairstylists Ruth Torres and Alex handled the hair, according to credits on Bravo’s website.
“I’m definitely using Latinx and Hispanic and Mexican people as my subjects and a lot of my creative because I feel that is not represented as highly in general and especially in skincare,” says Aguirre. “If people see great photos and great product photography of people like them, it’s just more inspiring. If you see that, you feel stronger and more connected to it.”
Along with Cielo 16, the products in Libre Skincare’s lineup are $39.95 Bravo 6% Niacinamide Vitamin B Serum, $69.95 Cielo 8 8% Ascorbic Acid Vitamin C Serum and $19.95 Marina Cream Moisturizer. The brand offers a $19.95 sample pack with 5-ml. vials of each of its serums.
Libre Skincare produces its products in-house in small batches. A year ago, Aguirre, previously a sneaker artist who’s been selling vintage items for about four years, admits he was simply an average skincare consumer, but he’s spent the last year studying skincare to concoct Libre Skincare’s formulas.
“Everything starts from the formulas, it’s completely starting essentially from nothing,” he says. “It’s learning what’s currently out there in the market and then making it better and differentiating enough to be able to have that IP stand alone.”
Branding was a big challenge for Aguirre. “It was not straightforward at all,” he says. “I would jump back and forth between concepts, building out how I want to approach it.” Ultimately, Aguirre centered Libre Skincare’s design on stylish lettering and a sun logo.
For his current ambitions, bootstrapping makes sense to Aguirre. He’s keeping Libre Skincare online for now and considering placing it in local retailers around LA. The brand has caught Amazon’s attention. The giant e-tailer reached out to Libre Skincare for its indie beauty shop. At the moment, Aguirre is still mulling that opportunity over. He’s committed to scaling the brand carefully.
As he pursues local stores, he’s interested in those with health and beauty sections showcasing products aimed at Latinx consumers. Aguirre says, “Being in LA, you don’t have to search far and wide for that. There’s plenty in the area, which is great. Another reason why it’s a great place to start in that kind of market is just the power and size of the area.”
For Libre Skincare’s first-year sales, Aguirre aims for the brand to generate $50,000 to $100,000. In the next five years, his goal is to launch it at major beauty retailers like Ulta Beauty and Sephora.
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