Aesthetician Kathryn Sawers Takes A Considered Approach To Skincare And Her Brand Eventide

Aesthetician Kathryn Sawers doesn’t believe in skincare quick fixes and has extended that philosophy to the making of her brand Eventide.

Developed over more than three years in her skin therapy practice, the brand’s mask and facial oil were crafted to carefully to fit into Sawers’ customized services and deliver healthy outcomes. Eventide’s look was also tweaked early on to add an artistic touch to set it apart from the starkly packaged indie beauty crowds.

“I describe myself as the tortoise rather than the hare,” says Sawers, a 17-year veteran of the treatment room whose Collective Skin Care studio is located in Vancouver, B.C. “I haven’t been aggressively trying to get it out there. In part that was because I wasn’t 100% sold on the original branding I created, and I took time to rework that. I’ve realized it’s about treating it like a plant to be nurtured and tended to in order for it flourish. I haven’t had the sort of ‘I’m going to be dominant in the indie beauty world’ approach.”

Eventide started with what has become the Everything Mask, which is priced at $30 in Canadian dollars for 50 grams. Housed in a pouch, the five-ingredient powder mask can be mixed with water, raw honey, yogurt or more to boost moisture, pore refinement and brightening. It’s main ingredients, palmarosa and carrot seed, were selected for antiaging purposes. The other ingredients are white clay, rolled oats and rose petals.

“When you are working with clay masks, they can be fairly drying. What I enjoy about this mask is you get the benefit of the clay helping to decongest, but the rose petals and oatmeal are very soothing and hydrating,” says Sawers. “The end result is that, when you take the mask off, you don’t feel your skin is parched.”

In perfecting Eventide’s Restorative Face Oil, she paid close attention to the texture and smell. Priced at $55 for a 30-ml. size, Sawers underscores the product doesn’t leave faces feeling like oil slicks and has a fresh floral aroma. “I know everybody has their own sense of what they like to smell. I thought, ‘I’m going to make something that I can’t wait to put on my face. There will be other people who enjoy it as much as I do,’” she says. “I love rose, but rose on its own can be quite in intense. The smell is nicely balanced with all the essential oils.”

Sawers describes Eventide’s design as unisex and minimalist, although it’s not as minimalist as it once was. She has integrated a pattern that resembles the ocean tide to relate to the brand’s name. Sawers chose the name because she was drawn to the fact that tides and skin both have cyclical natures. She also liked that eventide refers to the dusk or evening, and evenings are the periods of the day often reserved for skincare rituals.

Eventide’s products follow Sawers’ progression from medical aesthetician to holistic skin therapist eight years ago. “I worked with a lot of medical brands and doctors doing Botox and intense peels. I myself experienced a Fraxel laser and thought, ‘I’m never doing that again.’ It was very invasive, and I found the healing quite challenging. Ultimately, I didn’t think it helped my skin and, frankly, I didn’t need it,” she says, continuing, “I started to change my approach to focus more on building a healthy skin barrier, creating balance and teaching my clients that they shouldn’t fear giving their skin the nourishment it needs and not to overdo it when it comes to exfoliation.”

Sawers’ clients and Eventide’s audience are mainly women aged 25- to 45-years-old. She outlines they value natural ingredients and are eager to learn about products. “My voice is definitely the voice of a skin therapist, and that’s always going to come through in the way I represent the brand and really educate clients,” says Sawers. “People are hungry for information.”

Sawers has invested about $4,000 to get Eventide off the ground. She’s in no rush to blanket the beauty market with its merchandise and views small boutiques as the ideal setting for it. “I don’t want to see the product everywhere,” says Sawers. “I don’t really see it being in chains like Sephora.”

Regardless of where Eventide ends up, its products have succeeded by performing for Sawers’ clients. “It’s really refreshing when you find things that work well for people and make them look great in the mirror after they use them. Skin is integral to people’s confidence and, when they are struggling with it, it can be really challenging,” she says. “One of the most rewarding parts of my practice is being able to help people overcome obstacles.”