Leaf People Doesn’t Leave Out The Guys

Leaf People now explicitly addresses men.

After 15 years in business, the organic skincare brand has introduced a range of six products tailored to guys: Green Tea & Hyaluronic Revive Face Cream, Lemongrass & Bamboo Exfoliating Face Wash, Apple Stem Cell Hydrating Serum, Sandalwood & Ginseng Balancing Toner, Lemongrass & Bamboo Exfoliating Face Wash, and Complete Face, Skin & Beard Oil. The products are formulated for a broad spectrum of male users from young urban dwellers without extra minutes for multiple steps to older men outside the city with aging concerns and a willingness to spend time to tackle them.

“We have more and more men shopping from our regular product line that really love it, so we decided to do a special thing just for them,” says Julie Levin, the medical herbalist behind Leaf People. “I’m working with plants that have a masculine affinity. In a lot of ways, the skin is the same, but there are small differences in oil production and thickness, and I wanted the products to work for different routines. You can have great effects with one or two products or you can pamper yourself with a full self-care routine.”

Leaf People Men

The multi-purpose orientation of the products responds to the limited patience most men have for personal care. For example, Levin explains the Lemongrass & Bamboo Exfoliating Face Wash doubles as a gentle scrub. She reasons men don’t generally cleanse and exfoliate, so satisfying those two tasks with a single product enables them to do both efficiently. Levin also points out the Sandalwood & Ginseng Balancing Toner tones while helping regulate oil production and stimulate skin cells. The Complete Face, Skin and Beard Oil makes beard and facial maintenance joint activities.

Leaf People branches into men’s skincare as the global grooming market is projected to climb. The brand brings upscale, considered products to the budding segment that Levin speculates might be ahead of the curve. “It’s made by a medical herbalist with very high-quality medicinal botanicals to evoke a true change in your skin. In that way, it’s unique,” she says. “It’s going to take some time [to build]. Since the company is strong, we will keep it going, and I can see it being big a couple of years from now.” Leaf People is certainly not placing its eggs solely in the men’s basket. The brand stretches across six lines and some 65 products.

For the last four years, Levin reveals Leaf People’s sales have been growing at annual rates between 30% and 35%. Its offerings are found in roughly 40 spas, gift shops, doctor’s offices and natural grocers, notably select Whole Foods locations in Colorado and Utah. It has a private-label arm that manufactures products for stores, dermatologists and more, and contributes a quarter of the company’s revenues. Aside from a few ingredients such as apple stem cells, Levin is responsible for making all of the contents inside Leaf People’s bottles and jars. The brand will soon move to a manufacturing site in Aspen, Colo.

Leaf People Men
Julie Levin

A practicing Buddhist, Levin starts the product development process deep in meditation. “Those moments are when the big ideas come, and I tap into the energies that guide the process,” she says. “I try to pay attention to the plants.” Levin focuses not only on the obvious benefits of the plant ingredients, but on how plants in combination communicate to each other. “From working with cosmetic chemists, I know that’s a big piece that’s missing with them. Even with homemade products, you don’t get that component,” she says.

Leaf People will continue to expand into market sectors that make sense for it. However, Levin isn’t interested in adding products willy-nilly to rapidly accelerate sales. “My place is in the lab making things. That’s where my heart and passion is,” she says. “I don’t want to be huge. I don’t need to be Eminence or Dr. Hauschka. I would like to have a nice life for a few employees and myself, and have a sustainable business that’s harmonious with the environment.”