04.09.09
Skin Care Craftsman
A cabinet-maker by trade, David McCasey is also busy building a personal care company.
By Christine Esposito
Associate Editor
David McCasey has had a hate-love relationship with skin care.
In his early 20s, he began to experiment with skin care, stopping in at the local department store to try out what at the time was the only real choice for men. “I was sold by a beautiful girl in a California mall who I thought was interested in me,” he told Happi from his company’s office in Ontario, CA. “Once she got my money for the $25 facial cream, she moved on to the next sucker.”
Buster’s Skin Care For Men line includes body, hair and anti-aging treatments and shaving products. |
“The first time I put it on, my face it felt great.My face glowed my self esteem rocketed and I just felt better. Then after 10 or 15 minutes my eyeballs started to ache and then swell. I was allergic.”
He stayed away from skin treatments for the next 20 years until his wife convinced him to try out one of her products (from a reputable direct marketer). The results were the same.
But Mr. McCasey, who is a cabinet maker/contractor by trade, had other fish to fry. He needed to find another business to his kitchen remodeling business, which was taking a hit from the sagging economy.While his original plan was to create a five-minute hair dye for men, an alchemist suggested he try some of her skin products that were organic. They worked, and ultimately led McCasey to create Buster's Skin Care For Men.
The line, which is sold via its website (www.bustersskincare.com) and at two spas, includes body, facial, hair, anti-aging and shaving products formulated with organic ingredients.Buster’s most popular products include facial wash and moisturizers. Its Organic Ocean Mineral Face Wash has a proprietary concentrate of more than “92 ocean minerals in a highly bio-available suspension” as well as vitamin E and rose hip oil. Priced at $24 for a 8oz bottle, it is available in original scent (a blend of sandalwood, orange, sage and lavender), Buster's holiday scent (a blend of pumpkin, peppermint and eucalyptus) and unscented.Buster’s offers moisturizers for normal/dry skin and sensitive/oily skin as well as an Organic Retinyl Anti-Aging Serum ($42), which is formulated with hyaluronic acid, schisandra, fennel , retinyl palmitate , licorice organic simmondsia chinensis, multi-fruit acids, witch hazel and melissa essential oil.
Mr. McCaskey acknowledges that cabinet making isn’t the perfect training ground for personal care.
“The bad news is that I have no experience in this industry.The good news is that I have no experience in this industry. I have no agenda other than to make a product that I can use without breaking into an allergic reaction,” he said. “I don’t follow industry standards or traditions.I’m just a cabinet maker who is trying to make a healthier product for myself and my two sons.”
But, then again, he might just have the secret to winning in the dog-eat-dog world of men’s cosmetics.
“There are different personality types out there,” he said. “There are and always will be trendsetters and leaders. These guys don’t care what anyone thinks about their use of cosmetics; they will try it without a second thought. It is the other guys that I need to convince to give these cosmetic products a try, in order to make my business, as well as the entire industry, grow by leaps and bounds.”