12.28.07
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Gaylee Skin Care System
Four-pronged approach transcends the boundaries of professional skin care.
By Joanna Cosgrove
Online Editor
Long before the term “spa” meant something other than an elaborate bathtub, Gayle Hanson was professionally caring for her clients’ skin in her own skin care salon. After searching in vain for a high-end skin care line that would care for her clients’ skin care needs, Ms. Hanson created her own. Twenty years ago, her sojourn into natural skin care formulations began with a simple Raspberry Extract that demonstrated complex, beneficial skin care properties. Over the years, that singular ingredient gave rise to additional products and lines with a similarly natural theme that has resonated with her longstanding clientele and other skin care aficionados who flock to her Newport Beach, CA, salon.
“I developed the Raspberry Extract because of its natural abilities,” she explained, noting that the product was in development for three years. “By nature it’s antibacterial. Its preservative is honey which, by nature is antibacterial, as well as extremely hydrating.” She compared the hydrating power of honey to the chemical reaction that takes place when a bowl of table sugar is left uncovered in a humid environment. Moisture molecules in the air bond with the sugar and before long a crust is formed on top. “It’s pure, effective, natural and strengthens the capillary wall.”
Ms. Hanson’s Raspberry Extract began simply, as a topically applied preparation, but after it cultivated a following among her clients, she created a companion gel cleanser, toner and moisturizer. “These products were developed out of need,” she said. “The (formulas) were hand selected and micro-managed to work whenever a client need arose. I wasn’t under pressure to develop, market and sell companion skin care products [as large skin care companies might be].”
Later Product Formulations
Following the success of the Raspberry Extract line, subsequent skin care products, launched under the Gaylee Skin Care System brand name, were predicated on the belief that whatever is placed on the skin will be absorbed into the body. As such, each of the company’s formulations relies on natural botanical ingredients and aromatherapeutic fragrances to stimulate the senses and affect the mood.
“Skin care products that are botanically based are much more compatible to humans than those manufactured chemically,” commented Ms. Hanson. “I do facials all day long and have probably looked at more skin than any dermatologist or chemist and with a magnifying lens, have looked firsthand at the same clients month after month, year after year, and it’s been my research.”
Another of Gaylee’s skin care lines is the Neroli product range, which is derived from the orange blossom and is mixed with squalane from the olive plant to create a formula that closely resembles human sebum.
“Skin needs two things: water and oil. Even acne-prone skin needs to be hydrated,” said Ms. Hanson. The raspberry extract is the water component.”
Of the Neroli line, Ms. Hanson said that neroli is an olfactory anti-depressant and added, “It takes two tons of petals to equal one concentrated drop of neroli, which is actually the hormone of the plant, not the essential oil.” The neroli used in the Gaylee formulations for dry and combination skins is rendered via the steam distillation pressing of the white flowers.
In addition to the existing Raspberry and Neroli lines, the Gaylee Skin Care System consists of a Camphor line, AHA formulas and botanical eye creams. There are also Babee by Gaylee products spanning Strawberry Hair & Body Shampoo, Orange Blossom Baby Oil, Raspberry Moisturizing Lotion and Kiwi Sunspray. An acne line—Activ—is tentatively scheduled to launch this summer.
But Ms. Hanson is most proud of her Certified Organic line, which is also scheduled to bow this summer. In preparation for the creation of this line, Ms. Hanson dispatched her chemist to Europe to learn about the ins and outs of manufacturing a clean, pure, certified organic line.
"A lot of labs are organic, but not necessarily certified organic,” she said.
Consisting of a gel cleanser, toner, moisturizer and serum extract, the Certified Organic products will consist of 70-95 percent certified organic ingredients. “The serum extract will be about 95 percent organic, whereas the cleanser, which won’t be on the skin for more than a minute or minute and a half, would rate at about 70 percent organic,” she said. “With everything though, will be an actual legal document that verifies the certification, rather than just saying it’s ‘organic’.”
The Certified Organic products will range in price from $20 for the cleanser to $60 for the serum extract.
All of Ms. Hanson’s products are sold in her Newport Beach, CA, Gaylee Signature Spa, and in professional spas nationally.