A full year ago I stood in front of a wall of facial masks at Target, arms full of promising little packets, squinting at the ingredients. Now, for the most part, I'm not intimidated by chemical names, I know that most aren't as scary as they sound and I can usually recognize what they are, or at least what they are derived from and what function they serve. But I kept thinking, there has got to be a better way.

So I started playing around with the ingredients we already had for our facial soaps. If you are looking for a list of all the ways a mask can go wrong, I can definitely help you out. Activated charcoal masks that were impossible to wash off, gummy oatmeal masks that wouldn't spread evenly, botanical ingredients that only lasted a day before molding. Ugh. On more than one occasion I just walked away from it, a huge mess covering the entire bathroom.

But as most things go, I made progress little by little. And now, a year later, I am obsessed with them. I love the ready to go pouches, because I'm lazy whenever I can get away with it. I love the DIY masks because there is always an extra way for me to boost my daily mask. Yogurt is my go-to booster, but avocado, honey, banana, lemon juice, egg whites--all amazing, plus the internet is full of things I just have to try.

For the most part, there was a lot of overlap in ingredients, so launching these masks wouldn't take a huge initial investment on our part. But, we thought, while we're at it, why not do all the things we've been slowly planning? We decided to manufacture the robes I'd been designing, redesign all our packaging, launch a new line of soaps, invent a completely new form of spa headband, have custom mask bowls made, and launch a Kickstarter to fund the whole endeavor. Oh, and while I'm at, quit my day job. Apparently, If I'm going to take a leap, I'm going to go fully overboard.

Facial Masks...a long time coming