Two ambitious Georgia mothers join forces to create a vanguard skin care treatment influenced by their Southern roots.
Less than a decade ago, Stephanie Duttenhaver and Cindy Edwards of Savannah based Sapelo Skin Care found themselves face-to-face with a chemist assuring them that their budding business venture was futile. He told them it was simply too expensive to create the products they had in mind, but the duo was determined to develop age-reversing skin care products unlike anything else available at the time.
When the soon-to-be empty nesters first teamed up as board members of the Savannah Book Festival, they bonded quickly over two shared interests: volunteer work and skin care. Cindy and Stephanie wanted to find a gentle anti-aging regimen that differed from products and procedures saturating the marketplace, such as retinoids, lasers, and chemical peels. “All of these skin care strategies damage the skin, requiring your immune system, your own natural healing process, to come to the rescue and rejuvenate new skin collagen and elastin,” says Stephanie.
At that point, neither woman had an extensive scientific background, but both of their husbands are physicians who were eager to help. “We went back to the Southern philosophy that we are all taught to really care for the things we treasure,” says Cindy. “You would never use harsh abrasives on your silver or on your pearls; you gently take care of them to make them last and enhance their beauty. So why in the world would we do that to our complexions? It’s a good dose of Southern common sense that certainly got us started.”
For three years, the pair worked alongside their husbands, plus a cosmetic scientist and that same local chemist who had warned them of the cost, eventually finding the perfect combination of ingredients to mimic the body’s response to popular yet damage-causing techniques. Sapelo’s products contain a superior dose of powerful bioactive peptides and no fillers or parabens. Also, the addition of distinctly Southern-inspired ingredients like gardenia stem cells and magnolia oil pays homage to the founders’ heritage.
Derived from a state-protected barrier island off Georgia’s coast, the name of the business encapsulates Sapelo’s mission to challenge contradictory skin care dogmas: “Our regimen was inspired by [the island’s] beauty and by the ebb and flow of the twice-a-day tides that cleanse, bring nutrients, and restore the natural habitat of this unique part of the world,” says Stephanie.
Available across the country, Sapelo Skin Care currently offers creams, serums, cleansers, and masks, with several new products in the works. “Together we have created something that we are so proud of,” says Cindy. “It’s the truest sense of us showing [our children] what persistence is.” In addition to their tenacious hard work, plenty of laughter has infused their partnership. “This has been so much fun for us, and it’s great to realize that at this age and stage [of life] you can still learn new things,” Cindy says. “I feel like I’m on an incredible adventure.”
Read our full story on Sapleo Skin Care in the September 2018 issue. Visit sapeloskincare.com to learn more and shop for special Mother’s Day gifts. Plus, find an exclusive offer for a free gift with your Sapelo purchase in our May/June 2019 issue, now available on newsstands and online.
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