Gemstone Organic

In today’s day and age, it’s not often that you come across a skin product that is so carefully planned out for its organic and healing ingredients…but when you do, you want to share with as many folks as possible. Gemstone Organic is such a product. Handcrafted in California and 100% USDA Certified Organic, their creams are made with special care and consistency to ensure purity. This attention to quality and detail is generally lacking in today’s market. We were lucky enough to try their wonderful product and it goes without saying: you really can feel the love and underlying intention to nourish and feed your skin naturally and safely! We met with Debra Haugen & Sara Clement of Gemstone Organic at one of their retailers (Urban Radish in Downtown L.A.) to discuss their beginnings and how these essences really set them apart from other face creams.

How did Gemstone Organic get started?

Debra: We are co-owners, Sarah jumped on the train about 2 years ago. We’ve been around since 2011. I would say that the five creams that are out there today are formulas I had created in the beginning and inception of the company but as we moved forward Sara’s been a big part of the formulation. I’m still the chief cook of making the formulas but she helps create the formulas.

How do you define your roles within the company?

Sara: Debra is the chief Alchemist and the main cook of the product. It’s just the two of us running the business so there is definitely a lot of multi-tasking and taking on different roles. We have a new one coming out this Spring that is a full body lotion that we have not had before and that’s something we developed together.

D: That’s a cool collaboration. We’ve been working on that for about 9 months! We put a lot of time and effort into it especially within the last 6 months.

It feels like it could be a bit tricky to get the formulas just right with consistency, etc.? Did you have any sort of training?

D: It sounds simple but it’s definitely a process.   I didn’t have training the in the sense that I’m not an esthetician and I’m not a chemist by background but have always been into organic and raw, holistic health. I think you draw from those places. Also, I think my geo-engineering background has been the big reason I got into my love of gemologists.   That was how the formula that really came together. Out of desire to create something raw, organic and that works with the gems essences inside of them.

S: Debra makes it seem easy because it’s part of her natural talent to work with those ingredients. Even without training it’s something that seems natural to her.

Tell me a bit about your collection of Gemstones from over the years?

D: I think it goes way back to when we were very young, going to the gravel pits looking for Agates.   Nowadays it’s much harder to find those things. My sister and I had the tumblers and we’d tumble the agates. It was a love from way back then. It shifted into the healing area when I became pregnant with my child. You really start to think about how you treat your body.

Where are you both from and how did you meet?

S: We’re both Midwest. She’s from Minneapolis and I’m from Chicago. I’ve been in California about 2 years and Debra for about a year.   We met a long time ago, her son and I were in College together and good friends, which is how I met his Mom (Debra). Chris and I convinced Debra to come out to Los Angeles. We felt that the place and this was the time to go full forward, 100% and make our dream come true.

D: Chris found Sara in California after college and called me and just reiterated that he found the perfect person to do your business with here. That’s how Sara and I fell into this together. If you find that chance it’s a really magical thing because of our ability to follow the same kind of mindset. How much we appreciate what we do and how we do it.

Where do you create the formulas for your creams?

S: It’s our home and also our USDA Certified Kitchen. We have an outside house, which is our sacred space for our ceremonial set up, our gemstones and a space that is separated from our living area. That is where the magic is made for the essence of the gems into the creams.

Explain a little of the handcrafting aspect of your business.

S: Handcrafting for us means being present every step of the manufacturing process. Creating an art and you are there the entire time, creating something with your intentions rather than throwing a bunch of ingredients into a machine. It’s about the ceremonial process of creating that art that is our creams.

What is the lifespan of your creams?

S: Right now they are all raw. We use no preservatives at all. We think the nutrients fresh and more vibrant when it’s raw. A couple of our varieties last 4 months and the other ones last 5 months. It’s a short shelf life but you can extend it by keeping it in the refrigerator or keeping it out of the sun.

D: And being careful, it is sticking your hands and fingers into it and it’s a food. I think even in the hand crafting process when we’re making it there is just something about putting love into it and that energy that makes the product what it is too.

S: It is a food for your skin, which is why it’s so much healthier when it’s fresh and raw.

I love the idea of glass jars for your products.

D: Me too! We are aiming to get rid of our plastic tops as well by replacing them with metal. We are aiming to reduce plastic.

In Minneapolis, did you have the creams there?

D: Yes, I sold at co-ops and one small store. We’re not in co-ops any more but still in a health food store.

S: We are in few different mixes of places. We’re in a Yoga Studio, an Alkeline Water store, some juice places, Urban Radish, and a few others and of course online.

Is it hard to keep up with just the two of you?

S: We make a batch every week now really, we’ve got a good rotation to keep it fresh, we never let it sit than 2 weeks at most would be stored before getting it to the customer.

D: It’s important for us to get it fresh to the customer.

Where do you see yourselves in 5 years?

S: In 5 years I see us being at the forefront, with a lot of other groups and individuals, of a whole movement of health and lifestyle. We’re really trying to push not that this is just a ‘kind of natural’ product or this is ‘kind of organic’ but really our lines of purity are pretty hard and we’re trying to set just a little bit higher standard to push everybody in a super healthy direction.

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Photos courtesy of Gemstone Organic / Portrait photo by Danielle Cohen