Why We Built Geologie

I'm Nick (the guy on the right above). Everyone loves a good story, so I want to share how I went from rideshare to skincare. My first company, Sidecar, was eventually sold to General Motors and I spent some time there assessing GM's capabilities to deploy autonomous vehicle pilot programs internationally. On my way home from South Korea, the skincare capital of the world, I popped into a store at the airport and picked up a very expensive 3-step routine as a gift for my girlfriend - I wasn't about to come home empty handed. While my GF was thrilled with the gesture, the products weren't quite right for her. After a few days of them sitting on the shelf I thought, hmmm ... maybe I shouldn't waste $400 bucks in fancy Korean skincare and give this a try? I was one of those guys that barely washed his face. I thought skincare was kind of silly, one more thing to do in the bathroom and probably a bunch of BS - like most guys I know. But I decided to check my preconceived notions at the door and give this Korean routine a try.

I'm proud to admit I was wrong AF.  By day three I was sold. I loved the routine. I did it morning and night. The ritual was amazing. I felt refreshed to take on my day in the morning and calmed and relaxed before heading off to bed at night. My skin looked better. It felt better and the compliments started rolling in. 

After finishing up my time with GM, I had to figure out what I wanted to do next. As an entrepreneur this can be tricky and take some time. Get a job? Start another company? What to do? I had been researching different company ideas, but wasn't finding the right fit, the right opportunity for me to tackle. Then, as with most founder stories, lightning struck.

Let me set the scene for you here. I'm on a trip to Moab in Southern Utah to ride motorcycles through the desert with my cousin, brother and some friends. At this point, I'm addicted to my skincare routine, so obviously I have them with me. It's late one afternoon, the sun is setting behind the hills, we're dirty, wind burned and sun burned from a day of riding and I say to the group - "hey fellas, want to do a Korean facial?" As you can expect everyone bursts out laughing as I pull these fancy women's products out of my bag. "Seriously, guys. Trust me. You're going to love it!" Next thing ya know, there we are, a group of guys around the campfire on a motorcycle trip all washing our faces and applying moisturizer and toner. Not your typical scene and to my surprise everyone is loving it, talking about stealing their wives or girlfriends products, how they wanted to get into skincare, but had no idea where to start or what to do. And aha Geologie was born.  

As I dove into the idea of building a men's skincare brand I discovered some major reasons why most guys weren't taking care of their skin ...

1. The products developed for guys were SHIT! I mean terrible - even from the supposed "best men's skincare" brands that pop up in a Google search . The ingredients were all over the map - unsafe and ineffective. The formulations felt cheap on my skin.

2. The buying experience was simply terrible. Online, I needed a PhD to figure out what was right for me. What's your skin type? How the hell should I know. The woman at the department store beauty counter was trying to sell me high end creams at $400 an ounce. Sephora was a nightmare and a culture shock. What was a guy to do?

3. The brands I did buy from had no customer support. No solid way to help a guy get into this for the first time or understand why he should be switching if he did have a routine. 

No wonder guys didn't take care of their skin!! It was impossible. So, we set out to solve these problems by personalizing our buying process and formulations, so guys get the simplest and most effective regimen possible, designed for them and their skin, with a customer support team that helps our customers develop a consistent routine. After all the best skincare routine is the one you actually stick to!

Dr. Xu, our renowned dermatologist, and Dave, my co-founder, along with our amazing team and partners work tirelessly everyday to make skincare more approachable and effective for all our customers, and every guy out there who wants to take better care of his skin but doesn't know where to start. It's no wonder that in our first year of business we won three grooming awards from Esquire, AskMen and Men's Health. No other skincare brand on the market even came close. It's just the beginning for us and for many of our customers, who we have to thank for all of our success so far. Let's keep going together!