LASPA is a Toronto-based producer of clean, sustainable skin care products for all skin types and tones. Our mission is to carefully curate a select line of beauty products that are innovative and address gaps in the skincare market.
Tell us about yourself?
I am a lawyer by training but have been in senior management roles for about 20 years, including being CEO and President of Kodak in Canada and an Independent Board Director(ICD.D) for many private and public companies. I started in the natural health products business as an entrepreneur in 2008 when I launched Green Cricket(www.greencricket.ca), which makes naturally derived, non-toxic household and personal care products for Canadians and later, in 2017, LASPA Naturals as a premium skincare brand. My inspiration was my daughter, who has severe allergies and skin issues – and the need to find better quality products that would be safe and healthy for her to use. This led to the realization that over 30 per cent of the population now has some type of allergy or skin sensitivity and that the need was on a much broader scale.
If you could go back in time a year or two, what piece of advice would you give yourself?
Don’t take on too much at one time. Things are always more difficult and slower than you plan.
What problem does your business solve?
Our products provide excellent quality, simple, and essential skin care solutions for any person of any age, regardless of their gender, race or skin type. The industry secret is that taking care of your skin and looking healthy and younger is much simpler than is currently portrayed to consumers.
What is the inspiration behind your business?
My passion is to provide simple yet effective solutions for most skin issues by incorporating excellent quality, effective, and innovative ingredients into our LASPA formulations. The reality is that more than 90 per cent of all skincare ingredients are derived from petrochemicals and contain skin irritants and toxins that are not good for the delicate microbiome of the skin…your body’s largest organ. This is best exemplified in the many studies that have been released relating to chemical sunscreen filters as known endocrine disruptors and, therefore, potential contributors to hormonal-related cancers and other serious health issues. The FDA has proposed to ban or severely limit the use of most of these chemicals, and yet their ongoing use in most sunscreen products continues.
What is your magic sauce?
Our objective is to disrupt the clean beauty space by offering a simple and UNIQUE skincare routine that addresses what everyone needs – A Clean, Sustainable Brand for All – that incorporates the skincare basics of cleanse, exfoliate, protect and moisturize. For example, we are the only Company in North America to make a line of natural mineral sunscreens with tinting suitable for all skin tones, from lightest to the darkest. We are also the only company in the world to use a USDA certified Glycolic Acid in our Glycolic Peel Treatments for both consumer and professional use – to guarantee a formulation that has NO residual formaldehyde that is a by-product of petrochemical-based derived Glycolic Acids in the market today. All Canadian innovation!
What is the plan for the next 5 years? What do you want to achieve?
Our vision is to expand into other markets, including the United States and Asia, with our niche product line and continue to make innovative products that address gaps in the market.
What is the biggest challenge you’ve faced so far?
Our biggest challenge has been the investment required to make a wide selection of regulated products – such as the mineral sunscreens – and to be able to meet the differing standards in different countries in terms of production, testing, registration, and packaging. This has meant a lot of upfront investment and financial pressure to obtain a positive ROI. We have utilized government funding as much as possible, but export assistance has been scarce and insufficient to create a meaningful difference.
How can people get involved?
To learn more, visit our website www.laspanaturals.com
We are interested in talking to retailers, partners, influencers, and consumers who share our passion for the type of skincare solutions we are creating. You can call us at 1-877-476-2758 or email us at info@laspanaturals.com anytime.