Every formulation starts with a question: What does the skin actually need, and what's the most honest way to deliver it?

When I began exploring butters for The Everyday Face Cream, Shea Butter was everywhere. It's the default — the ingredient every mass-market brand reaches for without much thought. What surprised me when I dug into the research was that Shea actually carries a worse comedogenic rating than Kokum Butter, meaning it's more likely to clog pores. Yet hardly anyone was using Kokum. That gap between what was popular and what was actually better intrigued me. I gave it a try.

It earned its place immediately. Kokum Butter is soft, melts well, emulsifies cleanly, and goes onto the skin without heaviness. It's non-comedogenic, meaning it delivers deep hydration without clogging pores — a rare combination. It also holds up to its anti-inflammatory reputation, which mattered enormously to me for reasons I'll get to in a moment.

Jojoba Oil was a different story — that one was a no-brainer from the start. Jojoba isn't technically an oil at all. It's a liquid wax that so closely mimics your skin's own natural sebum that your skin essentially recognizes it. That's why it absorbs so effortlessly and why it performs well across every skin type. When an ingredient works with your biology rather than against it, the results speak for themselves.

Argan Oil and Grapeseed Oil round out the botanical core of the formula. Argan brings rich fatty acids, antioxidant protection, and meaningful anti-inflammatory properties that support healing and skin resilience. Grapeseed is lightweight, antioxidant-rich, and helps improve skin elasticity without adding any greasy residue. While their benefits do overlap in places — antioxidant protection being one example — each ingredient brings something distinct to the formula that the others don't fully replicate.

My goals going into formulation were clear: absorption, moisture retention, smoothness, and soothing effects. That last one — soothing — is where things get interesting from a scientific standpoint. When I talk about soothing effects in skincare, I'm largely talking about anti-inflammatory effects. The two are closely linked — most of what makes an ingredient calming to the skin works through reducing inflammation at a cellular level.

Inflammation matters far beyond the skin. Research consistently links chronic inflammation to some of the most widespread health conditions affecting people today — type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and metabolic syndrome among them. Inflammatory processes are destructive to the body at a systemic level. When I had the opportunity to build a formula around ingredients that were naturally anti-inflammatory, it wasn't a nice-to-have. It was the whole point.

This is also why the synthetic-free commitment matters so much to me beyond marketing language. Our bodies don't always tolerate synthetic compounds well. The reactions range from mild — redness, itching, irritation — to more significant immune-mediated responses, including histamine reactions and in some cases IgG-mediated reactions to foreign compounds. Research from the NIH and independent studies confirm that certain synthetic ingredients commonly found in skincare can activate immune pathways and trigger inflammatory responses in the skin. Logic and science point in the same direction here: when naturally sourced alternatives exist and perform just as well or better, there is no good reason to reach for synthetic substitutes.

Every ingredient in The Everyday Face Cream is there because it earns its place — naturally, honestly, and without compromise.

Your skin will notice the difference.

— Josh Cullen, PharmD
Founder, PharmEssence