I'm in my feelings a bit as we officially celebrate 10 years in business. Hey friends, Monica here, founder of Berlin Skin.

I launched this line in 2016 out of our 800 square foot loft in Portland. We started with just 3 products (Sandalwood Cream, Geranium & Rose Toner, and Coconut & Aloe Cleanser), some Kickstarter money, and a lot of ambition to help people with their skin. I had absolutely no idea what I was doing, but I had grit and a desire to see this be successful. Fast forward to today, we now have 13 products, I have a small but mighty team, and we work out of a cute warehouse here in Oregon. I'm still having so much fun!

Here are a few major highlights from the past 10 years:

• Our products being featured in Vogue, Byrdie, Into The Gloss, HGTV, and Martha Stewart.
• Touring around for our Matcha Mask Tour, serving up facial masks and iced matchas.
• Doing fun photoshoots and seeing our products come to life.
• Getting to travel and train estheticians all around the country.
• Hearing endless reviews from customers share how our products have changed their skin and life in significant ways. Seeing before and afters still blows my mind. 

Looking ahead to the 20 year mark:

My answer to this is pretty simple: I just want to reach more people and help them with their skin. Clean beauty is way more mainstream today than it was in 2016, but there's still a lot of people out there who know its important but haven't adopted it into their lives yet.

We've built this company with zero investors, so we don't have a million dollars to put into advertising. This means that our growth has been slower, and a lot of times people just hear about our products through word-of-mouth, like a friend recommending them. Old school, I know, but we also have the BEST customers and I think this slow-growth model is credit to it. Only this past year have we gotten more serious about running digital ads, which is pretty amazing when you think about it: we've grown every single year, organically.

THANK YOU

We wouldn't be here without our loyal customer base and retail partnerships. If you've ever purchased our products, written a review, or told your friends about us, THANK YOU from the bottom of my heart. Many people don't know that we are still a small business, and when you support us, you are supporting my family and a few others. I love getting to do this everyday: when I initially had the vision for owning my own business, I didn't have any kids yet, but thought that I might be able to afford a more flexible lifestyle one day when I did have kids. Now that I have a 7 year old son and am living out that dream, I want the same thing for my employees. As an employer I offer flexible schedules and it's not uncommon to see one of our kids visiting the warehouse. So just know that when you are purchasing our products, this is what you are allowing us to do, and we absolutely love it. Thank you for being here.

Cheers,

Monica Watson, Founder/CEO