Organic Excellence in the News > Arizona Republic - Organic Skin-Care Line Rises From Experience
Organic Skin-Care Line Rises From Experience
The Arizona Republic
Organic Skin-Care Line Rises from Experience
Chemical side effects a concern
January 25, 2005
NORTHEAST VALLEY - Both personal and professional experience led Cynthia Drasler , to create Organic Excellence, a line of chemical-free skin-care products.
On the personal side, Drasler's daughter, now 14, often broke into rashes as a toddler after contact with skin-care products that were supposed to be safe for children.
"When she was 2, I took her to her cousin's birthday party where there was a clown who did face-painting," said Drasler. "She had a flower painted on her cheek. But when I went to remove it, it left a big red mark."
On the professional side, Drasler, who has a biology degree from Arizona State University and a master's in business administration from the University of Phoenix, used to sell chemotherapy drugs for Bristol-Myers Squibb.
"I had many oncologists tell me that more and more cancers were environmentally caused," Drasler said.
Gradually, Drasler began studying product labels for chemicals. She grew increasingly appalled by the toxicity in so many soaps, shampoos and creams. After a brief stint running a distribution outlet for a company that sold natural products, she decided to branch out on her own.
By 2000, Drasler had found a chemist and launched Organic Excellence.
"We sell chemical-free health and personal care products, including creams, body cleanser, shampoo and alcohol-free hairspray," Drasler explained. "We've also taken on a completely environmentally safe cleaning product, and we have a wonderful Vitamin C cream, which is wonderful for repairing sun damage."
Organic Excellence products are available for purchase by phone at 1-(800)-611-8331, online at www.OrganicExcellence.com, in health food stores, and at Sprouts Farmers Markets.
Quadrupled sales
Since the first Sprouts opened more than two years ago, sales of Organic Excellence products have quadrupled, said Joyce Bermudez, who orders all the merchandise and staffs the nutrition sections of the Valley's eight Sprouts stores.
For Sprouts shoppers, the most popular product in Drasler's line is a progesterone cream in a pump, which gives a metered dose of natural progesterone, Bermudez said. Perimenopausal and menopausal women love it as a natural way to stabilize hormones, she added.
A.M. peppermint rush
Like many other businesses, Drasler said she experienced a setback after 9/11, but has been expanding steadily ever since. Organic Excellence even has a plug on Shirley MacLaine's Web site, www.shirleymaclaine.com.
Today, the bulk of the business is wholesale, with the products going to health stores and doctors' offices. But calls to the 800 number and Web site orders are not far behind.
Customers love the feel and effect of the herbs the products use, Drasler said.
"We use organic oil of peppermint in our shampoo," she explained. "The peppermint increases the blood flow to the scalp, which helps renourish and heal it. It tingles when you use it. People will call and say, 'I'm out of my shampoo and I miss the peppermint rush in the morning.' "
