Meet The Alchemist Of This Sustainably-Sourced Botanical Skincare Set

Shopping for a new skincare set for summer? Founder and Lead Alchemist, Chase Polan of Kypris beauty shares how she prioritizes sustainable sourcing and blends science with nature to get skin glowing.

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Today is March 31st, and that means it’s the last day of Women’s History Month. So, we’re rounding out this time of celebrating the founders, experts, and women moving the needle towards environmentally-responsibility with Chase Polan, the Founder, CEO, and Lead Alchemist of Kypris. Built on a foundation of sustainably grown botanicals, each Kypris skincare set features formulas that work together to achieve your skincare goals.

While The Wellness Feed team didn’t personally have an opportunity to review the products, we were impressed with the glowing reviews and low-hazard score on the Environmental Working Group Skin Deep guide. And we’re excited to share this founder’s insight about what it takes to craft a sustainably sourced skincare brand.

What is it about nature that inspires you?

We are nature. All we are, all that has nurtured and nourished us and our lives comes from this brilliant & beautiful, powerful & vulnerable planet we get to call home. From the perspective of creating KYPRIS, my team and I want the nature and the technology in the formulas to create a regenerative flywheel for all involved.

Nature grows gorgeous extracts, oils, essences, essential oils, and more that cannot be recreated in a lab, and in some cases not even on a farm. There’s one ingredient, an extract from Centella asiatica, found in our nurturing moisturizer, Puff of Love, and in our nighttime eye cream emulsion, Ad Astra, that possesses a therapeutic potency only when grown and harvested from the wild. Even when researchers intentionally propagated it in the wild, the prized phytotherapeutic profile did not develop. 

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From the beginning, Kypris has always viewed sustainability as a social and ecological imperative. While many like to talk about sustainability from an eco perspective, KYPRIS likes to address the holistic challenge focusing on regenerative practices both ecologically and socially – on people and the environment. KYPRIS strategically combines Science and Nature to create an alchemy of exponentiation for unparalleled beauty benefits and care for our patrons and the planet.

Nature is inherently wise and regenerative – so by respecting the natural world, we are caring for ourselves and our home and greater community. 

Your Moonlight Catalyst features pumpkin to refine the skin. Why did you choose to use that ingredient instead of retinol?

KYPRIS got its start in doctors’ offices. So, our first clients were people navigating pregnancy, nursing, menopause, cancer, autoimmune conditions, and other unique physical moments. KYPRIS does not use ingredients and actives commonly recommended to be avoided during IVF and pregnancy. Retinol, retinyl, and other vitamin A derivatives work to varying degrees to smooth the appearance of skin however not without irritation, redness, sensitivity, thinning, and valid concerns about mutagenicity. 

Our Moonlight Catalyst offers a more gentle, herbal alternative to retinoid preparations. The serum includes a cocktail of functional botanicals and enzymes to gently refine and exfoliate skin overnight. The fermented pumpkin enzymes gently soften and refine skin’s appearance as you slumber for a refreshed, even-looking complexion. Bacillus, a fermented ocean extract, hydrates skin to enhance the appearance of radiance. Hawaiian algae extracts known for their impressive ability to hydrate, and Neroli’s aromatherapy soothes both skin and senses. 

How do you ensure that your ingredients are sustainably and ethically-sourced?

Our community wants high performance skin care from ethical sources with a gentle footprint. Beauty from Beauty is one of KYPRIS’s brand pillars meaning you can’t make beauty from exploitation. When we look at sourcing, we consider whether the grower is a farm – what type of farm, a cooperative, women-owned, a wild-crafting group, related to an organization that supports women or another regenerative initiative. Some ingredients in our supply chain have programs that help women farmers get bank accounts, learn more about their trade, provide a guaranteed market, and help them become more financially sound. I’m very passionate about transparency and supporting women which in turn helps to keep common forms of exploitation, like child labor and modern slavery, out of the supply chain.

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Some of the ingredient partners we are most excited about include:

Moringa – From a co-op in Nicaragua that supports malnutrition relief group, Trees for Life, where the leaf is used for relief efforts and the kernel is pressed and sold as a second income stream for growers.

Biodynamic, Organic Rose Essential Oil – From a woman-owned farm in Bulgaria, the owner of which was a part of efforts to help Afghani farmers transition their fields from poppy to rose fields

Tamanu Oil – Co-op grown and sourced from French Polynesia.

Rose Geranium – from an organic certified cooperative in Malawi.

Vetiver – from an organic, fair trade certified operation in Madagascar.

Silver Fir – Wildcrafted silver fir pine needles, steam distilled and from Siberia.

Pomegranate enzymes – Found in our Glow Philtre mask are made from upcycled pomegranate pith which is commonly not consumed yet dense with phytonutrients.

Prickly Pear Seed Oil – the prickly pears are wildcrafted in southern Arizona by a woman-led team who has worked the land for more than 30 years. They are harvested for fruit, juice, dye, cattle fodder, and the resulting seeds are crushed and filtered to deliver our oil. Not a single part of the fruit is wasted.

Shea – all of KYPRIS shea ingredients come from a UN Global Compact project seeking to measure the effects and benefits of shea cultivation by women farmers for themselves, their families, and their communities.

Do all of your ingredients contain actives at clinical levels? What are your favorite ingredients?

Each formula in the KYPRIS line includes a robust selection of best-in-class, science-backed actives (not just one or two trending ingredients) for optimal performance. We do not skimp, and we do not cut corners – ever. The best, most beautiful results come from formulas built with well-tended ingredient sources and innovation paired with scientific consensus. With thoughtful implementation of regenerative ingredients harvested from Nature or propagated in labs, the Beauty and power of KYPRIS formulas is not just in the “what,” but the “how” – think wild-crafted botanicals, patented peptides, and a bioidentical antioxidant complex.

Some favorites include:

CoQ10 – KYPRIS’s certified, bioidentical CoQ10 is made via patented process in a lab, in an oxygen-free environment. The resulting antioxidant is 100% pure and molecularly identical to what the body creates and is certified by its manufacturer. This approach to creating antioxidants is both highly efficient as well as completely repeatable, delivering reliable results. (Beauty Elixirs)

Cherry Blossoms – from Provence, France and from cherry fruit production. Blossoms are hand-collected and extracted using a naturally created solvent (water, glycerin, and betaine), that yields a greater array of phytonutrients than traditional petrochemical or alcoholic solvents (often made from GM corn) from the cherry blossom to hydrate, soothe, skin-plump, and ameliorate the appearance of sun-damage benefits. This harvest also helps cherry farmers to economically diversify with a second income protecting them financially in the event a storm harms their fruit crop. (Cerulean)

Sea Holly Stem Cells – collected from sea holly from the ocean’s edge and then propagated in a lab. Just a few plant specimens are used to create an entire ingredient of completely natural origin that improves the appearance of skin density and boosts luminosity. This means there is both minimal environmental impact and reliable beauty benefits. (Glow Philtre and Cerulean)

Algae – The algae used in KYPRIS products is wild harvested from Hawaii and propagated in a lab. This process leaves the Hawaiian ecosystem undisturbed, keeps procurement practices safer for workers, keeps the algae ingredient protected from any threats of environmental pollution, and delivers an extract of consistent quality. (Antioxidant Dew, Moonlight Catalyst, Pot of Shade, Cleanser Concentrate, Cerulean, Glow Philtre, Deep Forest Clay)

What Kypris product(s) do you recommend for the summer months?

When we think about spring and summer, sun protection is key. KYPRIS Pot of Shade Heliotropic, is a multifunctional, translucent veil of non-nano, broad spectrum SPF 30 and moisturizing botanicals to prime skin for daily radiance. Our Beauty Elixirs are another must. These moisturizing, multi-active beauty oils are powered by a Bioidentical Antioxidant Complex that diminishes the appearance of too much sun.  The bioidentical CoQ10, Vitamin C Ester, and rainbow of ethically sourced botanicals diminish the appearance of dryness and sun overexposure for soft, luminous skin. 

How are you sustainable in your everyday life?

Unwinding is something that I try to do three times per day: morning, noon, and night. I find that a regular hatha yoga practice, walking outdoors, sunshine, and short, regular meditation sessions throughout the day help me return to and connect to nature and, of course, a beautiful, eco-centric KYPRIS beauty ritual.