Fifteen years ago, Dr. Eva King set out to solve her struggles with acne. Eva is allergic to many things, and her skin reacted to everything she tried off the shelf. Until she decided, “You know what, I’m a biochemist, I can figure out how to create something better myself.” Eva combined a background in biochemistry and a passion for helping people into a venture, Dr. Eva SkinCare.
Dr. Eva SkinCare is an all-natural, vegan cosmetic company that provides a solution to skin problems. Their products do not contain synthetic detergents, parabens or other preservatives. The soaps are handmade with care and precision by Dr. Eva herself. They are known to ameliorate skin conditions and inflammation, as well as add preventative measures against mosquitos and bugs. “There are lots of people who do soaps,” Eva explains. “But what sets us apart is our approach and our focus on helping the skin heal.” Dr. Eva’s products help people feel confident and good in their skin.
At first, Dr. Eva made soaps for her friends and family. “People who were trying my products would ask me why I wasn’t selling them,” Eva says. “While I had my full-time job in allergy research, I only spent a few days a year making my soaps, and I would donate whatever profits I made to the homeless shelter.” This was until about a year ago when she had coffee with her husband’s friend, Avery Chenoweth, who is now a part of the Dr. Eva Skincare team as Chief Story Teller. Avery knew Eva was making something the market needs, and he encouraged her to make something more of it. “The thing that I found persuasive about the story behind the soaps is how she really developed a cult-like following among people who came to her repeatedly for solutions to problems,” Avery explains. “With Eva’s natural personality and charisma and her innate pleasure in helping other people feel better, she has a set of core values that a company can thrive on. Helping people find their pleasure wherever they find it and then making them feel good about it is a different approach to skincare, and Eva does it!”
For years, Eva has been selling her products at the local farmers market, but now, with the help of Avery, Dr. Eva’s Skincare is expanding. In addition to Beat It (acne and eczema relief), Green Fusion (outdoor soap that relieves poison ivy and mosquito bites) and other all-natural soaps, the company is about to release a range of products with Hemp CBD: their first-ever intimate massage oil, PURnovia, as well as a tattoo balm.
Dr. Eva SkinCare is all about providing a pleasurable experience for their users, and PURnovia fits right in with that mission. This product is still all-natural and vegan with Hemp CBD. The Dr. Eva team has given out free samples to women of all ages in exchange for an anonymous survey to describe their experiences with the product. The results have been overwhelmingly positive, and Eva cannot wait to get this product on the market. “We’re pushing the boundaries on differentiation again,” Avery says.
Dr. Eva’s core mission is to create an ecosystem around the skin, so that people can look at their skin as something other than just a thing to clean, “You’re not vacuuming the rug. You are actually enjoying the skin you live in,” Avery concludes.
As the i.Lab summer program comes to a close in the next couple weeks, the Dr. Eva SkinCare team has just finalized the packaging for PURnovia and is figuring out manufacturing to expand their business outside of Eva’s house. Their goal to get their products in as many hands as possible continues.
Eva and Avery, the Dr. Eva SkinCare team. Eva and Avery working at Martha's Market in Charlottesville.