Founder's Story
Everything in connection with Asterias is intentional. Our selection of ingredients fulfill a greater purpose than marketing fanfare or what may be currently trending. The trademarked C-Star symbol evokes the essence of life and renewal. The light blue hues represent calmness, healing, and peace of mind. What began as a childhood dream, recently transformed into a reality with the help of our dedicated team of chemists, research dermatologists and biologists. Our founder’s message is one of responsible, intentional, minimalistic skincare. She endorses daily self-care by nurturing one of the most important parts of the body, our skin. A California native with Scandinavian ancestry, her fascination for the ocean and desire for simplistic beauty played a pivotal role in her journey as the founder of Asterias.
Before launching Asterias, Nicole began her career in the beauty industry with a large cosmetics manufacturer. Years later an opportunity in the tech sector offered a new challenge for the insatiably curious, future beauty founder. Nicole's experience in the tech industry prepared her for her last corporate role in renewable energy, where she worked for a private equity firm as a fund manager. She studied at New York School of Interior Design where she learned to hone her natural abilities for textures, color, and design. Every visual aspect of Asterias is from her creative vision and direction. Nicole resides with her husband and three sons in Newport Beach, CA.
Meet NicoleNicole's Story
My desire was to give others what I had wanted to be given for decades; a topical skincare product that was effective and didn’t irritate my skin. I knew it wasn’t going to be easy, (I proved myself, right) and there was a substantial monetary risk, as I wasn’t going to launch a product for the sake of starting a business. Three years, 57 iterations of formulas, re-branded once, two websites later and I’m happy to say it was all worth it and more. We did it! We have proven highly effective, multi-tasking products with clinically proven ingredients are a reality for even the most sensitive skin types, like myself and 65% of the population.
I believe topical skincare should be simplistic and results driven. Minimal ingredients with maximum results. Asterias is not only a dream come true for me, but for all seeking a brand that truly delivers on it’s promises.
With Gratitude,
Nicole
Clean Chemistry, Transparency and Safety
Healthy skin and safe formulation practices will always be our first priority. Asterias was founded on the premise of three tenets: 100% transparency, conscious formulations and intentional ingredients. We believe in a minimalistic approach to beauty routines ... Read MoreAsterias is a spiritually uplifting marine science-driven facial elixir. When your complexion radiates health, your aura emits positivity and joy. By deploying clinically proven naturally occurring compounds in synergistic combinations at optimal percentages, you will begin to experience changes in your skin like never before. This multi-tasking serum will target all layers of the skin allowing the barrier to heal by reducing micro-inflammation, rebuilding collagen, smoothening out rough patches, better skin tone and diminishing fine lines. You will be rewarded with a complexion that exudes natural beauty as it was meant to be.
Stories
Our Stories page was developed to keep you up-to-date not only with what's new and exciting with us, but the skincare and beauty world at large. It's here we will discuss hot topics with Asterias consulting Dermatologist, Dr. Ansul Khan, health and wellness experts, beauty bloggers, featured estheticians and makeup artists from around the globe.
Read More
Our philosophy of Clean Beauty is Safe Beauty. Non-toxic formulas with 100% transparency of all labeled ingredients. Fragrance and essential oil free.
We follow the European Union guidelines which require product ingredients to meet the strictest criteria for transparency and health.
In cosmetics alone, the EU has banned more than 1300 chemicals while the U.S. has restricted only 11 since 1938.
There are no legal requirements for U.S. cosmetic manufacturers to test their products for safety. Read that again.
Of the 82,000 ingredients used in personal care products, nearly 14,000 have been found to be industrial chemicals that are carcinogens, pesticides, hormone disruptors, irritants and allergens.
When a product is labeled “Organic, Natural, or Green” that doesn’t mean it’s non-toxic. Nor does it mean it's vegan or cruelty-free.
ASTERIAS™ Clean Beauty Code
Clean Beauty isn’t about being perfect, rather it’s about being safe. It is knowing you can use a product without risking your health. Clean ingredients, transparent labeling, ethical sourcing and no mystery ingredients is a good beginning to how our industry should be defining “clean beauty”. Our “No-List” has over 1800 chemicals we will never use in our formulations. Cosmetic ingredients are constantly evolving due to on-going scientific research. We will continuously be updating our list and let you know when we do. The list of ingredients below are provided as a cheat sheet you can use when considering any beauty, health or wellness brand. These ingredients are known to be or may cause any of the following: hormone disruptor, neurotoxicity, carcinogen, environmental harm, organ toxicity or irritation, DNA cell damage, allergen, endocrine disruptor.
- Aluminum Chlorohydrate
- Phenoxyethanol
- Benzalkonium Chloride
- Phthalates
- Benzophenone
- Propanol
- BPA, BHT, BHA
- Resorcinol
- Butoxyethanol
- Retinyl Palmitate
- Coal Tar
- Silicones
- Disodium EDTA
- SLS
- Ethanolamines
- Sulfates
- Formaldehyde
- Synthetic Fragrance
- Gluten
- Talc
- Glycol
- Toluene
- Hydroquinone
- Triclosan
- Lanolin
- Triclocarban
- Mercury
- Synthetic Colorants
- Methyl Cellosolve
- Microplastics
- Mineral Oil
- Nanoparticles
- Nitrites
- Parabens
- PEG compounds
Minimal Ingredients. Maximum Results.
Our skin is a complexly intelligent multilayered organ with innate regenerative abilities that are unfortunately compromised with the passing of time. Asterias aims to restore this regenerative ability by recruiting an equally intelligent network of skin-identical bio-actives that result in a dramatically healthy and youthfully stunning complexion.
Asterias embraces the core philosophy of rejuvenation, it wakes up and revitalizes aging cells. Sophisticated bioengineering has managed to sustainably extract and preserve a unique marine peptide from starfish that mimics the regenerative ability of retinoic acid. It's a skin-intelligent serum that works three dimensionally across the dermal layers offering deep hydration, instant softening, enhanced luminosity and reawakened youth. Multi-molecular, bio-fermented, hyaluronic acid ensures short term and cumulative hydrating benefits to dry skin as the layers of the skin matrix are visibly plumped and barrier functions are precisely restored. Snowflake bulb extract reduces muscle contraction, resulting in expression lines to appear smoothed and rejuvenated. Functional, deeply penetrating, active ingredients, backed by clinically proven results is what topical skincare should embody. Allow your skin to replenish, heal and empower itself as you experience transformational, long term results.