Two startups based in Northern New Mexico cities announced new products recently — both skin care treatments but with wholly different focuses.
Respect Wellness, a Santa Fe-based startup that makes CBD-based products for women 45 and older, unveiled its latest one Wednesday — a facial balm called "Smooth." It's currently available on the startup's website for $79.
Smooth, Respect Wellness' fifth in a line of wellness and skin care products, is made to be "synergistic" with its others, said Francine Sommer, the startup's CEO. That line includes items like a menopause balance serum, a rub to alleviate aches called "Ease" and an ingestible sleep aid called "Night Sky."
Another product called "Glow," a facial serum, works particularly well with Smooth, Sommer said, especially in colder temperatures. That's part of the reason Respect Wellness chose to unveil the new product in early December, she added.
Sommer founded Respect Wellness in 2021 to target a market she saw as underserved — women going through perimenopause. There are 27 million going through menopause in the U.S. alone, she said.
"We wanted to address the specific needs and routines of these women," Sommer said. "We wanted to also create a product line that is specifically targeted at this demographic but with the highest standards of purity, potency and transparency."
The startup uses a combination of botanical extracts and CBD in its products. Its ingredients are all organic and third-party tested, and its products are manufactured at a facility in Colorado that is "[Good Manufacturing Practice] certified," she added.
Smooth, in particular, came from Sommer's experience using a massage candle, which is a lower-heat type of candle that melts into a massage oil. That use, after a series of customer trials, eventually turned into the Smooth facial balm, which uses soy wax with organic botanicals and CBD, she said.
AllerPops, a Los Alamos-based startup, has a similar story surrounding its new product, a skin care relief treatment called "AllerKream."
Cliff Han, the CEO of AllerPops, said his experience with allergies caused skin problems, like psoriasis. He tried some different oils to reduce skin irritation symptoms, Han said, and eventually concocted a mix of oils to significantly reduce his skin irritation.
That experience treating his own skin problems spun into AllerKream, a skin probiotic the startup claims can help soothe and regulate the immune system to manage allergies and autoimmune conditions that affect the skin, joints or muscles. It's supported by the same scientific theory behind the startup's flagship "AllerPops" product, a type of lollipop allergy relief ingestible, Han said.
AllerPops started developing the AllerKream product in September. It's currently available on the startup's website as 7-ounce jars for $19.99.
Han said he didn't expect to start selling the product before the new year, but feedback from people who tested early versions of the skin cream asked for more jars, and the founder was happy to oblige.
Similar to Respect Wellness' new Smooth product, AllerPops' AllerKream is made to be used alongside the Los Alamos startup's other offerings, which include a prebiotic toothpaste and its flagship lollipops. AllerPops has two other products in development, as well, for both people and pets — a mouthwash called "AllerFresh" and a canine dietary supplement called "AllerPups."
