Hi everyone,

My name is Jim Yang. I am the founder of Anicrafr / Skin Theory and I would like to share with you the history and why a theoretical idea became a practical product. I love nature, biology and environment. I graduated from UBC with a degree in biology. I worked for many years searching for what I would do in my life. I worked in the service industry, the agricultural industry and the manufacturing industry. Each job gave me very different experiences. The idea of traditional handmade products started to sink in and starting out a business is very challenging. Then, I thought I need more education and so I went back to school to get a MBA. Soon after school, I finally figured out what I should be doing in my life. I learned to help people in the service industry. I enjoyed growing plants inside greenhouses in the agricultural industry. I loved to research and develop products in the manufacturing industry. I would like to help people with a product that will make people feel natural, healthy and happy.

I see an imbalanced market and a struggle of traditions in agricultural, manufacture and service industry. I think innovations are great when there is a balance instead of a revolution. There is a reason that we’ve been doing certain things for thousands of years. For example, handcraft has almost become extinct with industrial robotic manufacture. I see handcraft as an art, passion and unique tradition but many feel that it is labor, tedious and not necessary. Please find a balance for these handcraft artisans to thrive and pass on their passions. We really need these skills if one day technology fails us.

I looked at the market in skin care products and found out that majority (over 95% for handmade soaps) of the skin care products are man-made chemical based products. Only a small portion of the market is actually all natural, handmade traditional way of doing things. I am not against chemical products and I am not trying to force people out of using chemical products. At this time in our human evolution, we are adjusting to the use of chemical. I feel that there should be a balance between chemical and traditional non-chemical products. Chemistry, together with medicine, is no doubt one of the greatest discovery in history. It helps many people; however, at the same time, it damages our human body, environment, and ecosystem. I find a market niche that has been pushed back to extinction. This market is the traditional handmade methods of producing things.

People turn to chemical products because they provide an immediate response to people. It makes lotions and creams feel wonderful on skin. The traditional lotions and creams do not feel as good when compare to the chemical ones. This is one of the reasons why tradition was pushed back and many went out of business. My job is to produce a product using traditional handmade methods without using chemical ingredients and still produce a quality product that feel just as good as a chemical one. I needed help from Mother Nature and her natural intelligence. I needed to know the balance in natural in order to use natural intelligence in the products. I realized that some plants can keep away bugs with its scents and some flowers can draw bees to them. From as early as in ancient Egyptian time, people had been using aromatherapy for thousands of years. The effects are not as dramatic as the newly invented chemistry but human evolved in using these natural essential oils and scents with a balance with the environment.

I am not proposing a 50/50 for chemical and traditional natural methods but I feel 90% chemical and 10% natural is dangerously unbalanced. It has a tendency to push handcrafts to extinction. A few hundred years ago, we relied on plants to produce everything from soaps to creams. We used plants for therapy, both aromatic and traditional healing. Ancient Chinese used plants for many purposes and many are still practiced today. If we don’t keep these traditional methods and pass on these methods to our next generations, I’m afraid these traditions may be lost forever.

This is how a theoretical idea becomes a practical product. I hope you have feedbacks for me and I welcome any critic you may have. Please let me know by writing to me at jim@skintheory.com This is one of the first steps that we are evolving to a better specie, a sentient being that is passionate in our history, environment and future.

Jim Yang

Anicrafr / Skin Theory