Beauty Brand Founder's Favorite Emails Are From Women Who Don't Wear Makeup
Who: April Gargiulo, Founder, Vintner's Daughter
Where: March, the first stockist of her product, Lower Pacific Heights
Favorite spot to find the perfect chair: Hedge Gallery or Almond Hartzog
Where she'll grab a glass of wine with a career peer: The Progress
The facialist to whom she entrusts her skin: A Facial Massage from Julie Lynge. Her hands are magic.
Where she'll take a client dinner: Octavia
Favorite spot to grab coffee with a friend: As Quoted
If she could choose to sit and be still anywhere in the city, it would be: Wood Line. An installation by artist Andy Goldsworthy in the Presidio.
Tourist attraction in SF she's never visited: I’ve never walked across the Golden Gate Bridge.
She's a designer, wine maker, and now skin care expert, but the through line of April Gargiulo's career has always been "businesses that are focused on quality and expression at the highest level."
April founded Vintner's Daughter an active botanical face oil "designed to be a powerhouse of multi-correctional activity." She calls it her desert island product (and has the skin to prove it). "It address all of my skincare needs (acne, discoloration, elasticity, tone and clarity) at the highest levels and without toxins. It's the product I would never go without. Interestingly, because we addressed my skincare needs at such a foundational level, Active Botanical Serum is able to correct a multitude of skin issues; from rosacea to acne."
"I love helping woman feel confident in their skin. The best emails I ever receive are the ones that say 'I have stopped wearing makeup.' It might sound silly, but there is a lot of freedom in that."
It's also a face serum for the busy working woman who doesn't have the time for a multi-step skin care regime every night. 6-8 drops, 30 seconds of pushing and pressing per the serum's instructions, and you're glowing. "I am a business woman," she notes, "who is focused on creating the most uncompromisingly effective skincare made from the world’s finest ingredients."
"The most surprising part of entrepreneurship in the beauty space is how intimate it can be. When talking about skincare, you cut through so much artifice so fast."
photo credit: Andrea Posadas