When we discovered that Vancouver’s Kiss and Makeup had started carrying (exclusively, in our city) Canadian green-beauty brand Graydon, we were thrilled. The cutting-edge, earth-mindful line places a unique focus on bioavailability—how ingredients are delivered to the correct places within the skin. Toronto-based founder Graydon Moffat, a self-titled "ingredient anthropolist" who began creating skin-care products in her kitchen with native plants from her grandmother’s garden, is also taking the superfood phenomenon to a whole new level by placing key ingredients such as chlorophyll, food-grade Manuka honey, and broccoli and berry seed oil in her cleansers, serums and more. We recently had a chance to chat with Graydon about her clean, green brand (which is also available online across Canada). —Noa Nichol
Tell us a bit about yourself and your company/how you founded it (we’re also curious about your grandmother’s garden!).
I’ve always been into cooking so when I started teaching yoga I just started making my own products like a yoga mat spray and a massage oil for savasana. It was really a lot like making food recipes like salad dressing and cocktails except I obviously swapped a few things out, like no garlic in the massage oil, lol. Oddly enough, I really did use vodka in my mat spray because it evaporated in the air and it actually has good germ-killing properties. As for my Granny’s garden, she came from an era having grown up in the depression, recently emigrated from Ireland, with four sisters and no father. From a very young age she had the mindset that growing your own food was incredibly useful and all of it could be used. I mean, why would you go to the store and pay money for something when you could grow it yourself? I loved that she took the time to show me how magical all her flowers and vegetables were. Though she had a stunning collection of roses, snap dragons and morning glories (not to mention potatoes, beans and carrots), my most favourite items in her garden were way back in the shady part where the trilliums and Jack in the Pulpits lived.
We’re intrigued by the term "ingredient anthropologist." Tell us a bit about that.
Well, a good friend called me that one day because I am always poring over magazines, reading blog posts about food … and I’m next-to impossible at a farmers’ market because I always end up chatting with the farmers and asking them a million questions! So she wrote a blog post on our products and labelled me an ingredient anthropologist!
When you say your brand focuses on "bioavailability," what do you mean (and how does that science work)?
It’s a well-known fact that your skin absorbs toxic ingredients and the same is true when you put awesome nutrient-dense products on your skin, too. You body literally recognizes oils and extracts derived from superfoods like broccoli, raspberry, carrot, blueberry, cacao and coconut as "food" to readily absorb.
Your products contain ingredients that could be found in a green smoothie! How do chlorophyll, Manuka honey and broccoli benefit the skin?
I truly believe in feeding your skin from the inside-out. That’s why we use plant-powered ingredients like chlorophyll, which helps to remove toxins, Manuka honey, which has outstanding anti-bacterial and anti-microbial properties, and broccoli, which has super anti-oxidant transformative power and mimics the viscosity of silicone (that’s why we use it in our Hair Smoothie)!
We love the all-natural, toxin-free nature of your product line. But, with so many competing brands out there, tell us what makes your stuff special?
Yes, the common denominator of many skin-care brands is that "we’re clean and toxin free," but the point of difference Graydon provides is that we focus on formulating innovative products that don’t use typical ingredients on "feeding" the skin with plant-powered formulas filled with superfoods that you’d typically find in a green smoothie. We also happen to offer a very accessible gender-neutral product at an "affordable luxury" price!
Tell us why you’re a proud Canadian producer.
Well why wouldn’t we be!? Canada is one of the most wholesome countries in the world. Agriculture is also a huge contributor to Canada’s Gross National Product (GNP) and we also rely less on GMOs and pesticides to our American counterparts. I feel really proud to be able to say we work with small manufacturers who provide top-quality fresh products in small batches.
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