As a generous supporter of the Foundation’s effort to restore more than 4,500 acres of land back to sagebrush grasslands, Jackson, WY-based skincare brand Alpyn Beauty leverages the power of wild plants in all of their products and has continually prioritized sustainability and protecting our planet. We recently had the opportunity to catch up with Alpyn Beauty founder and Foundation resource council member Kendra Butler, to learn more about their beginnings, values, and priorities.
Tell us Alpyn Beauty’s origin story—how did this brand come to be?
Before moving to Wyoming, I spent twenty years working in clinical skin care in New York City. I was feeling burnt out, I needed a change of pace, change of scenery. My husband and I packed up all our belongings and headed West, landing in Jackson Hole. I opened a beauty apothecary, which I filled with all my favorite skincare brands, specifically ones that targeted dry, dehydrated skin (at 6,237’ elevation and with such extreme climate, my skin was starting to feel it). But even the most effective formulas were not working, I was noticing a massive influx of returns. My business began to struggle, and I honestly thought I would have to close shop. I was determined to find a solution. Shortly thereafter I discovered the wild plants in my backyard not only growing but thriving. These wild plants have amazing survival instincts and intuitively know how to bank moisture, concentrate nutrients, and optimize life force. I had this hunch that tapping their natural power and combining them with clinical ingredients could be the solution. I became laser focused on this concept and eventually turned it into a brand.
What are Alpyn Beauty’s values and priorities as a brand?
At Alpyn Beauty, we believe in transforming skin by creating clinical grade skincare formulas boosted by wild mountain actives. We bring their lush, unbridled power to skin because we don’t lock science in a lab, we let it go wild. We work with local botanists, naturalists, and farmers to identify the plants with the most power to hydrate and stabilize skin’s moisture barrier. We cultivate them at peak potency and craft them in as raw a form as possible, adding targeted clinical ingredients to amplify benefits and solve specific problems. Because when we deliver exponential efficacy, skin can experience unstoppable results.
We’re on a mission to change the beauty landscape, and the earth, for the better.
- Restoration and rewilding
- Circular harvesting and sustainable sourcing
- Responsible packaging
What inspired Alpyn Beauty to support re-wilding efforts in Grand Teton National Park?
Our protective partnership with nature doesn’t stop at skin. We replace what we remove by a low impact, circular process we call no-harm harvesting. It means that we only take a small portion of a plant’s growth, and we never remove it from its soil. Any excess we don’t use is returned to the earth as compost.
We also replant, restore, and reforest national parks as part of our ongoing rewilding efforts, not as a philanthropic afterthought. So far we've helped restore more than 1,500 acres and counting through the Grand Teton National Park Foundation’s rewilding efforts.
Working with others, we're also committed to 1% For The Planet, rePurpose, and Pact Collective. Because we have come to know: giving back works. For your skin and for the earth.
With Earth Day coming up next month, how does Alpyn Beauty plan to celebrate?
It may sound cliché, but every day is Earth Day for us at Alpyn Beauty. We strive to continue our restoration efforts with Grand Teton National Park Foundation and further educate consumers on how to live a more sustainable lifestyle. We will also encourage our customers to responsibly recycle their beauty empties with our partners at Pact Collective.
Thanks to Alpyn Beauty for their continued support of our work in Grand Teton National Park and commitment to protecting our planet–we are grateful for their partnership!