Jess Lafleur, Stark Skincare: Herbal Products for Urban People/Love + Rebellion

Jess Lafleur feels like a longtime IRL friend, maybe because I first knew about her skincare line, Stark Skincare, from the very early days of eco beauty blogging circa 2011/2012 on the No More Dirty Looks site. Her Canadian line has been delivering handmade herbal skincare geared towards urbanites (but also everyone) for the past 8+ years, and now in 2020 Stark is heading in new and exciting directions. In today’s conversation, we cover everything from Jess’s “rebellion” out of traditional work environments, to consciously keeping her business small and not adhering to perpetual growth mantras, to the realizations she has come to about the best next steps for Stark. Towards the end we also discuss some current green beauty problematics like perfectionism, tolerance, fear/science mongering, and why you’ll always find French pharmacy products as part of Jess’s beauty life.