Coco Chanel once famously stated: “Beauty begins the moment you decide to be yourself.” This sentiment unarguably fits Emilie Davidson Hoyt, founder and CEO of LATHER, a wellness-based personal care brand in Pasadena.
The Palos Verdes native, who launched the company in 1999 when she was just 25 years old, is a veritable trailblazer in the clean-beauty industry. She has made her mark with vegan, cruelty-free, head-to-toe goods devoid of parabens, sulfates, artificial colors and synthetic fragrances—from facial cleansing creams and scalp scrubs to mineral sunscreens and blemish-control serums.
She has also expanded the company to include multiple retail stores, airport locations and a hospitality division, LATHER Hotel and LATHER Custom, overseen by her husband and LATHER Custom president, Rob Hoyt. The products are now found in luxury hotels, spas and resorts around the world.
Launching her business sprang from both a fundamental need and a desire to fill a noticeable gap on beauty shelves. Emilie, who majored in public relations and sociology at Pepperdine University and worked in public relations for Hill & Knowlton, was plagued by incapacitating migraines throughout her formative years.
“I worked with a doctor who helped me keep a journal and track everything that was in my environment,” she explains. “We eventually discovered that I had more migraines when I was exposed to people who wore perfume—like certain carpool moms and my own mom when going to events.”
Later, after leaving her corporate job in 1998, she gave herself one full year to devote to developing LATHER.
“I had gotten a lot of experience working with nonprofits at Hill & Knowlton, but I felt like, ‘Gosh, if I can take some of what I’ve learned and try to spread awareness around this subject that I’m so passionate about’—this is what led me,” explains Emilie. “Growing up with migraines triggered by perfume and synthetic fragrance, I was researching how I could solve this issue. There were some good products, but they were lifestyle-positioned and I felt like I had to put on Birkenstocks to go shopping for them. They were marketed like an alternative lifestyle, not mainstream. I thought that was so weird. Why are the healthier versions considered a strange alternative?”
Determined to find solutions, Emilie transformed her apartment kitchen into a makeshift laboratory, tinkering with bubbling bath salts, Epsom salts and olive oil-infused soaps. She eventually connected with a soap maker, and later a chemist, to help refine her concoctions. At the same time, she took a business plan writing course through UCLA Extension.
“I didn’t know what I didn’t know,” says Emilie. “I had a crazy amount of confidence and just went for it. I thought I was going to create this small line and walk over to Fred Segal, pitch it and sell it. But in those days, natural beauty wasn’t a thing.”
Eventually, after hearing “no” from various corporations, Emilie paved her own way forward, opening her inaugural retail store in 1999 in Old Town Pasadena to educate and interact with consumers.
“In the beginning of launching LATHER, we were extremely different in just about every way imaginable,” says Emilie. “Our approach to ingredients, formulations and even distribution was different from what typical personal care and beauty companies did. Nowadays, the industry has caught up and there are more independent beauty companies. But I still believe that our 27 years of experience gives us an edge because we understand our customers and what they are looking for. Everything we do is very intentional. Most of our products are designed to solve distinct problems.”
The company continues to distinguish itself by avoiding fleeting fads, trendy gimmicks and flashy packaging. Instead, it offers a comprehensive range of skin care, body care and wellness items crafted with naturally sourced ingredients like bamboo, avocado, mint, lavender, coconut, yuzu, hinoki ginger, sea moss, manuka honey, cactus flower and elderflower.
“I love so many of the ingredients we use,” adds Emilie. “It’s very hard to pick one. But if I had to, it would have to be bamboo. We use it in so many different forms, and it’s such a workhorse ingredient. Our bamboo lemongrass foaming body scrub is made with powdered bamboo. It’s so unique because bamboo can hold up to 100% of its weight in liquid. We dehydrate the bamboo, grind it into a very fine powder and then immerse that powder into our own lemongrass essential oil/antioxidant formula. It creates such an unbelievable body scrub.”
Last month, the brand debuted a protect-and-restore hair serum with peptides, and plans are in the works for a eucalyptus shower mist and a potential holiday candle collection.
“I’m really interested in things that help people feel better and get relief,” she says. “We have a fantastic product called Muscle Ease gel, and that has been a huge hit for us. I’d love to do more in that realm.”
Nearly three decades later, Emilie has no regrets. “I had no clue what the journey would look like. We recently celebrated the fact that we are in 100,000 hotel rooms. I love that we’re able to provide products that quietly live alongside people. We are in their shower. We are next to their sink. We are on their bedside table. It might sound a little weird, but we touch so many people’s skin, and it’s such an honor to be able to be a part of their daily lives.”
