The Startup Men’s Skincare Company That’s Changing the Game


These days, skincare companies are a dime a dozen. And with each of them competing for your attention on Instagram, Snapchat, and other social media outlets, it can be a little overwhelming. So how can you separate the legitimate from the gimmicks? We talked to one new Los Angeles-based skincare company to find out.

Nestled in the Silverlake neighborhood of Los Angeles is the latest and greatest from the men’s skincare game: Baker Rye Co. Founded by two California natives with a passion for self-care, Baker Rye is a step above the rest.

From the outset, it’s clear that Baker Rye is selling a high end product. The company’s “skincare starter pack” comes in a luxurious black box with gold lettering. Unboxing it is reminiscent of unboxing an iPad. Each of the products within the set comes in stylish brown glass with black lids. It’s a product set that any man would feel confident having on his bathroom counter. But the packaging isn’t the only thing that Baker Rye excels at.

“It’s about the ingredients,” says Raffi, a co-founder and CEO of the company. “If you take a look at the ingredient list on most products, you’ll see all sorts of crazy ingredients from sheep placenta to horse fat.” But you won’t find these gimmicks in Baker Rye’s products. “Most of those ingredients are included for marketing purposes only,” he says. “They’re added in low quantities just so that a manufacturer can throw it on the label. At best they’re doing nothing. At worst, they’re harmful to your skin, or byproducts of inhumane animal testing.”

And that’s where Baker Rye is different. “We only include what we need, and we only include the best ingredients,” the CEO says. It’s all part of an emerging market of clean skincare—skincare without parabens or other harsh chemical preservatives. It’s under this banner that companies like Baker Rye are changing the game.

The one ingredient that Raffi does buy into? “Hyaluronic acid,” he says emphatically. Seen by some as the holy grail of skincare, hyaluronic acid is a natural acid the body produces to keep skin cells hydrated. “Hydrated skin cells are happy skin cells,” Raffi goes on. “Think of your skin cells like water balloons. The more full they are, the less wrinkling you’ll see. It’s really that simple.”

It’s this no-nonsense type of attitude that seems to have propelled Baker Rye’s successes so far. “We’re not here to sell you a fad that will be a part of your skincare routine for a week or a month, tops. We’re designing the highest quality skincare for men. Quality doesn’t go out of style.”

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