Get to know your chemist, it could be the start of a beautiful relationship.

Ivana K. is a member of the SCC – Society of Cosmetic Chemists.

Skin care business is a finicky balancing act between the abyss of promise and the pitfalls of expectations, all in the name of beauty. It is also a merciless arena for ideas, big money and colorful ad space. Something different doesn't come along often, other than the seasonal launches of newest products with the hottest new ingredients.

Ivana K. is a cosmetic chemist who does things differently. Originally a pharmacist from Europe, Ivana came to Canada with a dream. The road to her skin care line I₂ was one of single-minded commitment, much like those paths where one's goal is as much about reaching it as is about self-discovery. She has done everything outside of the book and not budging an inch away from her original concept. Namely, she did what it took to develop a skin care line that is totally pure and natural. Not an easy task, even for large teams of professionals.

Ivana began studying old recipes collected by her predecessors while still in Europe, and she refers to  them as her ‘foundations’. These formulas were simple, orientated towards not only beautifying but also promoting healthy skin, for those can only go together. It was then that she laid her ground principles:

• Health and beauty are part of the whole. What promotes the former will benefit the other.

• Knowing very well the adverse effects of synthetic chemicals of different kinds on health in general, she would use exclusively natural ingredients.

• Always look for simple solutions. 

• Regularly check on newest developments in skin care

• Search through previously accumulated knowledge and folk traditions of the world relating to ingredients and beauty methods, they are a bottomless well of wisdom.

What is different about Ivana's products?

There are two stages in her work. Natural ingredients are a pre-requisite. That is where it all begins. She will negotiate with suppliers until she gets what she must. The next step, formulating, is where the magic happens. She's turned most common practices upside down, pulled out and dusted some of the old traditions, used her creativity... all for the purpose of achieving quality. A sine qua non. In short, the secret to a great product is natural ingredients in a perfect formula. She has created over 50 of them.

The excellence and exceeding the standards of ordinary being the true hallmarks of her achievement, to her mean only one thing: all that matters is that her products work. And that fact gets her to move past all obstacles and onto new challenges.

Ivana refers to her work as creative science with a conscience.