Andalou Naturals

Stacy Kelly Egide and Mark A. Egide

Stacey Kelly Egide and Mark A. Egide.

WITH THE CURRENT focus on a healthy, clean lifestyle, many companies boast about the ingredients in their products, or lack of ingredients, for that matter. For Stacey Kelly Egide and Mark A. Egide, co-CEOs and founders of Andalou Naturals, that’s been the name of the game for more than 30 years. In 1989 they launched Beauty Without Cruelty, a cruelty-free cosmetics line, following in 1999 with Avalon Organics, the first certified organic personal care company, which successfully lobbied California to legislate organic standards for the industry. Stacey, a graduate of San Rafael High School, and Mark, a Terra Linda Trojan, have built their lives and careers in Marin; Mark was general manager of the now-defunct Carme brands and Stacey got her start with local independent health food stores Bon Air and Oasis Natural Foods. Through the years their brands, including Alba Botanica, Alba Hawaiian, Sonoma Soap Company and the San Francisco Soap Company, became household names for natural product enthusiasts. Today Andalou Naturals with Fruit Stem Cell Science is the best-selling natural skin care brand nationwide. PHILOSOPHY Andalou Naturals champions Non-GMO Project verified, certified organic, fair trade, gluten free, cruelty free, and certified vegetarian and vegan. Joining forces with the Non-GMO Project in 2012, Andalou Naturals became the first beauty brand to achieve 100 percent Non- GMO Project verification. THE SCOOP The name Andalou, which means “path of light,” reflects the company’s mission to foster good things in the world. All profits from its A Path of Light hand creams, made with organic and fair-trade shea butter, benefit education, equality and empowerment. BEYOND MARIN Available in more than 22 countries and carried by retailers like Whole Foods Market, Sprouts, Pharmaca, Target and Ulta Beauty, the brand is now sold in more than 11,000 stores. Recently Andalou Naturals launched two new product lines: Quenching, a Whole Foods Market exclusive, and Beauty 2 GO, facial treatments that include single-use face mask pods, Hydro Serum sheet masks and exfoliating Konjac beauty sponges. WHAT THEY SAY “Marin is beauty in action [one of Andalou Naturals’ slogans],” Stacey says. “Our open space perfectly embodies why we should all value knowing where our ingredients come from and the farmers who grow them.”

Andalou Naturals products


Kasia Pawlowska

Kasia Pawlowska loves words. A native of Poland, Kasia moved to the States when she was seven. The San Francisco State University creative writing graduate went on to write for publications like the San Francisco Bay Guardian and KQED Arts among others prior to joining the Marin Magazine staff. Topics Kasia has covered include travel, trends, mushroom hunting, an award-winning series on social media addiction and loads of other random things. When she’s not busy blogging or researching and writing articles, she’s either at home writing postcards and reading or going to shows. Recently, Kasia has been trying to branch out and diversify, ie: use different emojis. Her quest for the perfect chip is never-ending.