We recently had the chance to connect with Daron Hope and have shared our conversation below.
Daron , it’s always a pleasure to learn from you and your journey. Let’s start with a bit of a warmup: What is something outside of work that is bringing you joy lately?
I’m 7.5 months pregnant with my second baby, due just around Thanksgiving! It’s been a journey to get here, after the loss of my first born son, Seamus, in 2023 who sadly passed away at 5 months from an extremely rare neurological condition. The past couple of years have been an intense grief portal that have taught me so much about life and what it is to be human. My ideas of beauty, health and self care have deepened tremendously, and I feel that one gift of this grief is my ability to serve our community with more intention, whole-heartedness and integrity than ever before. These days I am feeling into the joy that continues to co-exist even in the hardest moments, and my heart is very full.
Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
Hi! I’m Daron Hope, the founder + alchemist behind EarthTonics Botanical Skincare in Ojai, CA. Over 15 years ago, my own skin struggles led me to discover the deeper truths of skin health. Blending ancient botanical wisdom with modern skin science, I healed my own skin, then spent a decade in my facial studio helping others do the same.
Our plant-powered formulas are uniquely active and alive, featuring ingredients like mushrooms, floral hydrosols, cold-pressed oils and botanical extracts– all made by hand from our Apothecary in Ojai, CA. You can visit us and shop where the magic is made every Thursday-Saturday from 11am-3pm. Devotees can even bring in their clean empty jars to refill from our freshly made stock.
I’m super excited about our newest formula… years in the making! The Probiotic Boost Serum is a daily dose of skin-loving probiotics in a hydrating serum. Just like the gut, the skin has its own living microbiome—a delicate ecosystem that plays a critical role in barrier function, hydration, and inflammation response. Our live probiotics help reinforce this system by introducing beneficial strains that naturally compete with and displace the organisms linked to irritation, breakouts, and redness. The result is a more resilient, balanced skin environment where healthy flora can thrive. It’s a game changer!
Amazing, so let’s take a moment to go back in time. Who were you before the world told you who you had to be?
I was a barefoot kid in Ojai, picking weeds and making pretend herbal potions. Not much has changed!
What have been the defining wounds of your life—and how have you healed them?
The loss of my son has been a pivotal wound that I’m not sure will ever fully heal, but it has taught me so much. And perhaps one of the most potent shifts is my appreciation for the life I’ve been given and the ways the journey has shaped me, internally and externally. I look at my own face and the faces of my customers so differently now. I can read them and see the subtleties of their emotions etched into the corners their eyes, mouths and noses… it’s their joy, their worry, their grief and everything in between. It is incredibly beautiful to me. I feel an expanded capacity to witness beauty in the wake of everything I’ve been through.
Sure, so let’s go deeper into your values and how you think. What are the biggest lies your industry tells itself?
For many years I struggled with skin that was easily irritated and break-out prone. And, like so many of us, I was bombarded with airbrushed images of perfect skin all throughout my adolescence. It was difficult at first to create a business around one of my deeper insecurities– my skin. It took me many years to decondition from the wounds of toxic beauty standards and patriarchy, to see the beauty in myself and my skin exactly as I am, and embrace my true natural beauty. Working with many clients over the years, I know this is practically universal, especially for women. And what a beautiful thing to be freed from the limits of this perspective!
Many people are waking up to the infinite lies of the beauty industry and it’s toxic standards, and in doing so have decided that caring for your skin is vain and superficial, but with EarthTonics we are committed to re-discovering a definition of beauty and care rooted in self-acceptance, health and vitality. Caring for our skin’s and cultivating luminous health is an act of love. It’s the untangling ourselves from the trap of toxic standards that’s tricky, but it doesn’t mean we have to give up on nourishment, sensuality and beauty in the way we care for ourselves and our skin.
Okay, we’ve made it essentially to the end. One last question before you go. If you retired tomorrow, what would your customers miss most?
We have some DEVOTED customers, some of whom have been using EarthTonics for 10 years or more! I believe that this speaks to the effectiveness of our formulas, but also an ritual element to our tonics, rooted in the combination of fresh botanical ingredients we use, their scents and energies. Each formula carries a unique healing signature that I know many of our customers would be devastated to live without!
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.EarthTonicsSkincare.com
- Instagram: @earthtonics
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/earthtonics
Image Credits
Photographers: Brendan Willing James (IG: @willingphoto, willingphotography.com) and Harvey Hale (IG: @harveybizarre, harveyhale.com)
so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.
