Behind the Brand: Hugh & Grace, "Better-than-Clean" Skin Care with Hormone-Safe Ingredients

Sara Jensen, Co-CEO and Co-Founder of Hugh & Grace.

During her 14-year struggle to have a family, Sara Jensen, Co-CEO and Co-Founder of Hugh & Grace, discovered that hormone-disrupting chemicals were found in most personal care products, including those considered clean and non-toxic. These chemicals can affect everything from your skin to your quality of sleep, as well as other aspects of your health.

With her husband, Jensen set out to rethink the self-care industry and offer a “better than clean” skincare option with high-performing products that address hormone safety. We caught up with Jensen to learn more about the story behind Hugh & Grace and what you should know about hormone-disrupting chemicals. 

Can you share a little about your journey in the industry and what led you to launch Hugh & Grace? 

My husband Ben and I have been married for 19 years and we spent 14 of those years trying to get pregnant unsuccessfully. We were diagnosed with unexplained infertility and spent everything we had on top doctors across the country to try and get pregnant.  We did everything we could including acupuncture, yoga, diet changes, therapy, and multiple rounds of IVF. You name it and we were doing it.  

During that time my hormones were a mess. I felt awful, I was moody, and I had terrible skin. I had cystic acne, pregnancy mask, and dark spots. It really impacted my self-esteem—not only was I dealing with the repeated failure every month of not getting pregnant, but I was also looking and feeling terrible. During one of my rounds of IVF, the doctor told me that I should avoid eating sweet potatoes because they can have an estrogenic effect and could alter my hormone levels. While sweet potatoes are healthy for you, at the time the doctors were manipulating my hormones to be very at specific levels and I was getting my hormone levels tested daily. 

This triggered something for us. We thought, if sweet potatoes can impact our hormones, what else was out there? We learned about chemicals called hormone-disrupting chemicals that are found in most personal care products, including clean and non-toxic products. These chemicals are linked to autism, obesity, Alzheimer's, infertility, cancer, ADHD, and many more diseases.

The incredible end to our story is that my husband’s sister volunteered to be our surrogate and gave birth to our son Hugh, and my sister volunteered to be our second surrogate and gave birth to our daughter Grace. 

We received a lot of help during our infertility struggle and a lot of people sacrificed to help us achieve our dreams of having children. We knew a lot about a topic that is just now being talked about and decided we needed to create a solution to a large and growing problem.

Hormones regulate your skin, weight, libido, sleep, and ultimately, your health. Hormone-disrupting chemicals are relevant to everyone. While on maternity leave with my daughter, I resigned from my job at the University of Southern California to start Hugh & Grace. 

We are outsiders to the skincare space but our goal is to rethink the skincare industry. Our products perform amazingly, are gender-neutral, and safe for the entire family. 

Hugh & Grace Collection.

What inspired the name Hugh & Grace? 

The name Hugh means heart, mind, and spirit, and Grace means goodness, generosity, and love—everything that brought us our children through surrogacy. We decided to name our company Hugh & Grace after our children, who are our inspiration. 

Tell us more about your collection and what makes it unique. Is there anything you want people to know about the ingredients used in your products? 

The average woman puts 168 chemicals on her skin every day and the average man puts on about 85 chemicals a day. What you put on your body gets in your body—I found this out during my struggle with infertility. I was using hormone creams that would absorb through my skin and go into my bloodstream. We also see this with the way that nicotine patches work.  

Hormone disruptors are very prevalent in personal care items like skin care, because they are not regulated by the FDA. Your skin is also your largest organ. So, we thought what better way to introduce people to this issue than to replace their skin care with products that are free from hormone-disrupting chemicals?

We are the first self-care company that is focused on being hormone-safe. Hormone-safe means that we do not include ingredients in our products or packaging that contain chemicals that can interfere with your hormones. Each product excludes known hormone disruptors and is also formulated to help detox, repair, and protect your skin from toxins and hormone disruptors.

We call our products “Better Than Clean,” which means they are better performing and better for you. Clean beauty does not mean hormone-safe. Some of the ingredients in “clean beauty” may be considered clean, but in fact contain hormone disruptors. There is no FDA definition of “clean” and thus it has become a murky market. Therefore, we don’t stop at clean. Our products are also high-performing. 

We realize people use skincare products in order to improve their skin, so we wanted to make sure that customers will see real results like hydration, anti-aging, anti-inflammation, brightening, even skin tone, and clear skin after using Hugh & Grace. 

Are there any ingredients that people might be surprised to learn are hormone disruptors?

Hormone disruptors can be found even in natural products—tea tree oil and lavender are known hormone disruptors. We realize hormone disruptors are prevalent and we will never be able to avoid them, but we can make simple choices that can help us live healthier and cleaner lives. 

Do you have a signature product? What's your favorite product from the line? 

We have four products and my favorite is our Night Serum ($90). It’s also my husband’s favorite product—every night I apply it for him in bed while we talk and wind down. My skin has never been better! Who would have thought my skin in my 40s would be better than in my 20s? 

What's next for the brand? 

Right now we are focused on skin care, but we aren’t stopping there. We will be moving into other wellness and self-care items. This is only the beginning for Hugh & Grace!

[Images courtesy of Hugh & Grace]

Lizzy Sherman is an award-winning digital content writer/editor. She has been a featured guest speaker at Cal State University Northridge, Digital LA and The National Association of Audience Marketing Professionals. When she's not writing, Lizzy enjoys yoga and playing guitar. Follow her on Instagram: @zillizy