Clean Beauty: Danielle Gronich and Kayleigh Christina Of CLEARSTEM On 5 Things You Need To Create a Successful Clean Beauty Brand

An Interview With Wanda Malhotra

Surround Yourself Around The Right People: The clean beauty space is saturated, so ensuring that you surround yourself with those that support you and want the best for you will allow the business to have a strong foundation.

The clean beauty movement is transforming the beauty industry by emphasizing the importance of safe, non-toxic ingredients. Consumers are increasingly concerned about what they put on their skin, leading to a demand for transparency and high standards in beauty products. As a part of this series, I had the distinct pleasure of interviewing Danielle Gronich and Kayleigh Christina.

Danielle Gronich: Danielle Gronich is the Co-founder, Formulator, and CEO of CLEARSTEM. After battling chronic cystic acne for over a decade, Danielle became a Licensed Clinical Esthetician and established the San Diego Acne Clinic, earning the title The Acne Guru® for her expertise in treating patients of all ages, ethnicities, and skin types.

Kayleigh Christina: Kayleigh Christina is the Co-Founder and Chief Marketing Officer of CLEARSTEM. As a Certified Holistic Nutritionist, published author, speaker, and investor/advisor to health-centric brands, she’s on a mission to energize and inspire others in their personal and professional evolution.

Thank you so much for joining us! Before we dive in, our readers would love to “get to know you” a bit better. Can you tell us a bit about your ‘backstory’?

Danielle Gronich: With over 10 years of personal experience battling cystic acne, including three rounds of accutane, I channeled my own struggles into empowering others to heal their skin from within by opening up the San Diego Acne Clinic. Through a comprehensive approach, I achieved a 98% success rate in clearing my patients’ skin at the San Diego Acne Clinic. One of those patients was my co-founder, Kayleigh, who had her own journey with cystic acne in her mid-twenties.

Kayleigh Christina: After meeting with Danielle and embracing her holistic approach to skin wellness, we were able to clear my skin and find a renewed sense of well-being within 2 months. After this great success, Danielle and I really connected through our shared passion for holistic health and quickly discovered the unpleasant truth about conventional skincare for acne and aging. We found that most acne products contained hormone-disrupting ingredients, while anti-aging products were filled with pore-clogging fillers. Determined to provide a safer and more effective alternative, we joined forces to create CLEARSTEM, the first clean brand that targets both acne and aging simultaneously.

Can you share with us the most interesting story from your career? Can you tell us what lessons or ‘takeaways’ you learned from that?

Kayleigh Christina: One of the most interesting aspects upon entering the clean beauty and skincare industry was discovering how highly connected nutrition and holistic wellness can be to the root cause of acne — this was truly what fueled my passion for CLEARSTEM. After consulting with Danielle for my own acne journey, we found 11 different acne triggers and after eliminating these triggers, my skin was completely healed after 2 months with no scar damage. The topic of nutrition and acne is extremely linked, and it was eye opening to discover that my everyday foods like dairy, eggs, and gluten were a root cause of my breakouts. Danielle and I learned that many who struggle with acne are unaware of this connection, which is why we knew that in addition to offering non-toxic and non pore-clogging skincare products, we needed to showcase the importance of nutrition to acne to our consumers in the future. In October 2023, we developed the Acne Lab Test, which is designed to identify consumer’s unique root cause(s) of acne and provide a personalized treatment plan through a blood test. Through this development, we’ve been able to educate consumers about their root causes of acne, specifically showcasing the importance of food and its link to skincare.

You are a successful individual. Which three character traits do you think were most instrumental to your success? Can you please share a story or example for each?

Danielle Gronich: Although there are many character traits that are essential to be successful, the 3 that were instrumental to our success was transparency, adaptability, and confidence.

• Transparency: Because Kayleigh and I had our own struggle with acne, it was important to showcase our real results with our community due to the fact that acne is extremely debilitating and vulnerable so we wanted to ensure we were transparent with our own journeys. I think we created a larger sense of trust with our CLEARSTEM community because we are able to relate to the frustration when dealing with acne, so we can truly connect on a personal level with each of our customers.
• Adaptability: We understand that there is no “one size fits all” when it comes to skincare, so it has been crucial to develop offerings for everyone. In 2022, we launched our best selling non-toxic supplement, MINDBODYSKIN, which is designed to target the main root causes of acne simultaneously. Despite the raving reviews we received after launching the product for several months, we also noticed that many of our customers were unable to take MINDBODYSKIN due to the ingredient of 5-HTP. We immediately knew that we had to create an offering that allowed everyone to heal their acne, so soon after, we launched MINDBODYSKIN 2, the same supplement but without 5-HTP in the formula. Through this adaptation, we were able to make our life-changing acne supplement more inclusive and accessible for all.
• Confidence: Launching CLEARSTEM into a new category of anti-aging and anti-acne took Kayleigh and I a lot of time to perfect, however, our confidence in our expertise and within each other is really what led to our success. We knew that entering this category was going against the status quo as a lot of previous consumer experiences surrounding acne lead to prescribed medications like accutane, birth control, or spironolactone. It was important for us both to trust our own expertises throughout this journey and build confidence in our ability to help those struggling with acne in a non-toxic format.

Are you working on any exciting new projects now? How do you think that might help people?

Kayleigh Christina: We’re constantly innovating with exciting new launches in the pipeline for CLEARSTEM. Although we can’t say too much, we’re always looking at our community’s feedback for what they want to see next while also keeping in mind timeless skin care products. Our next launch is all about the buzzy ingredient of hypochlorous acid!

Ok, thank you for all that. Now let’s shift to the main focus of our interview. What inspired your brand to focus on clean beauty, and how do you define ‘clean’ in the context of your products?

Kayleigh Christina: After my personal journey of dealing with cystic acne, it was difficult to find one skincare brand that didn’t contain pore-clogging ingredients. This is really what inspired Danielle and I to pave our own path in launching CLEARSTEM where every product could be trusted as non pore-clogging. The term “clean beauty” seems to be everywhere these days — in magazines, on social media, and on skincare product labels, but to CLEARSTEM clean beauty is all about cutting out common harmful ingredients like phthalates, paraben, sulfates, and synthetic fragrance that are often found in a skincare product and makeup. We were inspired to create products that are not only clean, but can be applicable to those that struggle with acne.

How do you ensure the ingredients in your products meet clean beauty standards, and what criteria do you use to select them?

Danielle Gronich: As the formulator for our CLEARSTEM products, I ensure that each ingredient is carefully selected to not only meet the clean beauty standard, but also has no pore-clogging ingredients. This can take years to perfect, which I especially encountered upon launching our recent haircare offerings: the RESTORATIVE Shampoo and REPAIR Conditioner. This hair line took six years to create, and over two years to formulate, due to our high ingredient standards for CLEARSTEM because there are so many pore-clogging ingredients that are common in hair products, like shea butter and coconut oil for example, and we specifically formulated our shampoo and conditioner without these so it was crucial for us to conduct in-depth research to find alternatives. Additionally, we collaborate with multiple lists that include EWG, Credo Clean, Sephora Clean, Whole Foods Clean to establish our own baseline of CLEARSTEM Clean. This is very important to us as there is a lot of fear generated from “clean vs not clean,” so we are here to create functional products that actually work and are also good for your body and hormones.

What steps do you take to educate consumers about the importance of clean ingredients and how they can make informed choices when purchasing beauty products?

Kayleigh Christina: Over the years, we’ve built such a loyal CLEARSTEM community on social media, so it’s been crucial for us to share our insights online to ensure our knowledge is being widespread. However, one of our favorite ways to inform our community when purchasing beauty products is our pore-clogging ingredient checker on our CLEARSTEM website. This is a simple way for users to copy and paste the ingredient list of any product (hair care, makeup, skincare, etc.) into the checker and hit the “check” button, which will then instantly show a list of which exact ingredients have pore-cloggers.

What innovative or unconventional ingredients are you most excited about in the clean beauty space, and why?

Danielle Gronich: One ingredient that I’m really excited about in the clean beauty space is magnesium. The ingredient is very well known in the wellness industry, however, it’s slowly being introduced into skincare and beauty as it is an essential mineral that hydrates and energizes your skin, maintaining its hydration and elasticity while balancing it to keep your complexion glowing all day.

Can you share a story where switching to clean beauty ingredients led to a significant and unexpected benefit for your customers?

Kayleigh Christina: Like Danielle previously mentioned, curating a hair care line with non pore-clogging ingredients opened CLEARSTEM into a new category while staying true to our ethos. The acne community struggles with chest and back acne in addition to their face, and many consumers aren’t aware that their haircare could be the main culprit. As we were researching alternative ingredients for the formulas, we discovered that 90% of hair products contain pore-cloggers and a majority of the options that did not contain pore-cloggers were extremely drying for the hair. Through this discovery and demand from our CLEARSTEM community to offer hair care, Danielle and I knew that the process of formulating these products would take so much time but was essential for those struggling with acne. Post launch, we’ve seen such life-changing feedback from consumers, which has continued to motivate us to jump into unexpected and new categories in the future. For example, sharing a few customer reviews:

• “This makes my hair so soft and my acne around my hairline has improved so much!”
• “Instantly my stubborn bacne cleared up which I’ve been battling for years!!”
• “I am a week into using this product and am already noticing such a huge difference! I used to have to wash my hair every other day because it would get so greasy. Now, it’s thicker and I can go longer without washing!”

Based on your research or experience, can you please share your “5 Things You Need To Create a Successful Clean Beauty Brand”?

Kayleigh Christina:

1 . Trust The Process: In the beginning stages of CLEARSTEM, Danielle and I were the only ones working together for two years on the brand while maintaining our own full time jobs. On my own time, I would attend events, send out emails, post on social media, and more to really get CLEARSTEM started and raise brand awareness. Fast forward 7 years later, we’ve built a business that took years and years to create but through trusting the process (even when it was hard) we were able to form something truly meaningful.

2 . Stay In Your “Zone Of Genius”: Danielle and I integrate our own expertise online through social media, podcasts, events, and more, so speaking our knowledge has been so key in showcasing why CLEARSTEM stands out in a saturated industry. We’re continuing to ensure that our knowledge and insights are at the forefront of who we are as a brand.

3 . Work-Life Balance Is Key: Being involved in the wellness space the topic of “work-life balance” is such a given for us. We truly believe that prioritizing your physical, mental, and emotional health will allow your passions and business to prosper.

4 . Expanding Your Personal Mindset: Your business is ultimately an extension of you, and the more you expand your thinking in the realm of beauty, skincare, and wellness, the more you will expand your business. I truly believe that opening your personal mindset creates more intentional and effective moments to grow the business.

5 . Surround Yourself Around The Right People: The clean beauty space is saturated, so ensuring that you surround yourself with those that support you and want the best for you will allow the business to have a strong foundation.

How do you foresee the clean beauty movement evolving in the next decade, and what role do you see your brand playing in that future?

Danielle Gronich: Throughout the last few years, I’ve continued to see consumers become more educated about clean beauty because of social media and their own research. I think the clean beauty movement will evolve by including more personalized approaches to skincare, through customized routines or formulas for consumers. CLEARSTEM’s Acne Lab Test and product offerings will play a huge role in this movement as we’ve already developed options for those specifically struggling with acne.

What is the best way for our readers to continue to follow your work online?

Kayleigh Christina: To learn more, you can visit clearstemskincare.com and follow @clearstemskincare on Instagram. You can also follow me on Instagram, @kayleigh.christina, as well as Danielle, @danielle.the.acne.guru.

This was very inspiring. Thank you so much for the time you spent on this. We wish you only continued success.

About the Interviewer: Wanda Malhotra is a wellness entrepreneur, lifestyle journalist, and the CEO of Crunchy Mama Box, a mission-driven platform promoting conscious living. CMB empowers individuals with educational resources and vetted products to help them make informed choices. Passionate about social causes like environmental preservation and animal welfare, Wanda writes about clean beauty, wellness, nutrition, social impact and sustainability, simplifying wellness with curated resources. Join Wanda and the Crunchy Mama Box community in embracing a healthier, more sustainable lifestyle at CrunchyMamaBox.com.