Vanilla Bourbon. Caramel Brûlée. Peppermint. Those are some of the scents and flavors Scott Kingsley infuses into the organic beard, skin, and hair products he creates through Lancaster Beard Company, the business he founded in 2017.

Kingsley ’02 Berks, who last shaved on Aug. 31, 2014, says he was inspired to launch Lancaster Beard Company because he didn’t like any of the organic beard care options on the market. He and his wife, Vee, had learned about how chemicals from skin care products can enter the pores when you sweat. At Vee’s suggestion, Kingsley began researching how to make his own balms, and after six months of creating micro test batches, he landed on a blend he liked. With encouragement from his barber, he launched his company on Etsy, and he later expanded it online. LBC has expanded from beard balms to offer additional hair and skin products for men and women.

The beard, lip, and tattoo balms, along with mustache wax and pomade, are handmade by Kingsley in small batches of 16 to 60 ounces per batch. The process, he says, is relatively simple: The ingredients—organic shea butter, coconut oil, beeswax, and other organic oils—are melted and mixed. When the balm is still hot, it gets poured into tin packaging, and once it’s cooled, labels get applied and the products are ready to go.

Kingsley sells his products at markets in Lancaster County, Pa., directly to barbers and other retailers, and online. Lancaster Beard Company has also partnered with pro athletes including European soccer players and a former Tour de France cyclist.

“I have always created products I wanted to use,” Kingsley says, “so it has been humbling to see how much people from around the world love our handcrafted, organic products, and all of the support for our small business.” —Ryan Simonovich