Meet Graydon Moffat, vegan chef turned superfood-inspired beauty brand founder.

Graydon Moffat is the founder and superfood mixologist behind Graydon Skincare, a leading indie beauty brand based out of Toronto. Her previous culinary skills as a vegan chef and background in holistic wellness inspired her unique take on skincare — she started formulating topical products with superfood ingredients, resulting in a powerful and natural line of face, body, and hair products. At Graydon Skincare, you’ll find only plant powered ingredients including botanical retinol, collagen, peptides, vitamin C, probiotics, and even gemstone crystals. All of Graydon’s products are hypoallergenic, non-irritating, vegan and cruelty-free.

My first job ever was… Working at Canada’s Wonderland. It was a humbling experience and gave me an appreciation for customer service. 

I decided to be an entrepreneur because… I guess I’ve always had an entrepreneurial spirit. Before I started Graydon Skincare, I ran a small vegan meal delivery business called Divine Dishes. I created mouth-watering, nutrient-dense meals and delivered them to my customers. 

I founded Graydon Skincare because… I was mixing up superfood skincare creations in my kitchen and sharing them with my friends, yoga students and an esthetician friend of mine. That friend used my “eccentric smoothies” on her clients and noticed impactful results. That’s when I had my aha moment and realized that I could take my superfood skincare to the next level.

I’m passionate about clean beauty because… Skincare empowers people to look and feel their best. Through clean beauty, I have the opportunity to disrupt conventional beauty and make beauty better. I’m so proud to be one of the small companies that inspires the beauty giants to follow suit. That is meaningful work to me. 

My proudest accomplishment is… As an entrepreneur, I’ve accomplished many things that I’m proud of. I’d say my proudest accomplishment so far is aligning with one of Canada’s favourite dragons, Arlene Dickinson. 

“I had a lot of fear about the cost associated with bringing people on board. Eventually, I had to have faith that my ideas and products were good enough and I didn’t need to be afraid of the financial commitment required to build a team.”

My biggest setback was… Trying to do this on my own. I started out as a one woman team, attempting to do everything myself. Starting and growing a business on your own is not an easy task. 

I overcame it by… Hiring my first employee. I had a lot of fear about the cost associated with bringing people on board. Eventually, I had to have faith that my ideas and products were good enough and I didn’t need to be afraid of the financial commitment required to build a team. 

My advice for aspiring entrepreneurs is… Don’t try to do it all on your own. Hire people who can help you and have faith in your business!

The one piece of advice I give that I have trouble following myself is… Make time for self-care! It’s so important but self-care always seems to take a backseat to other things that we think are more important. I have to continually remind myself that taking the time to relax in the tub, do yoga or meditate is beneficial in the long run. 

The thing I love most about what I do is… It’s simple; I love giving people good skin days, every day! 

If I were to pick one thing that has helped me succeed, it would be… Besides hiring, networking has helped me succeed. Feeling the support of other entrepreneurs and like minded people is helpful even if they’re in another industry because all small businesses tend to have similar challenges. 

If you googled me, you still wouldn’t know… Many years ago, I climbed Mount Kilimanjaro. 

I stay inspired by… My kitchen. All Graydon Skincare products are inspired by superfoods and every single one started as a concoction that I whipped up with my trusty blender. 

The future excites me because… I can see the changes in beauty happening! The divide between clean, indie brands and conventional, legacy brands is starting to converge and beauty will be a better place with more transparency around ingredients and packaging.

My next step is… Continuing with product innovation! I love blending superfood ingredients and finding the perfect balance between ingredient efficacy and cosmetic chemistry to develop clinically proven products that nourish the skin.