Life & StyleTuesday, Dec. 02, 2008

Nurses bring their dreams for natural skin care line to reality in Mount PleasantBy ROBIN COWIE NALEPA/rnalepa@thestate.comPhotos by: KIm KIm FOSTER-TOBIN/kkfoster@thestate.com

Spend a few minutes with Nan Brown and Lil Bogden and they will convince you beauty is more than skin deep — it goes beyond the superficial to believing in what you do, dreaming big and taking action.

The friends and business partners developed their own successful skin care line, L’Athene, based in mount Pleasant and focused on a holistic philosophy:

“Do the best for yourself in all ways. Your body will work with you to be as healthy and beautiful as possible.”

The dynamic duo started their venture in 1997. Brown and Bogden worked together as burn unit nurses at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore.

During that time, Brown began to experience unusual facial breakouts and skin flaking.

In hopes of combating the problem she product-hopped with little success. Thenshe went for her first facial. She left with a second-degree burn.

“Finally, we picked up boxes to see what we were putting on our skin,” said Brown.

What they found caused them great concern — propylene glycol found in antifreeze, sodium laurel sulfates used as engine degreasers and petroleum products, just to name a few.

Bogden and Brown had trained not only as nurses but also as certified aromatherapists. They knew the healing power found in nature. Yet it appeared most skin care companies had yet to grasp the concept.

They decided to develop a healthy and natural alternative, getting ahead of a trend much more prevalent now. Brown and Bogden spent hours at the library, reading textbooks, case studies and photocopying information (no Google to help them at the time).

“We were like Sherlock Holmes,” said Bogden.

They also assembled a panel of experts to help their development, including a cosmetic chemist and an herbalist.

“It’s interesting when you have a passion how people fall into your path,” said Bogden.

They purchased items from health food stores and mixed batches in Brown’s kitchen sink. They tested items on fellow nurses.

“They didn’t hold back on feedback and helped us tweak along,” said Brown.

It took more than three years of hard work and debt (“a few hundred thousand” from mortgaged homes and loans from friends and families) to move from the idea to the bottles filled with proven vitamins, minerals, fatty acids and antioxidants.

“Everything is natural,” said Brown. “We chose our ingredients not only for their quality, but because they were correct for challenged skin, aging skin.”

Brown and Bogden separately vacationed in the Charleston area in 2000. It made such an impression they decided it would be the perfect headquarters for their new venture — named for the goddess of wisdom, health, reason and purity. (Later they were surprised to learn the name also meant “nurse” in Sanskrit.)

Lil Bogden, left, and Nan Brown in the shipping room behind their office at L’Athene natural skin care products in mount Pleasant.

In 2001, department store giant Nordstrom invested in L’Athene and exclusively distributed the 99 percent natural skincare line until 2004, according to Bogden and Brown.

They then shifted their focus back to their medical background, marketing their products to dermatologists, doctors offices and medical spas.

In a nondescript office park in Mount Pleasant, Bogden and Brown greet guests with warm smiles and radiant complexions making it difficult to guess at their ages, 47 and “early 50s” respectively.

Lil Bogden’s husband, Marty, taps away on a computer. Orders are fulfilled in a back room stocked with facial cleansers, serums, moisturizers, exfoliants.

In Bogden’s office, photos of Paula Deen, Diane Sawyer and Oprah inspire from a vision board.

A panda picture is taped up behind Bogden’s chair.

Several photos of iconic fashion designer Coco Chanel appear around the room.

“She believed in the best for women,” said Bogden.

Yet, L’Athene isn’t just for women.

Recently, Jenny Lynn Fogle with Palmetto Specialty Products worked with L’Athene to develop a treatment regimen for maintenance professionals.

“I’ve seen some horrible hand problems with the maintenance guys, any type of maintenance,” said Fogle, who distributes industrial lubricants, chemicals and supplies. “They have cracked, open hands, bleeding, chapped to the point they can’t even hold a tool their hands are so messed up.”

Fogle obtained L’Athene samples for a trial run on the hands of men working at the Florence bus shop.

“It worked and it worked quickly,” said Fogle. “I was surprised. The men were amazed. You could see a significant difference in their hands.”

Within three days of using the L’Athene products the men experienced major improvements in their skin.

“That’s not a beauty story,” said Brown. “It’s about helping.”

And helping is what Brown and Bogden believe in.

“As nurses we are the teachers of the hospital.” Now the women teach other women how to care for their skin and care for their bodies from the inside out in a program offered frequently at hospitals and physician offices.

They promote healthful living, encouraging others to know what they are putting into their bodies and how their bodies work, from aging to hormonal changes.

“There are simple choices you can make, your body will move to a healthy state,” said Brown.

The business is quite healthy as well. L’Athene sales were up 30 percent from 2006 to 2007 with continued growth expected this year, according to Brown.

Yet, running a company has its challenges. The former nurses said their careers in health care prepared them for the inevitable headaches of business ownership.

“When you’re a nurse, you’ve done it all, you don’t get rattled.”

But they did at times get tired and worn down.

During those times the pair said they took their own advice and sought balance and fun through yoga and their own Saturday “bridge club,” walking with friends five miles across the Ravenel Bridge.

“There’s a lot of hard work in making your dream come true,” said Brown. “Dream and action. Dream and action.”

Sample starter kits of the L’Athene line that Bogden and Brown use during demonstrations and trade shows.

Carolina Smith, left, and Stephanie Sahlmann, of Charleston, put together sample boxes and kits for promotional seminars.

The L’Athene product line.