Donna Howlett, an Australian native, turned an almost tragic event at age 17 into inspiration for her very own skincare line. 

On holiday one summer with her friends after a long day of water skiing, Donna went to use an old-fashioned gas stove. It was the type of stove that requires that you turn the gas on and then light a match to light the burner. Donna fell asleep waiting for the oven to heat up and the flame had blown out but the gas was still on. Half asleep she turned the gas off and back on and lit a match and the combustion from the oven blew up in her face leaving her with third-degree burns all over her face, ¼ of her hair was burned off, and temporarily lost her eyesight. 

It took over an hour to get to the hospital and the pain from the burns was quickly increasing. Trying to minimize the pain Donna’s friends kept a wet towel over her face the entire journey. After her parents were notified, Donna’s dad drove over 5 hours to get to the hospital. Upon arrival, the doctors notified her dad that Donna would incur severe lifelong scarring from the sustained burns.