Lori Harvey Talks Skin Care, Rosacea, and Skn by LH

We may just be getting acquainted with Lori Harvey’s skin-care line Skn by LH, which launches on Oct. 22, but for Harvey, it’s been a long time in the making. Even before she started dreaming up the formulas in 2018, the thought of creating her own brand has always been in the back of her mind.

“I’ve been obsessed and in love with all things beauty since I was a little girl,” Harvey told POPSUGAR. “I remember watching my mom, when I was younger, in the mirror doing her skin-care routine and doing her makeup.” When her mom wasn’t looking, she’d even try some of the products on herself.

SKN By LH was initially inspired by Harvey’s own incredibly trying skin-care journey. She categorizes her skin as “extremely sensitive” and she also has rosacea, a common skin condition that causes redness, and bumps in the instances of flare-ups, on the surface of the skin. “It gets agitated by the smallest thing,” Harvey said. It was after she got into modeling that she started to experiment with skin care in an effort to get her skin in check. “I remember using a million different products at a time just to get my skin back healthy,” she said. “I can remember thinking, there has got to be an easier way for me to do this.”

And so, SKN by LH was born — or at least the idea of it was. The creation and formulation phases all leading up to the launch have been what Harvey describes as the most challenging thing she’s ever done. “This is actually my first solo project, and this is my first time launching a business,” she said. Harvey consulted with a few of her mentors in the beauty space prior to delving in herself, but she explained “every challenge they told me that I might run into, I was like, ‘No, that won’t happen to me.'” Everything she’d been forewarned about happened — from shipping delays, to supply chain shortages, and legal hiccups — but she pushed through.

The initial release of SKN By LH includes five products — a cleanser, a toner, a serum, an eye cream, and a moisturizer — and those five products encompass Harvey’s everyday routine, nothing more, nothing less (for now).

“I personally tried every single round of products on my own skin, just to make sure that everything was the best possible quality that I could put out,” she said. She also had some help, as the new entrepreneur previously revealed in an interview that boyfriend Michael B. Jordan and dad Steve Harvey also stepped in as testers.

All of the products are designed to be unisex and suitable for all skin types, “but especially cater to people that have sensitive skin,” she said. They’re also vegan and cruelty-free, which was a nonnegotiable for her.

It’s impossible for Harvey to pick a favorite product (she promises she’s not biased, wink wink) but if she had to pick one to never give up, it’d be the eye cream. “My mom has always preached to me from a young age, ‘Be diligent with your eye cream because prevention is better than correction.'”

Harvey credits her mom for teaching her everything she knows about beauty, and for being her ultimate beauty goals. “I get a lot of my beauty and fashion inspiration from her, [and] I definitely love to get all my little tips and tricks from her.”

She’s always looking to pick up new pieces of beauty knowledge, whether it be from her mom or elsewhere, because educating herself and learning about skin care has been what’s given Harvey the most confidence in herself. “Especially coming off the pandemic, I’ve been really embracing my natural beauty more, and just really been invested in taking care of my skin and making sure that it’s healthy,” she said.

One of her favorite ways to indulge in a little extra pampering and take care of her skin outside of her everyday regimen is by multi-masking. She starts with a clay mask to remove impurities, followed by a vitamin C mask for brightening, and a hydrating mask to round it all out. “My skin the next day literally is glowing,” she said.

While there are no masks in the SKN by LH lineup just yet, considering Harvey’s just getting started, it’s definitely not out of the realm of possibility. According to Harvey, “It’s just the beginning of a growing LH empire.”