A Vancouver-based men’s skin care brand called Xtol has set its sights on the U.S. market — less than a year after the line’s introduction.
The 10-item assortment was originally unveiled in February at Esthétique Spa International, a trade show in Vancouver, by parent company Root Source Inc., a personal care products marketer that was cofounded in 2002 by business partners James Crosty and Paul Thompson.
Root Source also produces private label products, hair care, skin care, nutritional supplements, aromatherapy oils and hair restoration products.
Xtol, Root Source’s latest effort, is a play on the word extol, as in “to praise” men who find it important to “retain their youth,” according to the company.
“Yes, they are using skin care,” said Thompson, who has worked in the personal care industry for 20 years. “We have seen this male market emerging.”
Thompson foresees launching Xtol in the U.S. by year’s end, a result of current negotiations with spas and distributors in Colorado, Arizona and Chicago. Xtol is now carried at two locations in Vancouver: at specialty retailer Momentum Advanced Grooming Solutions and at the Fairmont Hotel. It’s also available at the brand’s Web site.
Thompson, who said Xtol sales are running ahead of initial estimates, projects retail sales volume of the brand to reach $1 million by next summer.
Numerous Xtol items are designed to address acne and fight the signs of aging. Key ingredients in the products include plant polypeptides to fight free radicals, hyaluronic acid to retain moisture and vitamin phosphates and matrixyl to stimulate the production of collagen and elastin.
“Each product has at least one or a significant combination of these [ingredients],” Thompson said. “If a man is going to use skin care, he wants rapid, immediate results.”
Xtol is divided into three ranges, Cleanse & Exfoliate, Moisturize & Condition and Specialized Therapies & Serums.
Product names play off of the Xtol moniker. For instance, the Cleanse & Exfoliate range features Xcel, an acne-fighting foaming face cleanser, priced at $24.95 for 2.7 oz. Xpose, a face and body exfoliator, is priced at $59.95 for 8.45 oz., and Xhilerate, a gel body cleanser, is priced at $24.95 for 8.45 oz.
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In the Moisturize & Condition group are three more products: an antiacne face moisturizer called Xact, $75.95 for 2.7 oz.; a hand and body moisturizer called Xtend, $34.95 for 8.45 oz., and Xpress, an antiwrinkle face formula, $69.95 for 1 oz.
There are four products in the Specialized Therapies & Serums range: Xtreme antioxidant serum for the face, $78.95 for 1.4 oz.; Xtract, an antiacne serum, $77.95 for 1.4 oz.; Xtra, an cream eye, $67.95 for 1 oz., and Xpel shave cream, $34.95 for 8.45 oz.
A serum to address hair loss may be added to the product mix toward the end of next year. However, there are “no particular plans” to immediately expand the initial line, said Thompson. “At the outset, [Xtol] was designed to have 10 multifunctional products, specifically because men don’t want a complicated line.”