When they met in Miami, Myriam was 19 and Eric was 26. They each had a
passion for natural health and they shared French roots (she grew up in Paris,
he in Casablanca). They both were vegan. That was a rarity in those days. But
they had each experienced food sensitivities in their youth.

Myriam's background was in the spa industry. Eric had a proven record of
business experience. And together they nurtured the elusive spark of the
entrepreneur. Seeking new opportunities, they moved to New York City in 1995.
Myriam began to study Herbology, Eastern medicine and aromatherapy. Eric joined a
small company distributing English shaving products for men.

In their apartment's small kitchen, Myriam created a special oil for Eric to
use before shaving—like many men, he'd been having shaving irritations. The
next morning, Eric told Myriam: "That was the best shave of my life."

In a burst of couple’s creativity, a new shaving brand was born. They
decided to sell their car to start the business. They used the proceeds to rent a
tiny sliver of a shop on Manhattan’s Upper East Side. The interior (on a strict
budget) was impeccably designed by Myriam. In the fall of 1996, they opened
for business and the sign outside read The Art of Shaving.

Myriam was an early pioneer of green chemistry. So when they began to
create a complete line of natural shaving products, she knew where to look.
She selected the highest-quality plant-based ingredients and pure essential
oils. And imported them from countries around the world. Their product
formulas didn't contain the harsh chemicals commonly found in shaving
products. Meanwhile, Eric led the company’s strong business growth. Within
ten years, The Art of Shaving became the leading upscale men’s grooming
brand in America.

This shaving upstart caught the attention of Gillette. That shaving giant,
part of Procter & Gamble, acquired their company in 2009. P&G asked Eric to
continue in his role as CEO while Myriam served as a consultant to P&G's
research team. They stayed on for two years to help guide their brand.

Once they became free agents, Myriam and Eric gained independence—
and plenty of time. They could experience the joys of raising their two young
boys. And, without the distraction of running a business, they found time for
further study. They expanded their wellness studies of nutrition, fitness, meditation,
sleep, and home detoxification.

They were always dissatisfied with brands that used toxic chemicals in
products. But now a new wave of “clean,” natural brands began flooding the
market—all full of good intentions. But those products fell short of Myriam
and Eric’s expectations for purity and efficacy. And the brand labels were
often misleading. (Lack of transparency is a major sin in the M & E
philosophy.) And so—once again—the couple set out to create a brand that
would give consumers a better experience. It would also be another innovative
brand intended to shake up an industry’s status quo.

The objective of Ingredients® was to raise the bar on purity. This new
brand would redefine what safe products should be.

Their definition was simple—yet not easy to achieve. The goal: products
made with 100% pure plant-based ingredients. They would not be diluted with
water. There would be no hidden fillers or chemical preservatives. For
maximum efficacy, they would limit their formulas to the fewest ingredients—
and deliver them in high dosages.

Then they did something radically transparent. It was something no other
brand had ever done before. They printed the name of every ingredient—along
with the exact percentage used—on the front of the bottles. Myriam and Eric
want you to know exactly what each product contains.

It was this obsessive focus on natural plant-based ingredients that
inspired the company name.