Stephen Strassler was a well known and beloved innovator within the natural skin care industry. As a pioneer of natural skin care, Stephen helped introduce the concept of selling skin care in health food stores. Before Stephen, these stores focused on vitamins and nutrition supplements. But Stephen had a bigger vision and he and Judy went door to door, trade show to trade show, and eventually won over small chains that grew into bigger players.
Stephen’s passion for skin care led him to become the first licensed male esthetician in the U.S.. He and his wife Judith traveled the world seeking out new and interesting skin care ingredients and treatments. What he and Judy discovered they brought back to the U.S.A. and made it their own.
For example, in 1973 the word “Exfoliation” wasn’t known in America. That’s when Reviva launched its initial product – European “Light Skin Peel” – and tried to explain the importance of Exfoliation to the Health Food audience. Today, exfoliants are commonplace, but Reviva’s “Light Skin Peel” formula still remains unduplicated.
Other Reviva “firsts” during the years introduced by Stephen: In 1978, the first with “Elastin,” not only in Health Food Stores, but in the entire USA cosmetics market; also first in Health Food Stores with topical trace minerals and Glycolic Acid; Hyaluronic Acid in our “InterCell” products; Vitamin P for spider veins; and among others, the recent peptide formula for “Nasolabial Folds.”
Stephen never stopped loving skin care nor working diligently to find new solutions to solve skin care concerns. He was still formulating and tinkering up until his passing. And he was particularly proud of his last innovative product, Reviva’s Nasolabial Multipeptide Complex cream.
Reviva Labs lost Stephen in October of 2016 – but we continue to proudly carry on his legacy.
