Have Questions?

We pride ourselves on our relentless dedication to formulating organic skincare products of the highest quality, with ingredients sourced from prestigious artisan distilleries in Europe and beyond. When it comes to natural, quality equates to results. We don’t care for developing products that focus on scents, colors and fleeting trends. We create each product with time-honored, science backed botanicals that have a proven track record of providing powerful skin benefits. Our formulas are inspired by the ancient skin care knowledge and practices of herbalism, aromatherapy, and modern day cosmetic science.

We are an ingredient focused company that relies on plants to deliver results. Therefor it is vital that our ingredients are grown using organic farming practices to ensure the highest quality end product. Each ingredient we use that starts as a seed is certified organic. We take great care in sourcing ingredients of the highest quality, which means some of our ingredients also fall under terms such as wild-harvested and biodynamic. There are certain cosmetic ingredients that cannot be certified organic, such as cosmetic clays and vitamin E. Our Vitamin E is derived from sunflower oil and non-GMO. We also never use more than 1% Vitamin E oil concentration in our formulas.

Root Science products are labeled Organic. What does this mean?

Under USDA/NOP regulation, cosmetic and body care products may fall under 4 organic labeling categories:

“100% Organic” – products must contain (excluding water and salt) only organically produced ingredients.

“Organic” – products must contain at least 95% organically produced ingredients (excluding water and salt). Remaining product ingredients must consist of non-organically produced agricultural products that are not commercially available in organic form.

“Made with Organic Ingredients” – Products contain at least 70 percent organic ingredients and product label can list up to three of the organic ingredients on the main display label.

“No Organic Labeling” – Products with less than 70 percent organic ingredients cannot use the term “organic” anywhere on the main display label.

Source: www.ams.usda.gov/nop

Many of our customers experience results within a week. However, your skin cells renew themselves every 28-40 days – the amount of time it generally takes for your skin to demonstrate visible results when starting a new product.

We recommend using each of our products within 6 months of opening for optimal freshness and potency. Located on the back of each product box is a period-after-opening symbol, depicted by an open jar. The number located within the symbol is the recommended lifetime of the product after it’s been opened for the first time. These period-after-opening recommendations may also be found on the routine/ingredient sections of each product page.

Also, located on the bottom of each of our product boxes is a batch number. If you would like to learn more about when your product was made, please feel free to Contact Us with your batch number.

Though our products can often last beyond these periods, we do encourage using your products within these time frames to fully benefit from each ingredient’s optimal potency and overall formula freshness.

Root Science products should be stored in a cool, dark place, and away from humidity. We help facilitate storage by packaging our products in violet glass bottles (the gold standard for natural skin care packaging) as an added measure to preserve and protect the precious ingredients inside each bottle.

There is a preconceived notion that using oils on the skin, namely the face, is a bad thing – that oils can be greasy and pore clogging. This is a direct result of a long-standing marketing ploy that goes by the name of “oil-free”. This is a flat out lie and could not be further from the truth. Your skin thrives when you apply oil to it, especially acne-prone skin. Botanical oils (non-petroleum based natural oils like those used at Root Science) saturate and nourish skin cells, replenish lost moisture, and create a protective barrier that locks in hydration and shelters skin from external factors. In fact, “oil-free” products are usually filled with petroleum-based ingredients, alcohols and preservatives that are not only drying and damaging to the skin, but can also clog pores.

Aside from skin benefits, essential oils can have amazing effects on your emotional state, with powerful aromatic properties that travel the nervous system, relaxing the body while relieving stress and anxiety.

Absolutely. Our routine is designed to support your skin’s essential needs and functions. We have products specifically formulated for skin that is prone to blemishes and congestion. Acne is very complex and requires both an inside and outside effort. We recommend taking a holistic approach to successfully manage acne and support long term skin health. See our skin concern page for product recommendations.

The short answer is yes. However, we don’t use this term. We believe that aging is a privilege. All our products are designed with the mindset of prevention and correction, what we like to call youth preservation – whether your “youth” is in your 20’s, 40’s or 60’s.

Our collection was designed to nourish and support your skin through all its stages in life. Whether your skin falls under sensitive, blemish-prone, combination, dry, or you’re lucky enough to have great skin, we have something for you.

We embrace transparency when it comes to this topic. Each product is priced to reflect the exceptional quality of ingredients used, the research, expertise, small batch in-house manufacturing, fair-trade practices we support through our conscious ingredient procurement, as well as fair wages for our small team. We practice the old school philosophy of “quality over quantity” in an age where fast fashion not only applies to clothing but also skincare.

We see the term “high-quality” used with abandon in the skin care industry. After all, it’s an unregulated term and anyone can make this claim to justify high price points or take advantage of its ambiguity as a means of differentiating themselves from other brands.

Many skin care lines use this term because they’ve invested in beautiful packaging, a pretty website and photography, but terms like “high-quality” or” luxury” do not always apply to the formula inside the bottle.

The effectiveness of natural skin care depends entirely on the quality of the ingredients being used. Quality is determined by: how an ingredient is grown, organic vs conventional farming practices (i.e. GMOs, pesticides, etc.), where the ingredient is grown (i.e. China vs France), how it is processed, cold-pressed or refined, and how fresh the ingredient is (i.e. when the raw material was processed vs incorporated into a formula). These are vital factors that determine whether or not your skin receives the beneficial nutrients of each ingredient.

Very much like the food we eat, natural ingredients like botanical oils and plant extracts are chock full of nutrients and antioxidants. Which means that truly natural skin care is only as effective as the quality of the ingredients being used. When choosing to use natural skin care, it’s empowering to have a basic understanding of how it works.  Because natural formulas rely on the nutrients and antioxidants inherent in each ingredient to deliver results, the quality of that ingredient will determine the effect, or lack thereof, it has on your skin.

Yes. All of our formulas are gentle by nature (pun intended) and compliment more intensive treatments like retinol, Vitamin C and exfoliating acids. Our oil-based facial serums are exceptionally compatible with intensive treatments and should be used as one of the last steps in your routine. However, we do not recommend using our exfoliant or masks on days where you are using other intensive treatments as over-stimulation can cause sensitivity or negative reactions in the skin.

We are 100% cruelty free at Root Science and NEVER test our products on animals. We also avoid using suppliers that support or condone animal testing. We test all of our products on humans, namely ourselves and willing friends and family.

No. We do not believe there is a place or need for artificial fragrance in skin care.  Not only do artificial fragrances have no direct benefit to the skin, they can cause harm and hide toxic ingredients. Many of our natural ingredients have an inherent scent to them, as nature intended.

Yes. Please keep in mind that most of our serums contain a very light scent that quickly dissipates – this is due to the low percentage of skin beneficial, non-photosensitizing essential oils (EOs) we strategically incorporate into our facial serums. However, we do not believe that essential oils are necessary in every step of your skin care regimen, as pleasing as it may be to the nose, they can have a negative effect on your skin when used in excess. We believe that using too many products with essential oils at high concentrations is one of the leading causes of negative reactions and sensitivity to EOs – in addition to the fact that concentrations are above 1% (the max recommended for facial care) and using essential oils that are not suitable in facial care products intended for daily use. Nature is powerful and essential oils need to be used conservatively for their skin benefits instead of their olfactory benefits in skin care formulas. Unfortunately, that is not the case with most skin care products that contain essential oils. EOs are not viewed as the active ingredients they truly are, instead they are carelessly added at high concentrations as a natural fragrance. We encourage you to shop with your mind and not your nose. Stay away from formulas with overpowering scents (your nose will tell you right away) – as these are most likely formulated improperly with essential oils at percentages way above what we consider safe for the delicate facial skin.

Our current essential-oil free products include: Bare, Cleanse, Detox, Reborn, Tonic. Our products that do contain essential oils are at concentrations below 1%.

Yes, all our facial serums are gentle enough to use around the eyes, but please avoid direct eye contact – If you do happen to get product in your eyes, flush eyes with water immediately. We also offer under eye products that are specifically formulated for nurturing and restoring under eye beauty.

First and foremost, congratulations! We recommend that you consult with your physician to determine which products are best suited for your personal needs during this precious time. If you wish to avoid essential oils in your skin care regimen, we have many options for you. Please refer to our essential oil free product recommendations listed above.

It’s completely normal for there to be slight variances in scent, color and texture from batch to batch. No two harvests are the same, which means that the raw materials used to produce our beautiful botanical oils, extracts, essential oils, and hydrosols will have variances. We encourage you to embrace and welcome the beautiful nuances of mother nature.

Absolutely. All of our products are design for skin types, and not whether you are male or female. In fact, we have many male customers benefiting from our products.

Yes. We actually get this question a lot. We think it may have to do with our minimalist appearance (blame that on our founder’s Icelandic background and co-founder’s obsession with minimalist design). We are an independently-owned company run by two passionate health and wellness fanatics who had no intentions of starting a skincare company – that was until a serious of unfortunate and serendipitous events led to the inception of Root Science. We are a completely self-funded (thanks to the book $100 Startup) and have built this entire company from scratch. Everything you see, from the packaging design, website, photography, copy, to the formulas inside each bottle were created by two people who wanted nothing but the best, so they did it themselves. There are no investors or C-level executive to answer to, only our conscious and loving customers. We believe in doing what’s in the best interest of people’s health, not profit, which is why maintaining our independence as a company is vital to us. We opened our virtual doors in 2012 and to this day have yet to take outside investments and are extremely proud to say that we own 100% of our small (but mighty) company.

The prices for all of our products are given in US Dollars, regardless of whether you’re accessing the site from the US, Canada, Australia, or anywhere else in the world.

As much as we love the idea of connecting with you over the phone, we currently handle all communications by email as that is the best and most consistent way for us to manage inquires at this time. There is always a (real) friendly person with a big heart behind every email sent, promise.

Nope! You do not need a Paypal account to purchase Root Science products. Though we use Paypal as our secure payment gateway, as the customer, all you need is your credit card to make a purchase. The following credit cards are accepted: Visa, Mastercard, American Express, and Discover. If you already have a Paypal account, then that works too of course!

Yes, absolutely. We currently use Paypal, an industry leader, as our payment gateway. All transactions go directly through Paypal, where they are securely encrypted and processed on their servers – Root Science never sees or has access to your private financial information.

As we are currently located in Oregon, where there is no state sales tax, we are not required by law to collect sales tax on orders at this time.

We process orders very quickly to get your skin treats to you as soon as possible. Please note, we cannot make changes after we have sent a shipping confirmation email with tracking.

That being said, if you have already placed an order and would like to

– Cancel the order
– Add or remove items
– Change the shipping address

please contact us within 1 hour of placing your order. For reference, please include your order number in your message.

Cancellations and order modifications are not guaranteed and can only be made during business hours (Monday – Friday from 9am to 5pm PT)

Of course! Simply note that this is a gift in the customer notes section during checkout, along with the exact message you would like to include in quotes. For example “Happy Birthday Sis!”

Currently we ship internationally to the following countries: Canada, France, Italy & the United Kingdom

For more information please refer to our Shipping information.

We do not accept returns. We do encourage you to take advantage of our sample program for patch testing and overall compatibility. And as always, we welcome you to reach out to us for personalized guidance and product recommendations.