Who We Are
“At her Berkeley, California restaurant Chez Panisse, Alice Waters turned simple, high-quality ingredients cultivated by local farmers into the stars of haute cuisine.
Now, 15 miles away across the bay, Dara Kennedy, the founder of beauty retailer Ayla, is executing haute beauty by elevating natural resources to an honored place.”
- Rachel Brown, Beauty Independent
about Dara
I’ve been a beauty product developer (for brands ranging from Elizabeth Arden to Living Proof) and curator (as the founder of Ayla) for over 20 years.
During that time, I’ve had thousands of conversations with people about their skin. Although I’ve learned from some of the best companies and the best schools, those conversations are the experiences that really helped me understand skin at a different level — and inspired me to create formulas of my own.
Town & Country thrilled me by calling me “The Regimen Revamper,” and I’ve always loved helping people find ways to make their skincare routines work harder for them. My quietly powerful, plant-forward formulas make it easy by working with your skin’s natural intelligence for elevated results from within, where it all begins.
This is skincare that just knows what you need.
Why We're Here
During the decades I spent as a beauty product developer and curator, I kept being struck by two things:
1. Skin is in a constant state of change, but we all still crave the same thing: a calm, glowing, vital complexion.
2. Freshly harvested plant ingredients can boost skin’s vitality like nothing else, and they work with its natural intelligence: this means you can get elevated results without the irritation.
I developed my own line to bring those two things together, using fresh, potent plant ingredients to unlock skin’s vibrance for deep, lasting results from within—on even the most sensitive skin, and at any age.
Selfishly, too, I wanted to see how far I could get without needles, lasers, or surgery. I’m nearly 49, and mine are the only active serums I use: because they start by gently unraveling the root causes of universal skin challenges, these adaptive formulas can venture further than anything else I’ve tried to repair, protect, and revitalize.
They might also be the only products in your routine that accelerate your results while simultaneously calming your skin for a real, enviable glow. “Hurts so good” skincare can become a thing of the past, where it belongs.
- Dara
