New genderless skincare brand Ayond is inspired by the Santa Fe desert

The seemingly boundless and mythical quality of the Santa Fe desert is one of the touchstones for the skincare line Ayond. Launched in June 2019 (and since adding Ayond fragrances, in 2024), Ayond touts a succinct four-piece collection that harnesses the natural healing and transformative benefits of desert plants in its unisex and vegan line.

From nurturing babassu and copaiba oils in it cleansing balm, to brightening amber extract and prickly pear cactus extract in its face oil, revitalizing rock rose and desert wildflower extracts in its face serum and protecting blue butterfly bush and blue corn extract in its lightweight face cream, the potent combination of botanical ingredients exudes a powerful, yet straightforward allure. Rock rose, a delicate yet resilient flower, is a particularly central ingredient, known for revitalizing stressed and unbalanced ecosystems. One of the first plants to emerge after a wildfire, rock rose has traditionally been used in meditation to heal stressed skin and reduce anxiety.

Beyond each bottle’s contents, Ayond also embraces a sustainable approach to its design and packaging. Not only is each container packaged in compostable cellophane and 100 per cent post-consumer paper, its founders Porter Yates and Shani Van Breukelen, a sustainable development engineer and former fashion designer respectively who are based between Santa Fe and New York, have established a recycling programme to help facilitate the recycling of otherwise challenging beauty packaging.

Ayond customers are encouraged to fill the brand’s shipping boxes with used caps, pumps, droppers and dispensers, even those from other brands, and send them back to the company for free to be recycled – an enlightened gesture that closes the circle