Like many people who rerouted their career path in the last three years, Cynthia Sakai made a mid-pandemic leap from the fashion industry to personal care.
"I had been in the fashion space for a really long time, and there was something missing. I felt I wasn't doing enough; I wasn't doing something that was making a difference," Sakai said on the latest episode of the Glossy Beauty Podcast. "The beauty space and the wellness space was something that, as a consumer, I always loved — but I never wanted to create a brand just to create another brand."
A CFDA designer who founded the Vita Fede jewelry brand, Sakai switched gears in 2020 by introducing EvolveTogether with a line of medical-grade face masks. After proving popular among celebs including Ariana Grande and Justin Bieber, the masks’ sales funded the brand’s expansion to a range of gender-neutral personal care products, each with innovative sustainable packaging. Among them: a powder face wash with dissolvable packaging, refillable hand sanitizer in glass bottles and biodegradable storage bags. Its best-sellers are a lip balm, a hand cream and a deodorant. 
“Consumers today want high-performing products that feature beautiful design, and are good for people and the planet,” she said. 
She added that sustainability alone has never been enough to clinch the sale. “You can't expect to change consumer behavior,” she said. “So we want to create a brand [where] people love the product first. They love the performance of it. And even if it wasn't sustainable, they would come back to us to purchase it."
In the year ahead, EvolveTogether plans to roll out new products, including candles and body care. It will also be fundraising, Sakai said.