Long Beach residents launch luxe skin- and sun-care line

When it comes to skin care, there’s no such thing as one-size-fits-all. That’s why Marisa and Scott Russell launched their own luxe skin- and sun-care line, Meadow and Bark, last January. What started out as a home business with online shopping has since grown into a full retail shop on the west end of Long Beach.

“I was mildly obsessed with the dilemma in the sun screen business,” Marisa, 49, says of concerns involving chemicals in products which inspired the early stages of her company, adding that the Russells — a family of five — are avid beachgoers. “I want [my kids] to enjoy the beach and where we live, but I want them to protect their skin so they don’t end up with other things they need to worry about later in life,” she says.

Initially this was just “a mission to find something better,” but a 2017 trip Scott, 47, took to Indonesia changed her outlook. After suffering from severe sunburn during his stay, locals gifted him a botanical and bark-based paste that he says helped protect his skin. It was then that the Long Beach residents tried replicating this formula.

It took plenty of “investments and failure,” but eventually, they nailed it and are now offering a full line of products made of all plant-based ingredients — Marisa, who has 20-plus years in the media, marketing, advertising and technology industries, is in charge of formulating the products, and Scott, who’s in the spirits business and a vegan who grows his own products, handles the growing and distilling aspect of the business. The couple has complete control of their products, which are made in-house at their shop’s lab in Long Beach.

Meadow and Bark offers moisturizers ($25-$68); body treatments ($34-$58); eye treatments, such as an illuminating eye lift and night repair eye serum, both $68; lip treatments, both $12; sun care in the form of moisturizers, pastes and sprays ($12-$32); serums ($38-$64); toners and facial mists ($28-$38); exfoliators ($34-$65) and cleansers, $42. The brand has products intended for the whole family.

At Meadow and Bark, customers will occasionally find brands from other female-led businesses, like Tailfeather Designs (handmade jewelry) and Utz Pin Pin (leather goods and jewelry). It also offers free monthly master classes where Marisa walks you through a mini facial while offering skin care tips and advice. Sign up via Instagram at @meadowandbark.

It’s open Tuesdays to Sundays from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. You can find it at 901 W. Beech St. in Long Beach; meadowandbark.com; 516-660-9114.