Our Story

How It All Began

Barry and Luis didn't set out to start a skincare company. They set out to survive a brutally dry winter in a freezing office building — and somehow, that led to everything.

The two met working at a logistics company in the mid-2010s, stuck at neighboring desks in a cubicle that was equal parts fluorescent lighting and recycled air. Luis was the guy who had a solution for everything — calm under pressure, always researching, always curious. Barry was the one who'd complain loudly enough that Luis felt compelled to fix it.

And Barry had one complaint he just couldn't let go of: his skin.

For years, Barry had dealt with chronically dry, irritated skin that cracked in the winter, flared up under stress, and never seemed to respond to anything he tried. He'd burned through dozens of lotions — thick ones, fancy ones, drugstore ones, expensive ones — and none of them did more than offer a few hours of relief before his skin went right back to feeling like sandpaper.

One afternoon, after watching Barry apply yet another blob of generic lotion to his hands and grumble about how useless it was, Luis looked up from his monitor and said, "Have you ever tried hemp seed oil?"

Barry had not.

Luis had been reading about it for months — fascinated by its unique fatty acid profile, its ability to deeply moisturize without clogging pores, and the way it worked with the skin rather than just sitting on top of it. That weekend, Luis brought over a small batch he'd mixed up at home — hemp seed oil blended with a few other clean, simple ingredients and scented with lavender. Barry tried it that night mostly to get Luis to stop talking about omega-6 fatty acids.

By Monday morning, Barry's hands felt better than they had in years.

From a Kitchen Countertop to a Real Brand

What started as a weekend experiment quickly became an obsession. The two spent the next year fine-tuning formulas after work and on weekends, testing different scents, adjusting textures, and enlisting every willing friend and family member as a guinea pig. Luis was meticulous about the ingredients — nothing unnecessary, nothing harsh. Barry was obsessive about the experience — how it smelled, how it felt, whether someone would actually want to use it every day.

Their different strengths turned out to be exactly what the brand needed. Luis brought the research and the rigor. Barry brought the heart and the hustle.

They named it Hempily Ever After — partly as a joke, partly because it perfectly captured what they wanted for every customer: a simple, joyful ending to the endless search for skincare that actually works.

Why We Do This

We're not a big corporation. We're two guys who genuinely care about what goes into our products and what comes out the other side — which is skin that feels nourished, healthy, and taken care of.

We built Hempily Ever After because Barry needed it, and because Luis believed in the power of getting back to clean, purposeful ingredients. Every lotion we make carries that same intention.

We hope it finds you well — and keeps you that way.

— Barry & Luis, Co-Founders of Hempily Ever After