Ursa Major Skincare: What's Worth Trying

I will admit I am suspicious of skincare that comes with a ten-step flowchart, which is probably why Ursa Major won me over. Emily Doyle and Oliver Sweatman worked in the New York beauty business, she in sales and management at Bumble and Bumble and Jurlique, he in finance and men's grooming, and at some point they decided they would rather live closer to the woods. They moved to Vermont and started in 2010 with a single shaving product. I went deeper on a related idea in Allies of Skin Skincare: Worth the Investment?. I went deeper on a related idea in AMOR MIA Dresses: What's Worth Your Money.

 

What I like is that the forest is not just a mood on the packaging. It came from a real decision about where to live and how to make something simpler than a crowded shelf. The company settled in Waterbury in 2018, and the founders have kept it independent and founder-led, choosing fewer products over chasing scale. One cleanser, one treatment and one moisturizer can honestly do more than a whole drawer of maybes.

Fantastic Face Wash is the foaming cleanser, for the days you want to feel properly clean without that tight, squeaky finish. Making Moves Milky Cleanser is the quieter option, a wash that does not lather and leaves skin soft, which is the one I would hand to anyone dry or sensitive. Brighten Up Vitamin C Serum is for dullness and uneven tone, and Golden Hour Recovery Cream is rich but sinks in quickly.

 

My version of the routine is short: pick one cleanser, add the serum only if brightening is the goal, then finish with the cream. If your skin runs oily or combination, Fortifying Gel Moisturizer is the lighter, serum-like swap, and Hoppin' Fresh Body Wash carries that cool mint feeling into the shower. Picture her rinsing off after a long trail day and keeping the evening to those few steps. One tip: follow daytime vitamin C with SPF instead of layering every active at once.

I do not need a shelf that requires its own calendar, and I suspect you do not either. What I take from Ursa Major is a quieter kind of ambition: a Vermont company built around a daily routine that feels clear and a little bit wild, kept founder-led all the way through. The body care is a pleasant extra, but the heart of it is still the face wash, the serum and the cream.

 

In my version of a Vermont morning, I rinse off after a walk and head back outside with SPF on, not working out the order of ten bottles. What I would skip is buying everything at once. Start with one cleanser and see how the week feels, although I suspect the cream will be gone first.