She created her own organic skincare line; now she’s bringing it to her Belmont Shore spa

A decade ago, Janet Schriever began mixing ingredients together in her kitchen to make her own skincare products from scratch.

Now, the self-taught cosmetic chemist makes her organic concoctions in a Cerritos lab and ships products nationwide. Locally, she sold them at her Code of Harmony storefront on Fourth Street.

Last weekend, she moved Code of Harmony from Retro Row to Belmont Shore. After four years on Fourth Street, Schriever said she decided to close the space and move to Second Street to focus on offering more spa-like skincare treatments.

“I love making the products, but the facials are a really good way for us to get people on board and show people what it is to take care of their skin and how healthy skin looks,” Schriever said.

When she began 10 years ago, her initial goal was to develop a product to help manage her lifelong skincare struggle: rosacea.

The long-term inflammatory condition causes reddened and dry skin. Its most prominent triggers are stress and sun damage.

Prior to her journey into the skincare world, Schriever spent seven years as a costume designer in the film industry and 12 years in the toy industry after attending the Otis College of Art and Design in Los Angeles.

While she found success in both ventures, including launching two dolls that were licensed and sold in major retailers, the stress of her professional life and being a single mother took a toll on her skin, she said.

Now, she and her team of three other licensed estheticians focus on educating others about the importance of skincare and avoiding commonly prescribed products with harmful ingredients.

 

 

 

 

 

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“Some people look at ingredients and a lot of people just look at TikTok and no ingredients,” said Code of Harmony esthetician Rachel Van Raalte.

Treatment options at the spa range from a 60-minute CBD facial to a 110-minute sculpt and release to address facial aging, relieve stress and relax jaw tension.

There are 43 muscles in the face that are often neglected during everyday life and build up tension over time, Schriever said.

Over the years, she has learned various techniques for facial treatments including the buccal method that she said she learned “from an old Russian guy.”

“You can change a lot about someone’s face with just your hands,” she said.

Schriever’s bestselling products have ingredients that hardly ever exceed three syllables. She lists all the ingredients for each product on the website along with the benefits they offer for the skin.

Her most popular product, Oil Cleanser Deluxe, contains rice bran, hemp, cucumber seed, moringa, kukui nut and watermelon seed along with cannabidiol (CBD) and corticosteroid-binding globulin (CBG).

“It is like a recipe in that sometimes there’s ingredients that, just like food, are terribly temperamental,” she said.

Sometimes, a mixture with the same amount of active ingredients will come out with a slightly different texture, color or smell than the previous batch.

In 2015, she began adding CBD to her products. Schriever said it worked wonders for her skin but also led to regulatory troubles down the road.

Code of Harmony initially started under the name Crave Skincare, but Schriever was refused a trademark for the name over her inclusion of CBD.

Schriever is still rolling with the regulatory punches including complying with the Modernization of Cosmetics Regulation Act of 2022 and ensuring her products are Good Manufacturing Practice compliant.

Although her new location on Second Street does not have any retail space, her products can still be found in various locations around Long Beach including Wax N’ Blush on Elm Avenue between Third and Fourth streets.

Code of Harmony, 4720 E. Second Street, is open by appointment only. You can order products from their store here.