Testament Beauty's Nourishing Skin Care Uses Garden-Grown Ingredients

While standing in front of her medicine cabinet staring at the rows of skin care products with mysterious ingredients that promised to “correct” this or “prevent” that, editor-turned-entrepreneur Sophia Chabbott thought there must be a warmer way to do beauty. Her answer was Testament, a skin care brand that launched in July 2021 with just two products chock-full of familiar yet effective ingredients inspired by her own heritage and upbringing.

Chabbott’s family is of Syrian, Turkish, and Spanish descent. When she started her beauty line, she wanted to take the idea of a Mediterranean diet and lifestyle and literally bottle it — that idea of fresh fruits and veggies, a bottle of red wine on the table, and family and friends coming together. “The idea would not let go of me,” she tells Bustle. “There’s a cornucopia — pun intended, I suppose — of ingredients that are accessible and can provide your skin with so many benefits, antioxidants, and vitamins.” Basically, what Chabbott wanted to create with Testament was “a Mediterranean diet for your face.”

The first two products it introduced were the Moroccan Chamomile Sleeping Mask and the Turkish Coffee 3-in-1 Mask. The former boasts an antioxidant-rich blend of nine Mediterranean-derived botanicals, including refreshing peppermint and oregano, blue tansy (aka Moroccan chamomile), and niacinamide to brighten. Alongside Turkish coffee, the 3-in-1 mask also features vitamin E- and vitamin A-rich avocado along with powerhouse antioxidant cacao to protect your skin against environmental stressors.

Chabbott says her great-grandmother was a huge inspiration for the Turkish Coffee mask. “She’s somebody that I looked up to a lot and spent time with until she passed away when I was 14. She had a garden in Brooklyn, and we would go and pick grape leaves. I found out in later years that she actually blended oils from the kitchen and used them on her body. Like, would she have an Etsy store today? Actually, probably.” In developing Testament’s formulas, Chabbott wanted to lean into that idea of using what’s within reach.

Most recently, Testament added a third product to its roster: the Ancient Vine Vitality Serum, with its blend of Vitis vinifera (lightweight grapeseed oil), vitamin C, raspberry seed oil, and pumpkin seed oil. As far as packaging goes, Chabbott says she and the team kept sustainability top of mind — but she didn’t want to sacrifice aesthetics. All of the brand’s concoctions come in recyclable painted glass bottles, topped with reforested and biodegradable beechwood lids. And the designs on the tops of the boxes that house the jars, specifically the reflective copper detailing, are nods to her great-grandmother’s Turkish coffee pot, which Chabbott still has today.

The slow rollout has been intentional, Chabbott notes. Her goal has not been to necessarily create a slew of items that dominate your morning and nighttime routines, but instead to introduce thoughtful offerings that feel special and impactful. “I want every single product to be the product that you can’t live without,” says Chabbott. Look out for a moisturizer come winter 2023. In the meantime, Chabbott is enjoying connecting with customers and other industry folks, gathering valuable feedback that she can put into practice. Her hope, she says, is to continue to connect the dots between chemistry and the things that bring us joy.