I’ve always cared about my skin, and I’m pretty open about the fact that I care about how I age. I got into skincare in my early twenties, and what started as a pretty simple routine eventually became a hobby. I loved exploring brands, trying new products, and having that little ritual at the end of the day to pamper myself.
When I got pregnant with my daughter Zoa, I didn’t expect that something I enjoyed so much would become another thing to figure out. My OB told me to stop using retinol, which had been a regular part of my routine, and I remember feeling frustrated and honestly a little scared because I hadn’t even known it was something I needed to ask about. This made me rethink everything I put on my skin from that point on.
I was already overwhelmed by everything I had to learn about becoming a mom, and I just wanted this one part of my life to feel easy. That’s where the idea for Hizo started.
A Little About Me
I’m originally from Costa Rica and one of seven kids, so I’m used to a full house. I moved to the United States to study, met my husband here, and have always been very focused on my career. My background is in consumer goods, including working at Procter & Gamble, Henkel, and Coty. I've spent years in an industry where understanding what people want, what makes a great product, and how to bring it to market is part of the job. So when I started thinking about Hizo, I had a pretty clear idea of the standards I wanted to set.
Today, I’m a mom of two with a full-time job, two senior Great Danes, a home under construction, and a skincare brand I’m trying to bring to life. There’s a lot going on, and very little spare time, but Hizo is something I keep making room for because I know how much I wanted it to exist.
When Skincare Became Complicated
After that conversation with my OB, I started doing what I imagine a lot of women do: searching Google, watching YouTube videos, reading reviews, and going through ingredient lists to try to understand what I could use. As my pregnancy continued and my skin kept changing, I felt more limited and had more questions.
I wanted to feel comfortable with what I was putting on my skin, but I also wanted products that would actually do something for breakouts, discoloration and fine lines. Caring about my skin hadn’t gone away because I was pregnant, and neither had my desire to feel good about myself.
I kept wishing there was somewhere I could turn that made the whole thing simpler, without having to start another round of research every time I wanted to try a product. Eventually, that frustration became the reason I decided to create Hizo.
Building What I Wished I Had
I wanted pregnancy to be the starting point for Hizo, with the needs of women going through this stage shaping the formulas from the beginning. That meant thinking carefully about the ingredients, how they worked together, and what the products felt like to use.
Pregnancy-safe isn't the same as pregnancy-specific. That distinction is at the heart of Hizo, with a medical advisory board guiding our approach and rigorously reviewing our formulas. Getting to launch matters to me, but so does feeling good about what we’ve created when we get there.
Making Room for Hizo
The hardest part of building Hizo has been finding the time alongside work, the kids, the dogs, and everything happening at home. I don’t think that was necessarily a surprise, but knowing something will be hard and actually doing it are two different things.
I’m passionate about seeing it through, even when it’s difficult to keep everything moving. And being in the middle of all of this reminds me why I wanted to create Hizo in the first place: when so much of your attention is going toward everyone and everything else, even a small part of caring for yourself can start to feel like another task.
The Story Behind the Name
Hizo was inspired by my firstborn, Zoa, and the simple little phrase, “Hi, Zo!” Her arrival was the beginning of this whole idea, and the name is a reminder of that. Every time I see it, it makes me smile.
What I Hope You Find Here
If there’s one thing I want you to know about me, it’s that I believe you can appreciate everything your body is doing and still care about how you look. I used to mistake caring about myself for vanity. But I’ve learned that how I feel about myself shapes how I show up for the people I love.
Whether you’re preparing for pregnancy, pregnant, or going through postpartum, I want you to feel comfortable making time for those things, too. You don’t have to feel guilty for enjoying skincare or wanting to do something that helps you feel better about yourself.
My hope for Hizo is that it makes that part of your day a little easier, so you can spend less time second-guessing your routine and more time enjoying a moment that’s yours.
We’ve got you, mama!
~ Crystal Osejo, Founder
