Westport dad and talent agent Jake Rosenblum, like many Westporters, left N.Y.C. “for two weeks” in March of 2020 when COVID-19 hit. He and his wife Lauren fled the city to stay with her parents here in Westport, and Jake forgot his dopp kit— which contained his drugstore-brand moisturizer and SPF—back at their apartment. So, he fatefully borrowed Lauren’s skincare, testing out the high-end moisturizer and retinol she used. The experience became the proverbial light bulb moment for him. “The quality of the product was so far from what I had been exposed to,” he says. “It started the wheels turning.”
Jake began toying with the idea of creating results-driven skincare for men that would speak to their unique needs. (For example, men tend to have larger pores than women, and lose collagen at a faster rate.) “This isn’t about vanity— it’s about maintenance,” explains Jake. “Your skin is your largest organ, and you want to take care of it, in the same way you might drink Athletic Greens, or use a probiotic.” Combining a retinol and a moisturizer, for example, can combat collagen loss and offer anti-aging benefits. After finding a lab in California that could make what he was envisioning, Jake’s brand Dividends was born.
The name deliberately borrows from stock market terminology, says Jake, because their target market understands the idea that "this is something you invest in today, for a return tomorrow.” The core four products—a cleanser, a moisturizer, an SPF, and a retinol—are designed as a simple, effective skincare routine that will provide just that. Each product comes with a graphic explaining how to use it and in what order with the other Dividends products to help make skincare accessible for men who may not have much experience with the category. And while Dividends may have been inspired by his wife’s bag full of serums and creams, Jake advises men not to worry—using the full line of products doesn’t require a half-hour in front of the mirror each night. “This is what you need to take care of your skin: It’s two minutes, twice a day,” says Jake. “It’s not a tall order for something that goes a really long way.”
To purchase Dividends or learn more, visit dividendsmen.com