Founder Story: Kat Wright Discusses The Historic Beginning And Enduring Success Of Frownies

Among the many competing claims to the title of Hollywood’s best beauty secret, it would be hard to find a more convincing contender than the anti-wrinkle product Frownies Facial Patch.

Frownies has withstood the test of time. Look no further than one of the final scenes of “Sunset Boulevard,” one of the most notable, quotable films of the modern era. In it, fading silent-film star Nora Desmond (depicted by Gloria Swanson) makes an unhinged, heartfelt appeal to her latest obsession, screenwriter Joe Gillis (played by William Holden.) Before she confronts him, she pauses to gaze into a mirror, and pulls off barely-there skin patches at the corner of her eyes and on her forehead. The Frownies Facial Patches in the scene were the perfect props for the flick’s inside take on Hollywood.

More than half a century later, Frownies are still a go-to product on sets as well as in the homes of regular consumers. Makeup artist Eve Pearl demonstrated them on “The View” and declared, “You do it while you’re vacuuming, while you’re sleeping—they work, they really work!” While those in the know can find Frownies everywhere from Walgreens to Jet.com to Amazon, what’s less known is that the company that produces them started in 1889 and has been helmed by a long line of women entrepreneurs. Plus, despite the product’s success and wide distribution, it’s remained independent and family-owned.

These days, Frownies’ facial patches couldn’t be more au courant. Beauty Independent’s editors spotted them on the floor of the Indie Beauty Expo Dallas 2018 and included them as one of 12 trends garnering the attention of press, consumers and buyers at the trade show. Frownies president Kat Wright shares, “Frownies are a non-invasive, non-toxic strategy against wrinkles since they are designed to help rejuvenate facial muscles under the skin.” She also champions the natural qualities of Frownies, making them more contemporary than ever.

Last month, Beauty Independent caught up with Wright during IBE Dallas. In the Founder Story video produced by BI and Frownies, Wright expresses her delight at the long-standing power of her brand, pride in its independent history, and desire to put the right tools in the hands of women coveting safe tools to maintain and enhance their beauty. The following is a look at Wright’s thoughts from the video:

On the birth of Frownies

Our company was started in 1889 by my great-great grandmother. Her daughter was a concert pianist, and she created a patch to deal with the Botox line. At the time, there was no surgery, there were no injections, none of those things existed and that patch has been sold for over 100 years!

My mother-in-law ran the company for 60 years and, now, I’ve been running it for 20 years.

On how Frownies work

Our facial patch addresses the muscles on the forehead between the eyebrows, the corner of the eyes and around the mouth, those facial patches work on the muscle under the skin. Nothing else addresses it except Botox or surgery. It’s a natural product that just mechanically smoothes the wrinkles between the eyebrows across the forehead. That’s the first place they start and, the sooner you start using the patch, the less likely you are to ever even consider getting Botox or one of the other injectables.

You don’t need [those procedures] if you take proactive action to control it. But, if you waited and you have deep wrinkles there already, the patch will reverse the wrinkles. You can wear a patch that’s a little triangle fits between the eyebrows that addresses the 11s. You can piece the patch together to address that horizontal line we get when we lift our eyebrows, and you can wear the patches on the outside of the eyes if you get crow’s feet, and you can wear them around your mouth.

“We actually made a contact in IBE Los Angeles that has put us in China and Japan and in the Anthropologie store chain.”

On her company’s natural history

I’m a naturopath, and I added a natural and organic skincare line to the patch, and we added gel patches and facial masks and neck masks. The first Indie Beauty Expo show that I went to was in Los Angeles, and I wanted Frownies to be included in the Indie Beauty brands because that’s what we are. We have been around for a long time. We have experience in the market, and some people may have heard of us. We may not be as new as some of the other brands, but we are still family-owned and independently sourced. I actually hand-mix, formulate and manufacture every one of our products.

On Frownies success at Indie Beauty Expo

I’ve met so many amazing people [at IBE]. They were quality contacts and quality buyers. We actually made a contact in IBE Los Angeles that has put us in China and Japan, and in the Anthropologie store chain. I signed up for all three shows in the U.S. at one time because I want to see each market. Every market is a little different, and I want to use it as a marketing tool for different people, different areas that I wanted to expose our brand. It’s been great. It’s a very, very high-quality show.

On the importance of natural skincare products

I have for 35 years helped people understand how to live well and age well and stay healthy, and your skincare products being clean are absolutely a part of that. That’s why I went back to school and did a skincare formulating course, and formulated all our products with ingredients that pretty much you could eat. Because whatever you put on your skin, you should be able to consume because you are consuming it. You’re absorbing it into your body.

On pricing for mass consumption

We keep our price point at a place where people can afford them. Everyone can afford to use our products. Check it out at frownies.com. You will see and be amazed at how inexpensive the products are, and they work. Frownies Facial Patch let’s you control your own beauty.