Why Jared Pobre rooted men’s skincare in mountain plants

Caldera + Lab began with dry skin at altitude and a borrowed serum. Jared Pobre stayed with that small clue, met botanists, studied survivor plants of the Tetons, and built a short routine for men around slow extraction and measured doses. This is a conversation about roots, harvest and daily use.

Men’s skincare promises speed and simplicity, yet the formulas that last tend to come from slowness and specificity. That tension sits at the center of Caldera + Lab. The brand speaks plainly to men who want three steps and visible results, while its work depends on alpine plants that survive long winters, oil left to steep for weeks, and doses set at clinical levels rather than label levels.

Jared Pobre came to this as an outsider. He had built a self funded business in ad tech, married in 2015, had a baby and moved from Los Angeles to Jackson Hole, Wyoming. He has said that living up in the high elevation, his skin became very dry, and that men who had lived in the ski town for years looked older for lack of moisture. The products made for men made things worse, so he borrowed his wife’s serum and watched his skin settle.

What we noticed, reading the interviews and the product pages, is how literally he took that lesson. Development started in 2017 with consultants, labs, scientists and biologists. The launch in 2019 was a single oil serum built from 27 botanicals, wild harvested material from the Teton range, and no borrowed base. The routine stayed short. The sourcing stayed long.

You began in ad tech, moved to Jackson Hole in 2015, and found that living up in the high elevation, your skin became very dry while the men’s products you tried were just making your skin worse. What did borrowing your wife’s serum teach you about what men were missing.

I started using my wife’s products because the men’s ones I was using were just making my skin worse. Within a week it cleared everything up. That was the shock. It all started with me borrowing my wife’s serum in Jackson. I was not looking to start a skincare company. I was looking to fix my face.

Then I asked, why doesn’t something like this exist for men. Between 2015 and 2017 there was a clean prestige movement for women, with independent brands doing careful work, and nothing of that quality in the men’s aisle. I found other men in Jackson Hole buying $185 serum for women, just like I was. And these were rugged guys, not the type you’d expect to be using high-end serums. That told me this was not just me. Men wanted something that worked, felt right, and did not ask them to learn a twelve step routine.

You met with botanists and ethnobotanists to study how local plants survive freezing winters, and you settled on fireweed, yarrow and nettle from the Teton range. What did those survivor plants show you that a standard supplier catalog could not.

When you live through a winter at elevation, you start to respect what stays alive. I sat with botanists and ethnobotanists and asked how indigenous people had used these plants, and how the plants themselves handled stress. Fireweed comes back after fire. Yarrow holds on in thin soil. Nettle pushes through cold springs. To survive up there a plant has to protect itself with antioxidants and hold water well. That logic made sense for skin exposed to wind, sun and dry air.

A catalog gives you a powder with a spec sheet. A place gives you context. We wanted botanicals wild harvested from the Teton range because we could trace why they might belong in a formula for dry, older skin. From nature, powered by biotech, with proven clinical efficacy. That phrase guides us. The plant leads, the lab checks the work, and the result has to show on skin.

You kicked off development in 2017 and launched in 2019 with one product, The Good, after ordering a smallest batch of 10,000 units. Why start with a single oil serum of 27 botanicals for dry skin, and what gave you confidence to reorder by the end of year one.

In every company I’ve built, I’ve learned that taking shortcuts doesn’t pay off. We did not want menu based manufacturing or a repurposed formula. We worked with consultants, founding team members, labs, scientists and biologists to build something custom. One serum, made mostly for dry skin, with real doses. We put in the maximum for efficacy, at clinical levels.

The Good is an oil serum with 27 botanicals and four weeks of maceration to draw out nutrients. It suits dry to normal skin in colder or harsh climates. It became a national bestseller. What gave us conviction was when guys started asking for more. They wanted a cleanser, a moisturizer, SPF. That’s when I knew this wasn’t just me. When men in their forties, fifties and sixties research the stats and then come back for the routine, you reorder. Simplicity only works if what is inside is serious.

The Good is built for dry to normal skin in cold climates, while The Great is a water based, fragrance free serum for oily or combination skin in warmer climates. How should a man choose between them in a Clean Slate to serum to moisturizer routine.

Think about climate and skin first. The Good is our original oil serum. If your skin runs dry to normal, if you live where air is cold or indoor heat runs all winter, if you are often past fifty and notice tightness by afternoon, start there. Use it as the serum step after Clean Slate, then follow with moisturizer. A little warmth from the palms helps it press in.

The Great is the water based counterpart. It was built for oily or combination skin and warmer climates, and it is fragrance free for sensitive skin. It carries our patent pending plant based exosome technology. Use it in the same place in the routine, serum after cleansing, then a light moisturizer like The Hydro Layer. Move Daily. Eat Right. Apply Skincare. That is the rhythm. Cleanse, treat, protect from moisture loss. No clutter.

That balance, the ruggedness of Jackson with the polish of a professional life in the city, is what we tried to capture in the brand. How does that balance show up in scent, texture and packaging, not only in words.

That balance, the ruggedness of Jackson with the polish of a professional life in the city, is what we tried to capture. A man may ski in the morning and join a video call at noon. He does not want a shiny face or a strong scent in a small office. He wants skin that looks rested and feels comfortable.

So texture has to absorb and sit well. The Good feels rich because it is an oil serum, but it is meant to press in and leave skin looking smooth, not greasy. The Great feels lighter and layers cleanly under moisturizer. Scent stays low. Packaging has to survive a gym bag and look right on a counter. Underneath that, there is discipline. EFFICACY. DISCIPLINE. RESULTS. We would rather build custom formulas and set each ingredient at a studied dose than buy a base and add a story.

We put in the maximum for efficacy, at clinical levels.

Jared Pobre

You say you would rather put ingredients in at clinical levels than at minimum dose amounts, and you refuse menu based co-manufacturing. What does that choice cost in time and money, and where do customers feel the difference.

It costs time at the start and patience all the way through. Custom work means more testing, smaller early runs, and suppliers who will meet your standard. Our smallest first batch was 10,000 units, which felt large for a single serum and small for the industry. We make in the U.S., source many ingredients globally, and source packaging from Europe. That mix takes management.

Customers feel it in consistency and in the look of the skin with steady use. The original study of The Good ran for eight weeks in 2018 with 53 men aged 37 to 64, using instruments, expert grading and self reports, with 96 percent reporting healthier looking skin. Numbers do not replace a mirror, but they keep us honest. Skincare should be as forward thinking as the men who use it. We back that with a guarantee. Compliments Guaranteed or Your Money Back.

Your newer launches, The Great and The Hydro Layer, center on a patent pending plant based exosome technology with refreshed packaging and site. What is a plant based exosome in plain language, and why pair a water serum with a weightless moisturizer.

In plain language, think of tiny plant derived carriers that help a formula spread and sit well on skin so the routine feels even and light. We describe The Great and The Hydro Layer as built on that patent pending plant based exosome technology. For the customer, the point is feel and fit. Oily or combination skin still needs water and a shield against moisture loss, but heavy cream can feel wrong by midday.

So we paired them. The Great as the water based treatment step, The Hydro Layer as the weightless moisturizer that helps hydrate and improves the appearance of lines and wrinkles. Together they form the core of the oily skin routine, just as The Good anchors the richer routine for dry skin. Same idea in both: short steps, clear roles, doses chosen for the look of firmness, smoothness and tone with regular use.

You hold Made Safe, Leaping Bunny and plastic neutral certifications, with U.S. manufacturing and global sourcing. What do those labels actually audit, and where do tradeoffs remain.

Made Safe looks beyond a single ingredient list. It reviews the product, the process and the supply chain for known toxic inputs, which goes further than a simple organic claim. Leaping Bunny checks that products and ingredients are not tested on animals, with supplier monitoring behind it. Plastic neutral means we account for plastic used and support recovery of an equivalent amount. We also use recyclable packaging where we can.

Tradeoffs remain. If you source many ingredients globally and packaging from Europe while you manufacture in the U.S., you carry freight and complexity. If you refuse animal testing, you need suppliers who document the same standard. If you avoid minimum dose claims, you buy more of the costly inputs. We accept that. We would rather combine uncompromising craftsmanship with an audited supply chain and recyclable packaging than take shortcuts.

Your customer is often 35 to 65, focused on nutrition, fitness, wellness and longevity, and buying for himself. How do you teach a three step ritual to a man who distrusts hype and reads ingredient lists.

We keep the routine short and the evidence visible. Cleanse with Clean Slate. Treat with The Good or The Great. Moisturize to hold hydration. Small words, same order every day, morning and night. Men in this group already track food, sleep and training. They understand dose and repetition. So we show what is inside, why each plant is there, and what the study measured.

We also listen. Early on, guys asked for the rest of the shelf. Cleanser, moisturizer, SPF, eye serum. That shaped The Regimen and later sets like The Power Pair for dry skin and the lighter pair for oily skin. Reported revenue reached 40 million dollars in 2025 alongside Nordstrom expansion, after a 6 million dollar Series A in 2024 to fund research, hiring, marketing and retail. Growth helps, but the teaching stays the same. A calm routine you can keep is better than a long one you drop.

Closing note from the desk

What stays with us is the field logic. Pobre did not borrow alpine language for decoration. He started with plants that endure cold and drought, steeped them slowly, and set the doses high enough to matter. The routine asks little: cleanse, serum, moisturize. The making asks a lot: custom formulas, U.S. production, audited inputs.

Caldera + Lab set out to give men a short ritual with the same care women’s prestige lines had already claimed. Read slowly, it is a story of soil and patience meeting a bathroom shelf. The mountain sets the standard. The lab keeps it.

Product spotlight

The Good, 110 dollars for 1 fl. oz. An antioxidant rich oil serum with 27 botanicals, made for dry to normal skin and colder or harsh climates. Use after cleansing as the serum step, pressing a few drops over face and neck, then follow with moisturizer to support soft looking, smooth skin.

The Great, 110 dollars. A water based, fragrance free serum for oily or combination skin and warmer climates, built on plant based exosome technology. Use after cleansing in place of an oil serum, then follow with a lightweight moisturizer to help skin look balanced and smooth with regular use.