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It’s no secret that skin care products become less effective and even unhygienic with age, yet few companies emphasize the freshness of their merchandise. Los Angeles-based Odacité, however, places manufacturing dates at the forefront of its business, producing freshly-made organic skin care products and leaving out preservatives. Stating that ‘freshness is the key to effectiveness’, Odacité marks each product with a ‘Freshiency Date’, showing the month of manufacture and the month after which the product will start to degrade. Going against the common practice of letting tubes and jars sit on store shelves, Odacité products are only sold online and made in small batches so they can be shipped to customers immediately. Customers are advised to keep their products in the fridge to help preserve them. To really hit home the brand’s point of difference, it even sells a branded mini-fridge. The company claims that there are serious health benefits to its methods, since it can make moisturizers, cleansers, eye creams, etc with as few chemicals as possible. Prices start at USD 45 for a jojoba exfoliant and Odacité ships to France, the UK, the Netherlands, Germany, Canada and the US. Odacité isn’t the first skin care company to place an increased emphasis on freshness; it resembles a high-end version of Lush, which also manufactures in small batches but sells its products at its own stores around the world. Skin care and cosmetics are a multi-billion dollar industry, so there’s plenty of room for targeting carefully defined—and carefully marketed—niches. (Related: Expiration date stickers for cosmetics — Niche-niche skin care — Lush brings back discontinued products on demand.) Spotted by: Romain Gallard