One of My Favorite Stories About My Dad; Dr. Alkaitis

This month we celebrate Father’s Day!

To honor all the special guys in our lives including my father, aka ‘my skin savior’ ever since he shipped me that bottle of Soothing Gel over 26 years ago, here’s a fun story about his wild and experimental scientific ways!

When I was just a tiny towheaded California kid, my dad was at graduate school in UCLA (circa 1970’s) and my mom and I used to pick him up from the lab a few times a week. I loved going on these little evening jaunts.

UCLA is in Westwood and back then the air in Los Angeles was much cleaner.

In the evenings, the scent of salty sea water air would start to waft in on fog that would gently roll inland and mingle with the damp scent of eucalyptus trees that surrounded the campus.

It smelled divine as the wind would blow through our hair while we made our way up Sunset Blvd in our little green VW bug.

When we arrived on-campus after-hours, he was usually alone working on some experiment or another. Always wearing his usual uniform: jeans, jean shirt over a white t-shirt with a pocket protector and 3+ pens in his pocket, Greek sandals, lab coat, and a cup of coffee always somewhere within arms reach…

Mom and I would have to walk through multiple heavy laboratory doors, one after another, that separated different labs from each other. 

One night, when we arrived, there wasn’t a soul in sight in the entire building. He had just finished setting up an experiment and either lost track of time or forgot we were coming to pick him up (no cell phones back then!) When he saw us he just yelled “Quick! Turn around and run as fast as you can!”

So we all ran as fast as we could, all three of us shouting and laughing, opening one heavy door after another, slamming them shut behind us as we made our way down a long hallway which felt like it didn’t have an end in sight.

You could hear a beeping sound which was an extremely loud timer that indicated how much time we had we had before the experiment would activate. Talk about suspense!

When we finally tumbled outside to safety, we were filled with a mixture of excitement, nerves, and ever-so-thankful that he didn’t blow up the lab! 

I tell this with a twinkle in my eye and a laugh, as this is how my tiny-self perceived it. I loved going to the lab. It was so intriguing to see all the different tools, beakers, and machines. It was definitely a quiet and sterile world that seemed to hold a lot of mystery.

I always wondered what experiment he was working on that night. I need to ask him if he remembers this event.

Still to this very day, Dr. Alkaitis goes into his lab 6 or 7 days a week and ‘paints with his plants’.

He has always inspired me and continues to do so with his insistence on being absolutely true to himself. A mad scientist in the best possible way. A visionary. A channeler of plant wisdom. A modern shaman of organic skincare.

In honor of my renegade pops, thank you for keeping us on our toes, for your love, mad genius & for the gift of glow. We LOVE you.

Trish xoxo

This Father's Day, we're offering up to 25% off online purchases, from Monday, June 8th through Sunday, June 21st. We also have a special offer on our Ultimate, Multifunctional Shaving Bundle which includes: Organic Purifying Facial Cleanser + Organic Nourishing Treatment Oil + Organic Soothing Gel.