Student businessmen look to clean up with new product idea
Sophomores Marcus Garcia and Rowan Parmenter experiment with their new facial cleansing wipes.
Two Wenatchee High School students are on a mission — to “e-Lemonate” dirty faces with an individually-sealed facial cleansing wipe, called Lemonate.
Sophomores Rowan Parmenter and Marcus Garcia are the two executives of the new “company” that targets teens with busy lives.
After last football season, Parmenter wanted to get control of his sweaty, and sometimes acne-infected face. He found out that lemon was a natural cleanser, and took it from there.
“At first what happened was I got lemon juice and I put it even in a spray bottle, because I thought I wanted to do like a spray, so I could spray it in the helmet and stuff, what happened was I’d spray it in my face and it’d get in my eye, and then it’d start stinging, so you know I was like, ‘test and error,’ and we moved on,” Parmenter said.
About seven months later, Parmenter is partnered with manufacturer Diamond Wipes International in Chino, Calif. and has the first batch of Lemonate wipes ready for testing. The testing batch uses DWI’s formula, and focuses on an all-natural cleansing.
“We’re just trying to like get our name out and we’re doing our testing phase right now and everything, because once we get on Kickstarter, when we fund it, we can get our own wipes and then start selling them,” Parmenter said.
Kickstarter is an online site where internet-users can donate funds toward a project or organization — also known as a crowdfunding platform.
The wipes are most effective after a workout, Garcia said, but are still refreshing at any time.
Parmenter originally began with a manufacturer in New Jersey, then worked with a formulist in South Carolina, who had him complete an online course with an organization in Texas. That organization eventually referred him to the California manufacturer.
Once we get our product, we’re very close to like going a lot bigger … this like month and a half is going to be key for us.
— Sophomore Rowan Parmenter
Garcia joined the team about two months ago as the president of marketing. “It’s hard to do everything by yourself, it’s just a lot, so that’s like he’s definitely helped a lot and just like being another person just to motivate you,” Parmenter said.
Parmenter’s uncle, Rod, has been a major encourager, too.
“I don’t need to have a big role, it’s just I really feel like I could be a part of getting this thing actually going,” Garcia said.
Currently, the duo is working to build a social media following, and hoping to launch a Kickstarter campaign in a month or so.
“Once we get our product, we’re very close to like going a lot bigger … this like month and a half is going to be key for us,” Parmenter said. “We need to get people to like want to support us, and once we get there, and once we fund our Kickstarter, it’s going to be a lot easier.”
The Kickstarter campaign aims to raise $10,000 to order the first batch of Parmenter’s original formula of cleansing wipe. If the Kickstarter is successful, these wipes could begin hitting retail shelves — something Parmenter and Garcia wouldn’t mind one bit.
“We definitely want to, you know, make it a brand,” Parmenter said. “We want to be able to offer different product lines toward active, mainly young adults, but you know just active people in general.”
To sign up for emails about the launch of the Kickstarter from Lemonate, go to the website. You can also get involved by following @LemonateWipes on Twitter.
