Countless studies report that spending time in nature does wonders for our mental and physical health. The trouble is, whether you’re pedaling through the mountains or lifting a heavy stein on your favorite rooftop patio, your skin takes a bit of beating, says avid skier, fly-fisher, and gravel biker Gus Johnson. “It’s just that raw feeling of knowing you’ve been exposed for hours on end,” he says. “When I come in from the day, I can tell I’ve been outside. Now, take that feeling and spread it over decades of cumulative exposure.”

In February, he launched a solution to that epidermal pain point. Paracas offers skincare products designed to combat issues particular to three specific geographic regions: alpine, coastal, and desert. Instead of anti-aging or beautification, the Golden-based brand prioritizes climate adaptivity. For most of its products, that means an emphasis on hydration and recovery, benefits that might sound familiar to Gatorade guzzlers. “We want our brand to come almost as naturally as your go-to sports drink,” Johnson says. “We want customers to think, Oh, I’ve been outside all day. I’ve gotten killed by the elements. I know I’ve got a solution that can help me address these skin conditions.”

The inspiration for an aprés-outdoors skincare line first came to Johnson in 2008, when he moved from Washington D.C. to the San Francisco Bay Area and noticed the toll the West Coast climate took on his skin. The idea solidified six years later while traversing through the Atacama Desert, parts of which have never recorded rainfall. “I was just blown away by how much water and how much hydration I needed just to sustain myself,” he recalls. There, watching the sun set over Volcano Licancabur, he recognized the potential for skincare products that adapt to the specific climate, whether hot and arid, humid and salt-rich, or high-elevation and dry. “It was this lightbulb moment.”

Paracas founder Gus Johnson. Photo courtesy of Paracas

Leaning on more than two decades of experience as an operator and investor in health-tech and consumer industries, Johnson began to shape his epiphany into an enterprise. He was already a believer—and longtime user—of lightweight, concentrated skincare formulas known as serums. From there, he leveraged his relationships in consumer-packaged goods and cosmetic chemistry to develop climate-specific formulas for people playing in the desert, along the coast, and in alpine environments.

Each formula uses clinically tested ingredients indigenous to their respective biome. “These formulas use plants and botanicals well adapted to surviving the harsh conditions of a given climate,” he says. “I thought, Whatever thrives and survives there is probably something I should consider using in a skincare solution.”

The Desert serum ($59), for example, addresses dehydration, inflammation, and sun damage through a combination of oils derived from prickly pear cactuses, pinyon pines (commonly found on Colorado’s dry slopes), and jojoba plants, which are native to the Sonoran Desert. In 2025, Paracas’ Coastal and Alpine serums ($59 each) will join the roster with ingredients like blue tansy, which grows wild in the Mediterranean Basin, and edelweiss, a member of the daisy family found high in the Himalaya. While each fragrance- and preservative-free serum will feature seven oils, there won’t be any ingredient overlap, Johnson says.

He also knows that space inside your pack is precious, so Paracas takes a one-product-to-rule-them-all approach. Where it’s common for other brands to use three (or more) separate (often pricey) products to cleanse, tone, hydrate, and moisturize, Paracas’ serums offer all these benefits in a single bottle. “It’s a seamless routine,” Johnson says, “that can be easily incorporated into one’s post-outdoor recovery regimen.”

As of now, you can only score Paracas skincare on its website, but Johnson is working hard to get his serums on the shelves. Don’t expect to find his brand in the aisles at Sephora, though; Johnson is honing in on outlets where his outdoors-loving clientele can shop for hiking poles and sleeping bags alongside his climate-adaptive elixirs. “Paracas is for the person who might be into buying some outdoor gear or clothing,” Johnson says. “This is an extension of their outdoor kit.”