The win is the men’s skincare brand’s second national award in two months, following AskMen’s 2026 Best New Skincare Brand.
(YourDigitalWall Editorial):- New York City, New York May 22, 2026 (Issuewire.com) – Strive’s Fresh Face Jojoba Scrub has won Men’s Journal’s 2026 Best Physical Exfoliator Face Wash Award. The award is part of the publication’s guide to the best face washes for men, and it recognizes a product that sells for $14 – the lowest-priced item in Strive’s line.
It is the second national award Strive has won this year. In April, AskMen named the company its 2026 Best New Skincare Brand. Both wins put the two-year-old, self-funded company alongside grooming brands many times its size.
Men’s Journal’s editors singled out the scrub’s exfoliant. Most face scrubs use crushed walnut shells, whose jagged edges can scratch and irritate skin. Fresh Face uses jojoba beads instead – small, perfectly round spheres that smooth away dead skin without the abrasion.
“We made Fresh Face the way we make everything: we picked the better ingredient and ate the higher cost,” said founder Angel Lolavar, a cosmetic chemist. “Jojoba beads are harder to work with and more expensive than walnut. They’re also much gentler. For a $14 product to win a national award against brands with real budgets, the formula has to be the thing doing the talking.”
Strive sells four products formulated for men’s skin — a face wash, moisturizer, exfoliating scrub, and anti-aging retinal serum — and publishes its ingredient concentrations rather than using proprietary blends. Olavarria started the brand two years ago with $40,000 of his own savings and no outside investors.
Strive also recently earned Leaping Bunny certification, the cruelty-free standard verified by the Coalition for Consumer Information on Cosmetics. The company does not test on animals at any stage of production.
The Fresh Face Jojoba Scrub and Strive’s full range are available at striveskin.com.
About Strive
Strive is a men’s skincare brand based in Forest Hills, New York. Founded in 2024 by cosmetic chemist Angel Olavarria, the company makes a focused line of face care for men — a cleanser, moisturizer, exfoliating scrub, and anti-aging serum — with disclosed ingredient concentrations and no animal testing. More at striveskin.com.
Media Contact
Angel Olavarria · Strive · [email protected] · the men’s skincare brand’s second national award in two months, following AskMen’s 2026 Best New Skincare Brand.
Media Contact
Strive Skincare
917-512-3220
104-60 Queens Boulevard
