Online, Verns bills itself as made in the USA. If you want to get more specific, though, the all-natural, small-batch men’s grooming line is made right here in a speakeasy-style barbershop in Saratoga Springs.

Dakota McGivern, the owner of Broadway’s Boiler Room Cut & Shave Company and mastermind behind Verns, got his start in grooming young—he was a tinkering teenager who asked for a five-pound brick of beeswax for Christmas and experimented his way into early disaster. 

“My first batch of lip balm was basically half beeswax, half Crisco,” he says. “It was horrendous. My parents had to throw out the pot.” 

Barbering came later, giving him the hands-on understanding of what men’s hair and skin actually need, and what the market wasn’t delivering. 

“Most stuff out there for your skin is junk,” he says. “It’s just loaded with chemicals.” On the other hand, Verns products, which include everything from aftershave and beard oil to solid cologne, are made from the cleanest ingredients McGivern can source: essential oils, jojoba from Texas, sunflower oil, vitamin E, and blends inspired by American landscapes and hardworking hands. 

If you’re growing a beard, McGivern says to start with exfoliation and nothing more. Hit the three-week itch, and beard oil becomes essential. When the scraggle arrives, shift to balm for shape and hold.

In an era when men are finally embracing skin health and small rituals, Verns feels like a return to the way things used to be—thoughtful, purposeful, and made by hand.

“Our stuff is all-natural, straight-from-the-earth ingredients,” McGivern says. “The focus is the health of your hair and skin, 100 percent.”