I first met Julia Lauren Clauser at a party to celebrate the 3rd anniversary of Lisa Gozlan’s jewellery collection. What struck me most, other than Julia’s friendly charm, was her perfect skin. She had no makeup on and her cheeks were the colour of crushed rose petals. In a crowd of beautiful people (and boy, does Lisa know some beautiful people), Julia’s radiance stood out.
We chatted for a bit, but it wasn’t until I got home and opened my party gift bag, that I realized Julia was the co-founder of Gldn Hour, an innovative health and beauty drink. I found a sample of this collagen-infused sparkling water in the bag, along with a bio of Julia and Jessica Dumont Nadeau, the brand’s co-creator. I called Julia to find out more.
Jessica (left) and Julia, co-founders and CEOs of Gldn Hour.
“Jessica and I come from backgrounds in product and food development and sales,” she explained. “In 2015, we fell in love with ingestibles that nourished beauty from the inside out. We thought it seemed backwards how we all focused on enhancing beauty from the outside and paid little attention to food and supplements that can really nourish the body and lead to significant beauty and health benefits.”
The pair began researching supplements and found that collagen peptides were proven to be highly effective at achieving anti-aging and beauty benefits. “But collagen as a supplement can be very unenjoyable to take,” says Julia, referring to its chalky texture and unpleasant smell. “So, we decided to develop a product that makes taking a daily dose of collagen easy and enjoyable. With Gldn Hour, a sip of self-care was born.”
Available in five all-natural, organic-juice based flavours, this powerhouse sip has zero sugar, just 25 calories per 355-ml can, and it’s infused with aloe vera – all this, as well as 5 grams of marine collagen. “Out of all the various sources of collagen, we chose marine collagen because it is 100% type-1 collagen which is the best for hair, skin, nails and joints. We also use a Canadian, non-GMO, sustainable source to protect and respect our oceans.”
And then there are the flavours. “We developed our flavour combinations to mask the natural aromas of the collagen and also to be refreshing,” say Julia. “I love them all, but if I had to pick one today, I would go for peach ginger.”
I can attest they are all delicious and the cherry coconut reminds me of a grown-up version of cream soda. Gldn Hour is also a nice treat in a martini glass when you don’t feel like drinking alcohol or a great mix for when you do. “Gldn hour really is the perfect mix for any drink of choice – delivering the benefits of collagen and no sugar! Mocktails or cocktails, it’s always a big hit.”
The brand is quickly gaining fans across Canada and there are plans to launch in California soon. “Besides customers telling us, ‘It is delicious’ and ‘it’s my new go-to,’ Jessica and I love when existing collagen consumers switch to Gldn Hour because it’s a much more convenient and enjoyable way to get their daily dose of collagen. It makes us feel proud that we achieved our objective.”
And a radiant cheers to that…
