Times may be tough for all of us now but a couple of years ago one Carmelite monastery in Massachusetts thought they had reached the end of the road.
They had run out of ways to raise money for their charitable work.
That's when, according to Brother Dennis Wyrzykowski, god intervened.
A local scientist, whose work included patented research into a compound in the human heart which also fights wrinkles came forward and offered to help the monks.
With the scientist's blessing, the religious community started selling a high-end skin cream online based on the compound.
And easeamine, as they called it, has been an international success.
Brother Dennis explained “It's a skin care product it's not a cosmetic, it's not a beauty product. We believe that and we know that beauty is intrinsic, it comes from within, it's not something that you can put on. Easeamine - our product - is a product that helps to develop healthy skin and in doing so there is side effects from that healthy skin. One of the side effects is the reduction of fine lines and wrinkles.”
The idea for the product came to Brother Dennis through one of the main members of his community, Doctor James Dobson.
The monk “Dr Dobson is a cardiovascular physiologist and in his studies in elements of the heart he found elements of adenosine and how it effects the heart and it was by a coincidence that he found that it has effect on fiboblast skin cells. His wife brought it to his attention and then he started to study and develop the adenosine and see what it can do for skin cells.”
For the community, entering the world of commercial business was always going to be tricky.
Brotehr Dennis explained “the team that we have working together are of the same mind and heart and we laboured over these topics to maintain the integrity of who we are. That integrity is also found in how we are going about business. The profits from easeamine will not only help support our monastery but also help to support the poor and marginalised in and around Worcester.”
The product has proven to be popular “they reorder because of the product itself and the difference they see in their skin. Easamine works both on the face the neck and the hands so once you use it, it's not something that you want to stop using.”
Easamine can be ordered at www.easamine.com