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NEW YORK -- Inspiration is sometimes found in the coldest of places.
That was certainly the case for Ben Kaminsky, founder of niche skin-care brand B. Kamins Chemist. Kaminsky was on an ice-fishing trip in Quebec during the early Seventies when he observed some maple trees and wondered, "What's keeping them from freezing?" The answer flowed forth once a tree was tapped: sap.
Kaminsky concocted a derivative of the vital fluid that contained naturally occurring antioxidants, minerals and alpha-hydroxy acids. A pharmaceutical and dermatological chemist, he used the fluid to make sun care products for his son and treatment formulas for his wife,...