There are many reasons people are drawn to Palm Springs. Ted Gibson and Jason Backe seem to encompass them all. The creative and colorful souls were called to trade the spotlight for inner light and the fast track for a path to wellness that led them here.
As life and business partners for over 30 years, these beauty industry leaders pour passion into everything they do. During their illustrious careers, they have introduced cutting-edge salons in New York and Los Angeles, starred on multiple reality TV shows, launched top beauty product lines and continue to manage a clientele list that has included Angelina Jolie, Anne Hathaway and Renée Zellweger. Backe is also an award-winning hair colorist and past educator for global beauty brands.
But throughout their travels, no place has held the special connection they feel to Palm Springs, and the celebrity hairdressers are here to stay.
“When we came to Palm Springs, it was an immediate love affair,” says Backe. “The inspiration we feel here has just been incredible.” They bought in 2018 and, in 2024, decided to call Palm Springs home. Driven by their newfound dedication to wellness, they are already making an impact in our community. Last year, they introduced Ascension, a functional mushroom blend additive available in neighborhood shops and online (try the Ted Gibson® Cloud 9 at Coffeeism), and began clinical trials on Hyper Shroom Complex, a groundbreaking wellness hair care line. This year, they are also launching the Convergence Beauty Wellness Science Summit at the Renaissance Hotel Palm Springs in May.
Their wellness inspiration
Ten years ago, Gibson’s beloved mother developed dementia. As they considered her care, they began to contemplate their own longevity. Through research, they discovered the cognitive benefits of lion’s mane mushrooms, incorporating a daily dose into their morning routine. Impressed by the results, they further researched chaga mushrooms for immunity, reishi for beauty, tremella for skin care, and then blue-green algae for both brain and beauty. All these adaptogens make up the superfood powder blend of Ascension, which can be added to coffee, smoothies – even baking. Backe, also a talented cook, adds it to his zucchini bread.
They both start their day with the product. “Our morning wellness practices and rituals have become such an important part of our lives,” he says. “Experiencing the impact these adaptogens were having led us to Ascension.”
“The fans and followers we have built over the last 30 years together would expect us to launch a shampoo or styling product,” adds Gibson, “but we really wanted them to know that we are now taking our health, our community’s health and our world’s health seriously. It is a big part of our lifestyle now.”
“We’ve had two other brands before this, but I feel this one really has a purpose, and that purpose is to help people feel good from the inside out; not just from the outside in,” says Gibson. “That purpose was inspired, first by my mother, but also by our appreciation for living well since moving to Palm Springs.”
They also recognized that there were no premium hair care products using functional mushrooms, so they created Hyper Shroom Complex, a proprietary blend containing chaga, reishi, lion’s mane, tremella, and cordyceps with two mushroom-derived peptides that will be the anchor for every hair, skin and body care product they make.
“The blend is designed for hair and skin wellness, repair, softness and shine across all hair textures,” says Backe. They plan to introduce their first products later this year.
Converging the wellness and beauty communities
The Convergence Summit in May is designed to reflect a shift in the beauty industry. Their goal is to bring consumers and professionals together for education and conversation that elevate luxury beauty and wellness from both sides of the chair. Featuring longevity doctors, scientists, mycologists and top beauty-industry professionals, they aim to also elevate Greater Palm Springs’s beauty and wellness industries.
“For a long time, beauty lived in divided worlds,” says Gibson. “There was professional beauty behind the chair and consumer beauty at home. Somewhere along the way, those lines began to blur, not because standards changed, but because curiosity did. Consumers are more educated and invested in their health, and professionals are being called to evolve into leaders in wellness and science. Convergence was created to honor that moment.”
They feel Palm Springs is the right place for the summit as the audience here appreciates education and quality. “Like many who move here, we have all done big things, and there is so much we can contribute in an effort to strengthen the community.”
“As the valley continues to grow, the clientele is looking for quality, and local professionals here don’t necessarily have access to the hands-on education,” says Backe. “We will be providing premium education that they can bring back into their salons to elevate their business, and in turn elevate the local beauty industry.”
Lauren Del Sarto is founder and publisher of Desert Health. To learn more, visit www.tedgibson.com. (Photos by Roberto Ligresti)
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