How THAROS Built a Men's Lifestyle Brand with Selfnamed
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Taking care of yourself is not a one-time decision. It's a daily practice.
That philosophy sits at the core of THAROS, the men's skincare brand co-founded by Jordi Solanas, Marcel Solanas, and Israel Garcia. Named after the ancient Greek word tharros – meaning courage – THAROS was built for men who are already doing the work: training, building habits, playing the long game. The only thing missing was skincare that felt like it was made for them.
So they created THAROS.
When searching for a manufacturing partner, Selfnamed matched all their standards, and what started as a product idea has since grown into an expanding men's grooming brand with a growing customer base in the US and a clear vision for what comes next.
Key Takeaways
A sharp brand identity from the start, grounded in specific values, not generic messaging, made every other decision easier to make.
THAROS started broad and deliberately narrowed, learning that men build routines around two or three products, not six.
Education is the defining challenge of men's skincare, and the biggest opportunity for brands willing to do that work.
THAROS thinks of itself as a lifestyle brand first. That distinction shapes every content, community, and product decision they make.
The Brand That Was Missing
It was the end of 2023. Jordi, Marcel, and Israel had already built habits around taking care of themselves – training, nutrition, mental health. They wanted to add skincare to that list. So they looked.
"I started to look for brands that would relate to myself, and I didn’t find anything," says Jordi. "Everything was either general – for everyone – or when it was focused on men, it didn't fit my identity or the identity of my friends and the people around me."
The brands that existed felt too clinical, too generic, or aimed at a version of men that didn't match who they were. Rather than settle, they decided to build what was missing.
That's how THAROS began.
Courage as a Brand Identity
Once they decided to create a skincare brand, the founders were clear about what they wanted the brand to stand for: always improving, always getting a little bit better. The harder part was finding a visual and verbal language to express it.
A close friend who builds brands for other companies helped them get there. The founders had always been drawn to Greek mythology, and when they combined that aesthetic with the values they'd already defined, the brand clicked into place.
"Tharos itself is an adaptation from the Greek word tharros, which means courage," Jordi explains. "That's why we named the brand THAROS."
The identity – strength, ethics, self-improvement – flowed from there. Premium skincare framed not as vanity, but as a form of excellence. "Made for Men By Men" isn't just a tagline. It's where the brand began.
Selfnamed: The Manufacturing Partner THAROS Needed
When the founders started looking for a manufacturing partner, regulatory compliance came first.
"When you're talking about cosmetics, you need someone trustworthy that you will not have problems with in the future," says Marcel. "You can't just pick a supplier and go."
After reviewing different options, they found Selfnamed.
"We loved the simplicity for when you are starting," Marcel says. "Selfnamed offers a very good 360 approach to manufacturing – it's easy to start the business and keep going."
The natural and organic profile of Selfnamed's catalog was also a deciding factor.
"If you put so many chemicals on your skin, you can harm yourself," Marcel adds. "Having those organic, natural products – that's something we trust. And when we've expanded into other markets and tried to find something similar, we see how difficult it is. What you're offering in quality, and how easy the process was from the beginning – that's hard to replicate."
Selfnamed's catalog of over 200 ready-to-brand products across face, body, and hair care, most carrying COSMOS certifications by ECOCERT, gave THAROS the foundation to build a real range without starting from scratch on formulation.
The design process also removed a common early-stage bottleneck.
"What we loved from the beginning was the easy approach to design – having the different mockups ready and product views right there," Marcel says. "This was a game changer, because you can go out there with products without needing a professional shoot first. You don't always have the products in hand at the start."
Testing Everything, Then Narrowing Down
The early product strategy was deliberately exploratory.
"We started thinking: we have a bunch of products, let's try everything," Jordi says. "We created routines – big routines. Then we narrowed them down."
The data was clear: men don't use six products. They use two or three. The brand made peace with that early, shaping its catalog down to a tighter set of hero products and building marketing and education around those.
"It's better to have fewer products and grow strategically," Jordi explains. "Launching new products becomes a marketing moment in itself."
The skin quiz on the THAROS website became an important tool, not just to help customers find the right products, but to collect data on who was visiting and what they actually needed.
"You can understand your audience even before they buy," Jordi says. "Which age, which skin type – all of it. Data is key."
Playing the Long Game
The brand's content strategy is built around making complexity accessible.
"Our message is about being better, 1% better, achieving something greater over time," says Marcel. "The same as what you eat and the exercise you do. It's a long game."
THAROS built its early audience primarily through Instagram and a consistent weekly blog.
"Social media gets people involved in the brand," Jordi says. "The blog is how you keep them coming back. One early tactic stood out: a referral code program for first customers. Buyers received a unique code to share with friends, giving both a discount on the next purchase. And for us, word of mouth is one of the best ways to know if the products are actually working – because you only share what worked for you."
That kind of engagement also showed up in unexpected ways.
"We've had customers tell us their full stories – one person living between Canada and Sweden, managing two completely different climates, two different routines," Jordi says. "You really see the progress, and you see how they talk about your products. They engage, and that's great."
THAROS is a Lifestyle Brand
When thinking about the brand's future, they envision their audience growing alongside it.
"Our mission is not only to help on the skin, but to help men grow – to be better each day," Jordi says. "Mental health, physical health, skin health – all of it."
The THAROS blog already covers personal development, city events, and sports alongside skincare. The vision is a lifestyle brand, not just a skincare brand.
"Once you have a community that trusts your brand, they become fans," Jordi says. "They feel part of something. And if they trust the brand, you have a customer for life."
Their Advice: Start, Then Learn
If there's one thing the THAROS founders would tell someone standing where they stood in 2023, it's not to wait until everything is figured out.
"Dare to take the first step," says Marcel. "Test your products, understand what works. You don't need to have everything figured out from day one."
And expect the education to be as much yours as your customers'.
"When we started, we studied everything – joined webinars, researched formulations, learned about ingredients," Jordi says. "The market is still young, which is a gift. Being one of the first means you get to help define what men's skincare looks like.”
The brand is still early in that process. But with a sharp identity, a focused product range, a growing US presence, and a community strategy taking shape, THAROS is becoming exactly the brand they set out to be.
THAROS is co-founded by Jordi Solanas, Marcel Solanas, and Israel Garcia.
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