In 2011, Tony Diodore got the gig of a lifetime. Out of the blue a friend called him one day and told him that Lou Reed was having guitar auditions for his touring band and he wanted to hear Tony. It was the chance of a lifetime, however unlikely, so Tony took the challenge. His friend told him to bring his violin to the audition, knowing he had grown up as a classically trained violinist. It could come in handy.

As luck would have it, his friend was right, and Tony got the gig. The violin was what opened the door, and Tony’s life was forever changed.

The tour was in the summer of 2011, and it would be mostly in Italy. It was during that tour that Tony met who would become his wife, Silvia, while sitting at a café in a small town in Tuscany called Montecatini Terme. She was perfectly Italian — una donna bellissima — and it was clear, however inconvenient it might be, that they had to be together. They stayed together through years of living on separate continents, and Silvia finally moved to NYC, where Tony was living at the time.

But what does this have to do with skincare?

Musicians always have day jobs, and Tony’s was as a Studio Director for a graphic design agency in NYC that focused on cosmetics and skincare. It was here that Tony realized there was a huge gap in the world of men’s skincare products, and men were completely underserved in this area. It was also at this time that the late-night world of rock ’n’ roll became less and less appealing.

Tony and Silvia moved out of the city once they had their family. But instead of just winding down and living through memories with yearly trips to Italy to visit family, it was time to get cracking on the biggest project yet. With a little extra room, a wife, two young boys, and a full-time career (not to mention being a bit long in the tooth), it was time to stack on the pressure, take out loans, find investors, and create the business he had been dreaming of for so many years.

Oak Bishop Skincare for Men is the product of a lifetime of experience with roots in rock music, long-distance love, and Italian culture with an American drive. What we bring to you is unlike anything out there: two years of development and slowly getting every formula exactly right. We hope you enjoy the products we’ve painstakingly created and would love to hear from you.