Lotion motion: skin care company shifts focus from boutiques to the sweat set.

WHY would the developers of a high-end skin care product line eschew the tony shelves of Nordstrom for a sweaty spot at the local sporting goods store?

For the backers of Brave Soldier, the answer is simple: They're going back to the future. After spending the last several years trying to make a go of it in large national retail outlets, the company is returning to its roots. It is now re-emphasizing its marketing to the smaller niche of athletic retailers.

Jeffrey Neal, an avid mountain biker, is the man at the helm of Brave Soldier LLC, the firm he co-founded with Beverly Hills dermatologist Dr. Ezra Kest. Functional and decidedly low-key, the Brave Soldier offices--located on Beverly Boulevard above a cycling shop Neal managed for years--seem in line with the marketing shift. Led Zeppelin plays softly from a stereo in a large room where an employee pulls products from racks to fill phone and Internet orders. A mountain bike hangs from hooks on the ceiling and signed posters of tri-athletes and cyclists line the hallway.

The journey from cycling balm to Los Angeles' high-end retail outlets and back again to its athletic roots occurred, at least in part, accidentally. Neal turned up in Dr. Kest's office a few years back with a nasty case of what cylists refer to as "road rash"--deep cuts and abrasions that are the result of skin meeting the pavement, in Neal's case at 45 mph. Kest, a mountain biker himself, treated Neal with an ointment he used to help patients recover from laser surgery. The balm contained tea tree and jojoba oils, triclosan and lidocaine.

The treatment worked so well that the pair decided to try to sell the product, putting the ointment into small jars with homemade labels and selling it out of I. Martin Imports, the cycling store where Neal worked as a manager.

After receiving positive feedback from customers who used the ointment, the pair hit the road, selling it out of tents at cycling events and triathlons along the West Coast. All they while, they were developing formulas and products, including a lip balm with sunscreen and an antiseptic spray.

Brave Soldier's entry into the high-end market came in late 2001, when Kest and Neal linked up with Robin Coe-Hutchings, who owns Fred Segal's Essentials, a boutique shop specializing in skin care products.

When Coe-Hutchings began to carry Brave Soldier at Fred Segal's, a new sort of consumer, more concerned with creating an enticing skin glow than curing road rash, saw the product. Driven by that new higher-end potential, Neal and Kest forged ahead in the high-end retail market. They put together a board of directors--Coe-Hutchings, Marry Feldman, who owns the I. Martin cycling shop, and advertising gums Leonard Pearlstein and Dan Ginsberg.

They developed more products--such as a Brave Soldier shaving line and a body lotion--and eventually, the brand bad enough success that it was launched in Barneys New York, Nordstrom and Sephora stores. In 2003, company revenues were at about $300,000 and in 2004 grew to about $500,000.

"Men aren't usually our biggest demographic, but (Brave Soldier) has sold well over the Internet, particularly the gift sets," said Bobby Babajian, a manager of the online store at L.A.'s trendy boutique Kitson.

Despite the allure of being in big-name stores, the reality of being a small company--one with limited means--set in. The product was pushed toward the back of the crowded market and the company couldn't afford to advertise its way to the front.

"It was seductive, but we are not a 'me, too,' kind of brand," said Feldman of the move to large retailers.

To do battle with other brands in the department stores, Neal found that it would take more money than the company could spend on marketing, and the cost of training salespeople to staff the stores that carried Brave Soldier line was breaking the bank.

"We started being swept down that river and found it cost us a fortune to be in there," Neal said. "We wanted to try to build our name and reputation on the sheer quality of our product; it was naive. To be in those stores and market for it, you can't do it for less than $250,000 a year. But can you sell that much product to justify that?"

Despite bringing in about $800,000 last year, Neal said the company suffered in the process, and didn't do as well as it could have. About six months ago, the group decided to cut losses, transition out of the department stores and go back to what they did best--smaller marketing for a specialized athletic skin care market.

The company recently released its newest product--Friction Zone, a lubricant barrier that protects cyclists, runners, and tri-athletes from chafing and blisters during racing events--and Neal said he expects sales of the product to boost revenues this year to nearly $1 million. Neal said Brave Soldier also would release a silicone-based protective eye cream late this year, a product that will likely be popular with high-end buyers.

Brave Soldier LLC

Year founded: 1998

Core business: Protective skin care and first-aid products geared toward athletes

Founders: Jeffrey Neal, Dr. Ezra Kest

Employees in 2004: Seven

Employees in 2005: Seven

Revenue in 2004: $500,000

Revenue in 2005: $800,000

Goal: Grow sales by extending brand reach into athletic market

Driving force: Developing products to protect the skin and heal superficial athletic injuries