Bonus! Dissecting Timeline's Very Un-Biotech-Like Rebrand, Why “Longevity Science” is Here to Stay and What Exactly Is Mitochondrial Health?

0:00The following podcast is a dear media production.

0:07Welcome to Breaking Beauty, the podcast all about the breakthrough people, products, and moments in beauty. We're your hosts, Jill Dunn and Carleen Higgins.

0:20Welcome back to Breaking Beauty podcast, everyone. I'm your co-host, Carleen Higgins, and I'm here alongside my pod wife for life, Jill Dunn. Hey, Carleen. Yeah, you're never getting rid of me, so. I'm not complaining. It's not. And of course, we're two beauty editors turned beauty podcasters sharing the breakthrough people, products and moments in beauty. And, you know, Carlene, way back in January of this year, we did a whole episode that was like a crystal ball episode where we were talking and sharing our thoughts about what would be driving beauty trends and skincare trends and wellness trends for this year.

0:53And I'm happy to say that we correctly predicted that the word longevity would be one of the biggest buzzwords of the year. And it is everywhere. Yes. I actually just got an email in my inbox from a retailer this morning. They had edited a longevity box. And I was like, see, longevity. It's, you know, everything to do with biohacking and improving our health span is top of mind these days. And we're absolutely seeing it on top shelves too, which is why we are revisiting the topic today in an uninterrupted conversation with Timeline Skincare Chief Brand Officer Jamie Holmes in partnership with Timeline Skincare.

1:36And Timeline is definitely one to watch. In January of 2024, L 'Oreal's biotech investment arm Bold Ventures invested$66 million in Timeline. So as we've said before, when giants like L 'Oreal are putting tens of millions of dollars into investments like we're all ears. Yes. And Jamie's resume reads like a beauty lover's dream. She's held major roles at iconic brands like Benefit, Ole Henriksen, Too Faced, Marc Jacobs Beauty, Goop. And now she's leading the charge at Timeline Skincare, the biotech beauty brand on the brink of a major glow up. Yes. And Jamie is fresh off a plane from Switzerland where Timeline has just debuted their skincare refresh at 2.0 for the brand, which I also think begs an interesting question.

2:22Like, what is the secret, the art to a successful rebrand? And Jamie will be sharing key signs of when it's time for a brand makeover, a glow up, if you will, along with insider intel on marketing claims and truths and where she thinks the future of beauty is headed. But first, we're getting the 101 on where biotech is meeting beauty and how a breakthrough ingredient called MitoPure is shaking up the longevity skincare space. And if you're curious about Timeline, by the end of this interview and our chat with Jamie, we actually have a very special promo code just for our audience. It's exclusive, everyone.

2:57So visit timeline.com slash breaking and use the code breaking at checkout to get 20 % off your entire order. That's timeline.com slash breaking with the code breaking for 20 % off. So welcome to the podcast, Jamie.

3:25Hi, I'm Mary Alice Haney. And I'm Dr. Thais Ali Abadi. Dr. A, as she is known, is a world-renowned OB-GYN. And together, we're launching a new podcast, SheMD, to empower women to become their own health advocates. We're providing women with the knowledge and tools to really own their own health. With celebrity guests and today's leading experts, we're dropping episodes every Tuesday. So listen and subscribe on YouTube or wherever you get your podcasts so you never miss an episode.

4:04Welcome to the podcast, Jamie. It's great to have you here. Thanks so much. It's so great to be here, Jill and Carlene. Thanks for having me. So Jamie, we're going to start at the very beginning before your time at Timeline. I mean, your CV really reads like a drop-down menu of beauty brands at your favorite beauty retailer. It's quite impressive. As we said, everything from Benefit to Nicholas Paracone, Marc Jacobs Beauty, and most recently at Goop. Now, we're going to ask you to spill some tea. which well-known founder impressed you the most? Like who surprised you and in what way? It's always so hard to pick a favorite because they're all so wonderful and dynamic in completely different ways also, by the way.

4:47But if forced to pick a favorite, I'm going to say Ula Henriksen. And working for him, with him, was truly such a gift. I always say to people that it actually made me a better human being. He had such a presence and positivity that was really just contagious. And he had this wonderful ability to really connect with everyone and make them feel so special. I think the first phone call I ever had with him, very first introduction, he said, I love you at the end. And I was like, this is my new boss. Like, what is this? Is this okay? I don't actually know how I'm supposed to feel about this. But he was consistent with that.

5:23And every conversation that followed, it's just who he was. And so he gave us such incredible inspiration when we embarked on a rebrand journey. And the experience that I had with him over those years will honestly stay with me forever. They were truly unforgettable. Now, Jamie, you're no stranger to a beauty rebrand, a beauty refresh, and where you've really been the mastermind behind some epic turnaround stories. So what is a surefire way to know when it's time for a brand refresh? Truthfully, every brand's journey is really unique. Sometimes if a brand has been around for a long time, which was the case with Ula, a rebrand might be necessary to help evolve the messaging or product formats that still can feel true to the brand and timeless, but maybe need to be optimized so they're a little bit more relevant with the modern macro sort of climate or trends.

6:16And then sometimes for a newly emerging brand, which is the case with Timeline, a rebrand might really be necessary to help elevate and do justice to showcase what is so unique and special about the brand. And that could be through storytelling, through content, even just the presentation of the details of the packaging experience. I think what you learn along these journeys too, is that with every single rebrand, the goal is also about simplification. I think sometimes brands assume that a more is more approach is what will work best, like more content, more products, and maybe that'll lead to more sales.

6:52But really it's about staying true to the brand identity and the point of differentiation and just owning that space in a way that's simplified and it's digestible and will resonate with consumers. And I imagine when you're going through a rebrand, there's must be always that healthy anxiety where you're like this, you know, we want this to work, this better work. Can you give us any example of a rebrand turnaround story that you were a part of and what crucial moment made it really pop off? Like maybe there's some like a viral moment or probably longevity is probably healthier than a viral moment.

7:30But any examples come to mind? It's a really great question. And I think I'll use Ula again as an example that I'm really proud of because the brand, when I signed on, had been around for about 30 years and it had started to lose its way a little bit. There were so many products. I think we had probably almost 60 at the time I came on board. It was unclear what the brand was still trying to stand for. And even Ula himself as the founder wasn't necessarily being leveraged in a way that really showcased him as an authority in skincare. And he had this incredible background in cosmetic chemistry after years of treating skin at his own spa.

8:12And so when I came on board, the brand had been acquired by Kendo, which is part of LVMH. And everybody working on it just felt a lot of pressure to sort of turn it around and give it its spotlight in the sun again. I think for me, I also felt a lot of responsibility to Ula because it's a brand that he built with so much heart. And I just wanted everyone to see and feel what I could see that was so special in the brand. And so what we ended up doing was discontinuing a great number of the products because we had too many. But we decided to preserve some of the timeless heroes that the brand had been built on, like Truth Serum.

8:53We introduced sort of four distinctive color-coded product categories that were anchored in a primary benefit for consumers to make that clear. And then we took some risks with launching new products. And the one that I think is still so well-known today, years later, is Banana Bright Eye Crate. Oh, yes. And the story of this one is really interesting because it actually came from inspiration of being on set with Ula, watching him film educational videos. And then he started putting on some mascara. And I was like, why are you doing that? And he's like, well, I need my eyes to pop on camera. And so I was like, that's a very interesting idea.

9:32But how do we take that philosophy and turn it into a skincare forward product? We didn't have an eye treatment in the collection at the time. And so we started to think about maybe how could we infuse that into something really rich with vitamin C, maybe some makeup like properties to just help really brighten the eye area. And so we found a really interesting ingredient called banana powder, which is commonly used and well known by makeup artists to brighten and color correct. And so we infused that with vitamin C and we created what was of its day sort of the first skincare meets makeup hybrid product.

10:12We launched it around the world. We launched it as the number one prestige eye cream in its first 30 days. and then that led to a whole franchise development of Banana Bright. And so it allowed us to really start to innovate and push boundaries and do some things differently than we'd ever done with the brand. I think as a result of all of that collective effort with a lot of pressure on our shoulders in the first year of rebranding, we expanded globally to new markets. We became a top three global prestige skincare brand and really a great success story within the Kendo and LVMH umbrella. Yeah, that's really true.

10:50I do remember when Uli Hendrickson, and now I've been corrected on the pronunciation, so thank you for that, when it really did start to fly off the shelves at Sephora. And it was kind of like, wow, you know, he's not a young gun. It wasn't like a sexy, you know, kind of Marc Jacobs or Rihanna type of a brand. And so kudos to you for really your team for really making it relevant again. Thank you for that. We had a lot of fun doing it as well. I would say there was always a lot of energy that came through in that. So really, really proud. And you might say that you're on the precipice of a whole new era for timeline skincare, because today, while we're speaking to you, there's a whole new era that has hit store shelves.

11:39And of course, we mentioned earlier that L 'Oreal has invested via their bold ventures arm. So big things are on the horizon. Maybe you can start by telling us what drew you to Timeline and what potential did you see for, you know, something bigger and better? So I really had the pleasure of meeting our co-founder, Chris, first. And I think what stood out to me and what impressed me the most was really the scientific rigor of the company. The fact that they'd spent over 15 years in research and development and really was such a passion and commitment to impact people's lives. It started with this intention long before they decided to commercialize products.

12:21And I think that's pretty special as it tends to be the opposite of how many brands and products are formed today in this landscape. Personally, in my own life, I was going through some things at that time. My father passed away. And so just the entire conversation around longevity and a deeper meaning around that resonated with me really a lot. And so I wanted to be a part of that and really help lend my expertise to elevate the brand so that they could realize this intention even more and reach more people through that. Mm-hmm. Tell us what the new timeline will look and feel like. You talked about being strategic about it.

13:00Maybe people were unsure. So what are you turning around and what can people get excited about? So I think they can get excited about a few things. For one, we now have a complete skincare routine. Before, we had a very limited collection of only three products. Now we have a complete routine, which includes a cleanser, a liquid exfoliator, moisturizers. We've got a really rich nourishing texture and a lightweight dewy texture. We have our serum, which is still the number one bestseller in the collection today. And we've introduced a new eye cream. We also sold it out initially when we launched it for the very first time.

13:38But we've really thought about the details of this experience, certainly in making sure that the performance it stands unrivaled. We do clinical trials and testing on every single product that we produce. But in addition to that, just thinking about the elements of the brand that are really unique and special, like the ingredient itself, which is proprietary to the brand, MitoPure, has this really beautiful, buttery, golden yellow color. And it's also one of the first things I saw when I was introduced to the brand. I think they brought in a tray of the ingredient and there were like a hundred different vials of it.

14:16And the color really just struck me as something so unique. If you try our formulas, you'll notice that the formulas themselves are also this really beautiful golden buttery yellow color. And so we very thoughtfully decided to introduce that into the new packaging. So you see that accented on caps, you see it accented on MitoPure itself and the identity of that. And we're really proud of just how fresh and modern and really timeless that also looks in the presentation of the brand. But beyond that, I think even just thinking about the experience of the products and optimizing those. So for example, introducing things like a pressed pump for the moisturizers.

14:56So you get a really precise usage of formula. You're not wasting it. You're not having to dip your fingers into the jars over and over again. Even thinking about the experience of our new eye cream, we have introduced in the packaging a little mini cryo spoon. And it's kind of the cutest thing ever when you look at it, but it's also really functional in that it's double-ended. So there's a flat end that you can dispense formula out of, again, just to be really mindful of keeping it hygienic. But then there's a rounded end that you can use to actually massage around the eye area to help the puff soothe, boost your circulation.

15:30So really just thinking about a complete holistic wellness experience, but also just making it luxurious and special. I wanted to just go back a bit because I remember first hearing about Timeline. I think it was like in 2021 even from somebody in Toronto who is very health conscious. And she was talking about the Timeline supplements, the Mito Pure supplements. So talk us through how that because that was the first product, I believe it was like it was ingestibles, right? It totally was. So most consumers who know the brand today either know us through the ingredient or from the supplement products.

16:06The soft gels were the very first product that the brand launched about five years ago. They've continued to grow at a rapid, like high double-digit growth year over year because the performance is really remarkable. So we now have a highly loyal consumer base. This year, we did expand on that with a new format. It's the same dosage of MitoPure, but it's in a gummy form. And that really was created with intention to provide an alternative to those who maybe don't love taking a pill every single day. They want something delicious that still gives them a great benefit. So Carly, in this one is for you.

16:41It's a great experience to use. Maybe we can really just get into like, what is it? What is in the supplement or that made it so revolutionary back in 2020, the MitoPure itself? Because I think we need to, yeah, just a little 101 on that? So it's really a pure and patented and really a precise dosage of urolithin A. That's what we've patented as MitoPure within the brand. And what that does is it really supports the process of mitophagy, which is recycling damaged mitochondria and renewing them with new, healthy mitochondria. And the analogy I like to use is kind of thinking about your car battery, like for everything else within your car and your engine to function properly, the battery has got to be working for you.

17:32Mitochondria is within our cells. And so they also need to be healthy and optimized so that you feel better and so that you do appear your healthiest when it comes to energy sources and just the vitality within your skin as well. Now, I understand that Timeline actually has 56 patents and counting around this innovation. And it all was born from a university research lab in Switzerland, kind of like an MIT of Switzerland, all around this idea of cellular aging, as you mentioned. Now, tell us when it comes to the supplements, you kind of described what MitoPure does. How can you explain what it does internally when you take the supplement versus applying it topically?

18:20So when you're taking the supplement and you're ingesting it, I think what's really exciting is that it starts to unlock the process of mitophagy starting within the second day of use. But that it's really within the first 30 days that cells are transforming with these new healthy cells. And so we really request that everyone takes it consistently for at least 30 days to start to see and feel those benefits, which is increased energy and endurance. I'll hear people say to me oftentimes, like if they're struggling with a particular area of their body, like their knees, for example, they start taking the supplement.

18:57They use it consistently 30, 60, 90 days. They're able to just move better. So increased mobility is something that people tend to notice and react to immediately, along with just increased energy levels all around. Even things like brain fog. We all feel that. We all experience that from time to time on any given day. But you'll notice if you take this consistently, you start to really see and feel that diminished over time. And then I think on the skincare side of things differently, you know, we've demonstrated that Myopure really does target aging at the cellular level. transformation starts to begin within the first 15 days of use.

19:36And what that means is you'll see improvement in hydration, firmness of the skin and skin texture, radiance overall, and then fine lines and wrinkles. You really do start to see those diminish in those first 15 days. We've also tested clinical performance at eight weeks. We're testing now for 12 weeks and beyond. And what we've seen is that the product really does demonstrate continued transformation and really powerful results over time. Can you just speak, Jamie, to the piece of these clinical findings that you're talking about? Because we hear about a lot of skincare brands, but what specifically makes it longevity driven?

20:17What is it doing to yourselves? Like, are you going to look like yourself from 10 years ago? Because I think there is misconception out there about this term. So what is it doing versus other brands that might have clinicals as well? we want you to feel your healthiest your most beautiful over the course of a lifetime is the truth we are not a brand that's saying we are erasing signs of aging from your life from your skin at all we want to really celebrate and embrace the fact that aging is a privilege and to see any lines or marks on the face is representative of living a full life and so So that's really wonderful.

20:56And that's beautiful. We want to really optimize the experience for everyone so that you can feel your healthiest in your own skin, your most beautiful and your most confident really at every age. That's what longevity means to us. Okay. Okay. So not the forever 35 face headline I just saw in the cut like two days ago. Although that's appealing in its own way, but a different journey, a different journey. It's a different journey. And I think We want it to be honest and true as well. Yes, I appreciate that. There's a lot of conversation out there and there's a lot of noise. And I think, you know, anything that's telling you it's going to change your face within like the first hour of using it is not real and honest and true.

21:38And that's not driven by science and data behind it. And so we want to make sure that the promise and commitment that we're offering to anyone is really honest and true to the experience they're getting from us. Can you talk just a little bit about the culture around longevity in Switzerland. So we had talked about how you just got off a plane and you were just there. There does seem to be like a different sort of clinic that exists for longevity. I don't know that much about it, but maybe you do. So tell us about just like where this was born from, like what is some of the cultural context around it?

22:16It's been such a privilege for me to go there and to experience the place. It's pretty magical. And I remember the first time that I visited, everything you see around you, particularly in the areas of Lausanne, which is where offices or Geneva, is so rich and abundant in nature. You look around in any direction and you see mountains, you see beautiful, sparkly lakes. I remember telling my husband, even the birds sounded different there. Like when they chirped, they sounded like little magical fairy tale birds. So from second you arrive, you're really immersed in the beauty and the longevity and just the abundance of the place itself.

22:54And then when you meet the people, you really start to see how much pride they take in craftsmanship in every area, whether that's science and engineering and an institute like the EPFL, which is where we were born from, which is kind of like the MIT equivalent. But then you can translate that even into other categories like winemaking or watchmaking. They really just invest and take the time to ensure what they're producing is the best in the world. And I think the timeline, it started with PhD scientists who really pioneered their research and development for over 10 years before they commercialized any product.

23:31and I think that's just indicative of what you find in the culture of Switzerland and the people. It's a unique approach. Like they really desire to be producing the best, whether it's technology, whether it's the product, again, whether it's wine, to be the best in the world. So is it that they feel as though with longevity, if they study it intensely enough or have these retreats that they're really focusing on this topic, that they can, you can sort of, hack your way to a healthier you idea or, or I guess it's not even hack. It's because they're literally doing the research. They're just doing it.

24:10And it's a part of the lifestyle. I mean, I think it's very natural for them every single day to hike, to do yoga, to go ski, to just go be active in nature. Like it's so part of the culture there, but then combining that with really the rigor and the dedication to making something that's the best. You combine sort of all of those things and that's what has become so special in pioneering longevity in Switzerland in particular, I think. Now you've seen a lot of products come and go. What's your favorite from the new lineup from Timeline? Your personal fave. Oh, they're all my children. And so it's hard to pick a favorite, but I think the resurfacing exfoliator is one that I'm really excited about.

24:56And it's one that I've been using consistently since we started development. It's really powerful, but it's also really gentle and it has this wonderful blend of actives, which include salicylic acid, mandelic acid, lactic acid. And your skin texture feels really transformed for one use, but certainly with continual use, you'll notice improvement in texture gradients. This one, I think, honestly, I get probably more compliments from when I'm using it. People will So what have you done today? Are you trying something new or what are you wearing? I love the fact that it's super powerful and active, but also gentle on the skin.