Amy Peterson Launches Lenox and Sixteenth: Professional Skincare at Home

0:02Hey guys, welcome back to Skin Anarchy. Today's episode is very special to me because I'm welcoming back an old friend Amy Peterson was on our show about you know a couple years back to skin an artying a couple of skin She actually sits on the New Beauty Brain Trust and is also a key opinion leader for multiple devices she has at her practice. And now Amy has decided to launch her own line, you know, and really kind of tackle the issue of what do we do when we go home from our facials, from our treatments? How do we maintain that beautiful radiant skin in a way that's not going to irritate us?

0:53It's not going to cause, you know, just sensitized skin issues. And, you know, her line is really crafted with so much thought and obviously loads of experience behind it. So welcome back, Amy. I'm so excited to talk to you again today and to really explore this beautiful new chapter in your career. Thank you so much. Yes, it's been a couple of years and I am just thrilled to be back with you, Dr. Ekta. I'm so excited to chat and I can't wait to learn like what you've been up to. I know there's a lot of things that have been in the works. I mean, obviously the new line coming out, but how's everything been?

1:25If you can kind of give us our listeners a little background about yourself, that'd be a really great place to start, you know, just to refresh everyone's memory. Yeah. So I've been in aesthetics for about 20 years. It was the first thing I went into right out of college and esthetician school. And next to my boys and my family, it's my passion. I opened my own practice after being a trainer for many years and working in plastics and derm. I opened my own practice in Miami Beach about five years ago. and it has been just an absolute joy. Being a small business owner, it can be tough at times for sure, but I love what I do.

2:04I feel like I have the best clients in the world. We now have 10 soon to be 13 treatment rooms. We have some of the best technology there is out there and we're really a center for education and excellence. We have a lot of trainers that work here in the industry. And then, fast forward five years, I'm super excited to announce that I'm launching a skincare line. I've spent two years working on these formulations and it's just been an incredible ride. It's called Lennox and 16th. And it's basically, that's the intersection that my office is on. And it's really that my clients are my muses and I built this for them.

2:47I used you know my practice my aesthetics practice as essentially my laboratory for creating this product line and I am just absolutely thrilled that it's going to be launching soon I am so excited that you're coming out with the line like I cannot tell you how refreshing it is to see somebody with the amount of experience that you have and you know as much work as you've done with really, you know, understanding the skin, right? I mean, I think a lot of times in our industry, we have people who are dubbed experts and there's nothing wrong with that. But I truly believe that an expert is somebody who has studied their craft for a long time, you know?

3:28And it's something that is rare to see in almost any industry these days, you know, if you ask me. And so when I look at your work, Amy, I'm just always like, you know, this is the kind of person that I want to see behind a skincare line, you know? Someone who gets skin, who understands what actually works on a day-to-day basis. Because as you know, there's so many products out here that are giving you these false claims. There's so much marketing. And I know a lot of our listeners can relate to this. A lot of you chime in with, you know, you want product recommendations. And sometimes I'm unable to give you those because there's a lot of things that are just too harsh, I feel like, you know, for the skin.

4:05But Amy, I want to talk about your line because I feel like the work that you've done, it really is reflected in the products. And how long did it take you to come up with what you wanted to bring out, you know, as like the first launches for this? You know, I would say it's been it's been kind of my whole career just looking at consumerism, looking at what has what is out there, seeing what people are drawn to seeing quote unquote the white space if you will if it's a true white space and really kind of you know deciding what I wanted to formulate I wanted it to be you know if it wasn't some a product that I was going to miss if I didn't have if I went on vacation and I was upset I didn't take it with me like that's like my threshold for like could I launch something into this world?

4:58Because as you know, it's a super saturated market. Lots of people are doing it. You don't have to be an expert to do it. For me, it just had to be a product that I couldn't live without personally. And it had to be a product that I got a lot of feedback for. I'm not going to market lightly. These products have been in development for a while. I'm fortunate enough to have an office where I was able to really test them out aside from doing my own testing within, you know, the brand, the clinical and the consumer perception, I was able to actually test them out on real people in real time, getting incredible feedback, pivoting when I needed to working hand in hand with my chemists.

5:37Like I have the best chemists and I have become really good friends with them. I mean, we really are in this together and I'm a very hands-on founder, just like I am with the practice. I just, I feel like it's my responsibility to put something out into the world that will really move the needle in someone's regimen. And when someone invests in a product like Lennox and 16th, I want them to feel the complete value from start to finish, just like if you walk into my practice. Of course. So that makes so much sense. I love that you said that. And I love that you work so closely with the chemists because honestly, oftentimes I think the biggest missing link, at least for me as a consumer, is this understanding of like what actually does the skin respond to you know and I think that's a really big question because when we look at like normal human physiology you're you know you're taught about the layers of the skin you're taught about the receptors of the skin and all of these potential targets for what we would consider you know things that we could go after to really get optimal skin benefits but then when you look at the practicality of that there's a whole different story and I'm I'm sure, Amy, you've seen this in your practice, right?

6:50It's like people, everybody needs something different. But that underlying, like, I guess you could say, like, the common ground of what people need for beautiful skin. I mean, what do you think that is from what you've seen on a daily basis with working with your clients and obviously crafting the line? Like, what do you think that really is? You know, I've narrowed that down. And it's interesting because it's very hard to put into words what beautiful skin is, right? And the way that I have established that in my practice is when you're seeing a woman walking down the street and you're like, oh my God, that woman has beautiful skin.

7:27What is it really? And I think it's that she reflects light really well and doesn't absorb it. And I think that's what people are chasing. If I could put it into words, you know, you could use all these other words to describe it, but it's really, can you really reflect light? Can you absorb light? You know, we, I have this unique ability and I've crafted it over time to really take, you know, rather complicated, like lasers and treatments and really kind of explain to my clients what's needed, where, and we use different analogies at the practice, you know, the mattress and the sheets, and we use the framework of a bed and it's, and it's something that we've used for a long time.

8:08So I think, you know, you really want a great mattress and you want great sheets. And there's some things that topical skincare can achieve, and there's some things that it can't achieve. And I think as far as really perfecting those sheets, and allowing that skin to, you know, to reflect that light rather than absorb it is really important. that's yeah I like that I like how you you know you explain that because you know with with that I mean I know that there was a whole movement around well you know you want really dewy skin and really had and people went overboard I feel like with this whole hydration component you know of like okay just slather a bunch of you know different products on your face and eventually you're going to get that beautiful glowing skin but really what that ended up doing was clogging everyone's pores and you know leading to all this mess right downstream and so that's where I find it to be so fascinating is that we're like I think people understand that like you know what we all want is exactly what you said where it's like this beautiful dewy you know natural complexion that just you radiate you look like you're radiating right from within but to get there I think we just I don't know we we often miss the mark so I want to talk about some of the products actually The two that I'm testing, I'm absolutely in love with.

9:26And I'd love for you to talk about both of those serums, if you could. Thank you. I'm super excited that you got a chance to try them. That's really important to me. The feedback is where we grow as founders and understand our products even more. Because everyone, to your point earlier, has different skin. So when I saw different brands launching throughout my career, I would see sometimes they launch with a lot of products. or they feel like they need to have this whole range, like, oh my God, I can't have a serum without a cleanser. And I can't do this without an SPF. I don't feel that way. I feel like heroes are really born from giving all your attention to that specific SKU.

10:07So I'm actually launching with two SKUs and their powerhouse serums. One of them is called the laser serum. And just to be clear, it's not post-treatment. It's not after, you know, after a laser, but it's really a powerhouse formula that tackles multiple issues head on that can be used on every skin type. It's really inspired by the treatments I offer at my practice to my clients. And it really brightens the skin. It's so gentle, yet, you know, it can be, it's so impactful. And that was really important to me when I saw a lot of different products, retinols and different things that people couldn't use on the market because it, it caused irritation in their skin.

10:53They had to kind of back off of it. You know, for me, I, I have a lot of vascular components to my skin. I don't quite have rosacea, but I'm pretty vascular. And so, you know, I wanted to formulate this product to exfoliate really well, while being so gentle that you could use it on the client who has the most sensitive skin or reactive skin. And I, and I use those both those terms because a lot of people walk around saying I have sensitive skin and really they just have reactive skin, but they can handle a lot of it. So this, the laser serum is, you know, use that night. We're telling people initially use it every other night to begin with, because it's always great to acclimate to it.

11:38And then you can actually use it every single night. And the feedback on the laser serum has just been incredible the textures incredible people notice a difference even after one night of using it which has just made me I mean I'm smiling because that's what I wanted yeah I'm one of those people I love those people yeah because honestly the first time I tried it I mean just to be very very transparent with all of our listeners I mean the first time I tried the serum you guys like I was literally blown away because I love a good exfoliant I'm one of those people like I will try anything because I my skin needs exfoliation like bottom line you know but like I didn't know what to expect going in you know it was something I was trying I knew that Amy makes great products and I you know she she does her she does her thing right so I was like it's gonna be good no matter what but then I tried it and I woke up the next day and my skin was absolutely beautiful like it was glowing it was not sensitive it wasn't red it didn't feel like now I have to Because, you know, as many of you know, when you exfoliate sometimes, some products, when you're using them, you'll wake up and you'll have sensitivity, you know, and you'll wake up with this feeling of, I need to put something on that's going to protect me now.

12:52You know what I mean? For, like, the rest of the day and the next two days. And I didn't, I mean, none of that was there. It was just, I woke up, loved the way my skin looked, wanted to use the product again. Like, it was an amazing experience as a consumer. Because, you know, for me, that's very important. And I think that for a lot of us that we're looking for products that we can say, yes, this is something I'm going to put in my arsenal. I'm going to have this with me, you know, and I'm going to be able to rely on this. So, yeah, I was I was blown away. I thought it was amazing right after the first night.

13:24So, I mean, you you have to miss it when it's gone. And that was it. So, you know, I think it's important with this product to note that it's this balancing. So the acid complex, which is featuring like lactic, glycolic, and mandelic are also balanced with glycerin, which is an incredible humectant. It's also paired with squalene, which mimics the natural skin lipids to prevent moisture loss. It's also got a blend of antioxidants in there that are plant derived ingredients. And basically like they're all working simultaneously, which was a hard formula to get to. and then to counteract potential redness or dryness we actually um put some aloe vera some yeast some prickly pear extract like we have this is like a power-packed formula and one thing that's really notable about it is the texture i mean it's an incredible texture and it does the job like even after you know when i finally froze this formula i was like i woke up the next morning And I was like, oh my God, like, this is it.

14:24This is, this is what I want in the laser serum. And it was really important to name it that because, you know, in my opinion, when a client comes into my practice, like what we do here is we have to move the needle. We have to make change in the skin. You know, that's our responsibility. And I feel like these products also need to do that. Absolutely. No, I love that. And I like that you named it the laser serum. I think that a lot of times, I mean, for me, I'll be honest with you, I don't get any aesthetic treatments done. And it's not because I look down on them at all. No, I'm very fascinated by all the technology and the wonderful results.

15:00But I personally just don't, well, I don't have any time. You know what I mean? So I just don't have the time to go in and get anything done, which I wish I did. But also because I've just never done it. It's not something that I feel like, you know, I've opted in for, you know, I haven't wanted to, is my point. but I'm very heavy with skincare so skincare for me is like my skincare needs to work you know and it needs to do a job and it needs to be something I can really rely on and so the fact that you named it that is actually it's nice you know because it feels like I'm actually using something that's made for like this clinical grade youth right for like in terms of skin health and I like that feeling because I really believe in like clinical grade skincare and I and medical whatever that terminology is nowadays they're using.

15:48But something basically, the bottom line is something that works, something that I can rely on, and something that's going to show me results. And this is exactly what I experienced when I used the product. So I love that you named it the way you did. And it really lives up to its name. Yeah. And I think it's important that there were certain things that were non-negotiable for me. I mean, obviously the formula had to be exceptional. That's a given when anyone, you know, who is in this, I think for the right reasons knows and wants to do. Um, I also think from a consumer standpoint, you know, I used to see people that would say like, I love this product, but God, it runs out so quick.

16:27And so it was really important to me that people felt like they were making an investment that they, that they would have for a while. Right. So we did 50 ml bottles, which was really important. And a lot of people said, well, you know, you know, they may have not thought that was the smartest business move, in my opinion. You know, the smartest business move is doing right by the people who are investing in you. And I and I felt that way, too. You know, I always get annoyed when I run out of products so quickly. So, you know, our bottles are 50 ml. The packaging, I don't know. I think you've seen it, but it's exceptional.

16:59It's beautiful. Every detail on it was, you know, I believe that people are attracted to things. that, you know, that they want to purchase. I've seen some formulations that I think are great, that aren't in great packaging, so they don't necessarily stand out. And if you're into skincare, people do like, you know, an attractive bottle with a good method of pumping out, not that it gets clogged, not that it breaks. So every single piece of this, of Lennox and 16th has been very thoughtfully curated and cared for. You know, it's kind of like these two babies are being born into of the world for me.

17:36Yeah, no, it's beautiful. And I think that you've really, you know, you've shown us that you've poured a lot of thought into this. I mean, like I said, we were talking earlier before the show, and you know, I was raving about this earlier that it doesn't pill up. And that's huge for I think a lot of right now, especially it's huge for skincare products, because for my experience, a lot of the times when I lay down a serum, any moisturizer that I put on top is going to somehow react in a negative way, you know? And I don't know what's going on in the manufacturing world. You know, this is my question to a lot of the skincare brands out there is like, what's really going on with the chemistry?

18:15Because I've experienced that a lot, but this gave me no issues. Like your, both of your serums, like beautifully integrated with all of my other skincare. And like, not only that, but I didn't, like when I put it on, I didn't feel like I needed to add really anything else. It was just like a moisturizer on top and I was done. You know, I was good to go. And so that's rare. I feel like right now, especially the way that, you know, I don't know, maybe because of the way things are being formulated or manufactured or what's going on in the labs. But there's definitely, you know, a quality thing here.

18:46And so when I look at your products and the way they're made, the quality really speaks for itself. And that's where I feel like you're getting a lot for what you're paying for automatically. Because if you can use a product and it's not going to give you that bad user experience and you're getting results, I mean, that's where your money is going, right? No, absolutely. And that was part of the testing, right? Like we didn't just say, oh, we like this. We think it's good. And okay, we have some results. I mean, we had to, we had to try it with makeup. We had to try it with other products. You know, right now we have two products.

19:17We have to play nice with other products and we will, maybe eventually we will have a whole range. I will, you know, I'm only every single product I put out into the world is going to be thoughtfully and intentionally put out there for a reason to kind of treat something. And we do have other things in the pipeline. But for right now, these products are going to have to play with other moisturizers. They are going to play with other cleansers. And that's how we formulated them. And the pilling is, I agree with you, it's something that drives me nuts. But, you know, that has to be tested. And that's why this took a long time and an appropriate amount of time to come out with this.

19:51You know, the other product is the Preservationist. And that's our vitamin C cream serum. And there's not a lot of cream serums on the market. Um, some people use that product alone and don't need a moisturizer. You know, it's also depending, do you have a lot of oil content on your skin? Do you not? Some people wake up and they, they don't wear makeup. They want to just, you know, put on a, they want to do a cleanser. They want to do their vitamins C and then they want to put their SPF on and you can with this product. And, and, you know, because vitamin C oxidizes easily, we intentionally use two highly stable forms of it to work together.

20:27this, the preservationist is power packed with some amazing ingredients and an incredible peptide blend, a tetra peptide and a hexapeptide, also some squalene ceramides. And then we also put some vegan plant derived exosomes in there. And, um, that texture is like so satisfying. So even without, you know, clients using a moisturizer, it's really so nourishing. Um, and it gives just such a beautiful glow to the skin. And, and one of the, you know, ingredients that I just, I love has always been vitamin C, but finding the perfect vitamin C, you know, is challenging for some people. And I think, you know, we solve this with the preservationists.

21:05So. Yeah, absolutely. I like that you didn't just make like a straight vitamin C serum, like serum, by the way. I really like that because I feel like that is so, you know, it's overplayed. And I, I've never been a fan of those like standalone vitamin C serums because they really do sensitize your skin, you know, in the long term and so I I'm glad that you didn't go that route and this is a beautiful product actually I I the first night I tried just the laser serum and I was like absolutely I fell in love with it and then the next night I remember I mixed both of them and I know exactly what you mean when you say it kind of has that moisturizer like feel to it because I didn't add a moisturizer the second night like I didn't need to my my skin was totally good to go so I feel like if you use both of them together.

21:50It just, it's a beautiful combo. I've been using, you know, all my products for the last year and then testing out new things that are in the pipeline. And I'm incredibly happy. I miss them when I don't have them. And I say that because everyone's like, you probably have had them all the time, but you know, when you're iterating or doing certain things, there's certain times that you don't have lab samples. And I'm like, Oh my God, I can't wait to get it back. Or you're in stability and compatibility testing. And like, you need more, you know, And then I have people that I've put on it like, I need more, but I'm afraid to ask you.

22:20It's been so fun to kind of just put something out into the world and get a lot of feedback prior to it actually launching. Absolutely. No, it's really, really well done. And I guess, you know, I actually like I want to talk a little bit about this idea of like because right now I see it coming up a lot. is this you know there's skin there's different skin types obviously we know that but then also especially for melanin rich skin I feel like now more than ever there's not a lot of products that are catering you know what I mean to those unique needs I feel like melanin rich skin is it's very very different because obviously the thickness obviously the needs in terms of like the brightening effects and stuff I feel like your products are really good for everybody you know what I mean I really can tell that you've crafted it in a way that everyone can utilize them.

23:13I'd love for you to speak on this a little bit, Amy, you know, especially with all of your experiences, you know, what do you think people with darker skin types need to be aware of when they're shopping for skincare and looking for maintenance products? Yeah, you know, it's interesting. I think that I've had the luxury of really working in different environments. You know, I worked in the Northeast, I've worked in on in the Pacific Northwest and now in Miami with all very different skin types. And, you know, when I formulated this, I wanted it to be able to be used on all which it is actually the first model who ever used the laser serum was African American.

23:53And her you'll see her pictures eventually, but the results are remarkable. Um, I think you have to take in, you know, a lot into account, especially when dealing with, you know, we all know this, when we're dealing with lasers and different things, melanin rich skin has to be, you know, or people with melasma, they have to be treated very, very differently. And I think there's a huge misconception and, and hopefully more education comes out on that. So people don't, you know, go in thinking they can do something that their friend with a Fitzpatrick type one can do with products. you also have taken into account that because you want to, you want to move the needle enough, but be gentle enough for, you know, hyperpigmentation.

24:34Is there a lot of oil in their skin? Is there not? It just, you know, it's very dependent, but when we formulated this, we took all of those things into account. Right, right. No, that's important. I'm glad that you did because I think that that's one of the big question marks around skincare in general is this idea of like, well, what do you what should we be expecting for the long term? You know, I'm glad that you brought up like, you know, oil production. And this is something that I think we should dive deeper into is this idea of like, when you're using the products, what do you want consumers to expect, you know, when they've been using them for like a month versus just immediately?

25:15I think you'll notice a big difference in an oil production. If you have acne, it really, really helps some of our before and after acne patients have been, you know, incredible. We've seen some have a little bit of a purge in the beginning, and then it quickly resolves. And you'll probably hear some of those case stories, but it's kind of getting, you know, if you have some active acne on the outside, seeing that transform and kind of, you know, stabilize a little bit. So we've seen great, great results with acne. We've seen great results with pigmentation in our trials and then also here at the office.

25:52And we've just seen an overall production. I always call it, it's kind of like, you know, filter free confidence. It's kind of like a swipe to the right without a swipe. So what about like, if we're using like a daily retinol or vitamin A derivative product, do you think that that's something, I mean, is that good to go with the serums or I mean, how is the, how should the usage of that be? You know, I mean, if you're really married to your vitamin A product, retinol product, you could do every other night, um, the laser serum one night, the retinol one night, or if you're using it, you know, not many people are using a retinol, a true retinol every single night, like a 0.25 or 0.5 or, or a tretinoin.

26:33I find with the retinols, um, you know, sometimes people need to take a break with them. The laser serum is a great time. You know, it's a great time to introduce the laser serum and kind of start using that, or you can use it every other night. I don't think that you need them both necessarily. And I think people that have been using retinol for a while should try something else. You, you know, I believe that your body's always trying to reach homeostasis. So it does this notion that your body doesn't on your skin doesn't become accustomed to products. I don't believe to be true. I believe it does.

27:04And it kind of starts doing its job as effectively. So I think introducing something new is great. We haven't had a lot of people yet use retinol with the laser serum because they're both exfoliants. But I think that you could kind of do day one, the laser serum, day two, your retinol, if you still wanted to include your retinol in the routine. But this is a really great retinol-free alternative. Awesome. Yeah. No, that makes sense to me because I'm not a huge retinol person. You know what I I mean, so like I know there's a lot of people out here that do use them, but I think retinol is like that anyways, right?

27:37I mean, you're not supposed to use it every night. You're supposed to kind of alternate it. So, I mean, if you are using it, it's a good way to like, I guess you can use your retinol. I mean, use it whatever you do, but then, yeah, just, yeah, alternating between. I mean, that would make sense. That makes a lot of sense. Definitely. We're just taking a complete break and trying a different product out. Yeah. And it also depends. Is it retinoic acid? I mean, what are you actually using? because retinol is thrown around and there's three different classifications and is it prescription grade? So it really does depend on the person.