BiotechBeauty Proves That Science Belongs in Your Makeup Bag

0:00Hey guys, welcome back to Skin Anarchy. I am so excited about the brand I'm introducing you guys to today because I have been anticipating the launch of this brand for quite a while now. And also it's so innovative because it's finally a brand that's bringing us truly efficacious products, not only in the space of skincare, but also makeup and beauty. And it's combining both worlds in the most beautiful, scientifically backed way. And I'm just so excited about it. So without me ranting too much, I would love to introduce you guys to the founder of Biotech Beauty, Alana Tran. Welcome, Alana. I'm so excited to host you.

0:36Thank you, Dr. Ekta. It's such a thrill to be here. I've been a fan of you and the Skin Anarchy podcast actually back when it was Skin Care Anarchy. So I've been following for a very long time. So it's an honor to be here. Oh, my gosh. It makes me so happy to hear that. Thank you. And, you know, I'm so excited to host you. I can't believe the brand is out now and you've launched and it's huge. I'm so excited to dive into it. But I want to learn all about you, Alana. Like, tell us about your background because you have such a fascinating background. And I know you were pre-med to begin with. So walk us down memory lane, if you don't mind.

1:09Absolutely. Well, the story kind of goes back to me trying to solve a problem for myself, which was in middle and high school, I struggled with really bad acne and relied on the popular solutions at the time, which were salicylic acid face washes, witch hazel, benzoyl peroxide treatments, all these really harsh stripping formulas that left my skin red and inflamed. And in high school, I discovered how makeup could cover my redness and irritation. So I began wearing it daily and it boosted my confidence, but at the time, makeup wasn't really designed for sensitive and acne prone skin. So almost immediately after applying foundation, I'd feel those really painful bumps forming under my skin and I felt stuck in a cycle.

1:51I was covering breakouts with my makeup that worsened my skin during the day and then trying to undo that damage at night with harsh skincare. So frustrated and exhausted, I wondered why makeup couldn't support my skin instead of hurting it. So in college, while on the pre-med track at UC Berkeley, I studied human biology and biochemistry. And during courses on skin physiology and topical drug delivery, I kept thinking, what if we could do something here where we create makeup that doesn't just sit on the surface and it improves skin health? So by my final year, my experience as a chemistry lab TA and a biology lab research assistant had taught me to approach challenges methodically.

2:31And that's when I decided to pivot from medicine to create science-backed makeup that's good for our skin. So after graduation, I joined Biosance as a cosmetic chemist where I learned how biotech can power sustainable beauty. And this was an eye-opener for me because I realized how innovation could replace harmful practices with environmentally responsible solutions. And then I went to business school at USC Marshall and earned my master's in marketing while working full-time at L 'Oreal as a global product marketer for NYX Cosmetics. and at NYX I learned how to take a product from concept to launch and connect with diverse consumer needs.

3:07So all of these seemingly disparate experiences helped give me the confidence and clarity to create something new and Biotech Beauty was born to bridge this gap between high performance makeup and skin health. So using biotech powered ingredients our formulas are clinically shown to support the microbiome and skin barrier and our goal is to create makeup that not only looks amazing, but also improves your skin as you wear it. That's so cool. And I love that you are doing this from this science backed foundation. And I love that you're not somebody who's just been in the beauty space, you know what I mean?

3:43For like 30 years and you're like, oh, I'm going to start my own brand. You're really somebody who's, you're like, you know, no, I studied the science and I want to do something here with that. You know, that's beautiful to me. I love that. You know, yeah, truly hats off to you for just simply for that, because I, as a scientist myself, I love seeing when people take their education, their knowledge, especially from something like a biochem course. I took medical botany, I remember way back, and I ended up writing a natural product paper about it because medical botany inspired me. So I know these courses, they leave such a lasting impact, and when you can bring that forward in a way that you have, it's such a beautiful thing, and it really is reflecting in your products.

4:26But I want to talk about that a little bit. You know, how did your background really influence the way you built your products and position your brand? As a founder with a scientific background, my approach to product development starts with research and clinical testing rather than just following trends. So at Biotech Beauty, we prioritize science and data to ensure our products not only perform beautifully, but are safe and beneficial for the skin. So we test our final formulas through rigorous science-backed clinical trials using advanced methods like trans epidermal water loss measurements and microbiome sequencing to ensure our claims are supported by objective and measurable data.

5:06That makes sense. Fundamental that I think a lot of brands kind of miss the mark on, you know, from what I've noticed is that, you know, it has to be data first, right? It has to be like backed by an actual idea. A hypothesis has to be there. That's the scientific method. So, you know, and I feel like if we go towards that and we follow that scientific method, it always leads us down a road of like true discovery. You know, that's my genuine belief, you know, in my heart. So I think that that really reflects in what you're doing. So that's very cool. You know, I see I want to talk about actually, you know, we see a lot of brands that are labeling their products as like good for skin or like it's infused with really good skincare ingredients, you know.

5:48but a lot of them don't really test for like the efficacy of those ingredients. And I would love to break down what's really happening behind the scenes when this kind of situation arises. Yeah, well, did you know that most beauty brands don't perform objective clinical testing to validate their claims? This is something that consumers often overlook because you assume as a consumer, if something is being printed on a box and shown to you that it surely had to have been tested objectively, right? But that's not how the industry standard is at the moment. And brands are not required to conduct these tests.

6:24If they do, it's often through consumer perception surveys, which are subjective opinions that don't provide the same level of measurable data needed to back up a product's performance. So when we see claims like 97 % of users agree that their skin feels smoother after one week, It sounds impressive, but these are based on personal impressions and not scientific evidence. So it makes it difficult for consumers to know if the products they're using are truly effective. So at Biotech Beauty, we take a different approach. We go beyond the subjective surveys by conducting objective instrument-based clinical trials that provide real statistically significant data to back every claim.

7:06And we believe that transparency and science-backed validation are the only way to ensure products are working to deliver what they promise. So you can trust that what's in the bottle is truly effective for your skin. I really love that you said statistically valid. I love that. You know, like the inner, like, you know, geek in me just like lit up. because honest to god one of my biggest things a lot of with when it comes to these claims that brands often make and you know i have i have a whole like regulatory seal that i'm working on and stuff and you know one of the big things i have on there is statistics because statistics is the thing and i want everyone to hear this you know that's tuning in when you guys are learning about statistics or you're reading about it about a brand saying you know 98 or 99 something something there's a way to analyze stats okay and the analysis of statistics is everything because you can technically make anything look great if you wanted to that's how that's how biostats works you know what i mean so at the end of the day when you're looking at any kind of epidemiology like numbers and like reporting you need to really understand that statistics is a very complex field it can be skewed in a lot of ways and so when brands are openly like telling you like we actually did this right we went you know here is how we did it here's what we're claiming that's what you want to look for you want to look for real you know just I guess you can kind of tell right you can tell the fake from the the real because the people who are going to tell you about their stats are going to show you the papers or they'll show you the actual data um versus you know the more more qualitative stuff that you see a lot of um I want to talk about something very important though Alana, because I know that a lot of times brands rely on suppliers and supplier-driven claims rather than testing their actual final formula.

8:57What do you think consumers should look out for when they're evaluating whether a product truly delivers? So brands that extrapolate supplier-driven ingredient claims can be misleading. So an ingredient supplier might show research proving an ingredient reduces redness or boosts hydration at a specific concentration, but in the brand's final product, the ingredient might be present in much lower amounts. So too low to achieve those results. And these claims often don't reflect the true performance of the product you're buying. So when evaluating whether a product truly delivers results, consumers should prioritize brands that test the final formula rather than relying solely on supplier driven claims.

9:37So some brands go the extra mile by disclosing the exact percentage of key ingredients in their formulas, kind of like the Paula's choice to present BHA liquid exfoliant, for example. And this can help consumers assess whether those ingredients are present in sufficient quantities to achieve the desired effects. But my main tip is to look for transparency and clinical testing to ensure that the product's performance is validated by measurable data. That makes sense. I like that. Now, you've talked before about the whole margarita with the one piece of spinach analogy when it comes to ingredient marketing.

10:13Can you explain what you mean by that and how does Biotech Beauty do things differently? Yeah. So here's how I like to explain it to my friends. Imagine if one of your friends is making a margarita and then they throw in the blender a single leaf of spinach. And now they're like, this is a healthy margarita. That's what is happening with makeup right now. Most makeup products aren't designed to be good for you, but brands will add a tiny amount of skincare ingredients, slab it on the label and market it as something that improves your skin. I call that science washing. I'm not here for it. And biotech beauty does things completely differently.

10:51We test our final formulas through the clinical trials, as I mentioned, and we ensure our claims are supported by that statistically significant data. So for example, third-party clinical studies showed that our formulas are microbiome friendly and they support an increase in skin barrier function in 14 days. And our blushes and moisturizers are also clinically shown to improve skin clarity and minimize the appearance of blemishes. So this is so beyond what you see in a typical blush. We saw that participants experienced a 30 % reduction in the appearance of comedones after 28 days of using our biome blush.

11:28that's the kind of proof consumers deserve when they're evaluating marketing for skincare makeup hybrids yeah I couldn't agree with you more you know when you were telling me about how like in the beginning when you were saying like you know I used to wear makeup and then you kind of like feel like it was starting to break you out that's exactly the experience I had I was never like a huge makeup person like especially I'm in my late 30s now in my in my 20s and you know whatnot that's when I really started experimenting with makeup and I remember having that same feeling and then And, you know, now even like, you know, evolving with the market, right, evolving with the industry and seeing these products come up that are like, okay, we've got skincare, you know, we've got the we've got these ingredients in here.

12:09But then you still experience that, right? You and you go in as a consumer, you put your trust in these brands, you're like, okay, finally makeup I can actually use because I'm not going to take this off and break out 15 times, you know, it was something that you put your trust in that. And then it never happens. And it always makes you, you know, wonder, like, what are you putting in there? Like, if you're actually putting skincare ingredients, like, what's the concentration? How did they work with the makeup ingredients, right? Like the pigments and all that? How does this even translate? That's always been a huge question mark for me.

12:42So I love that you said the science washing bit because I think it's extremely important, especially in this niche category, you know, when it comes to because you have skincare and makeup here. You know what I mean? This is a hybrid. So very, very interesting. I want to talk a little bit about clean beauty because I know it's a very big topic, you know, and I like that you're not kind of like marketing yourself as this like, yeah, we're this clean brand, you know, not because I, I don't know. It's nothing that's clean, but it's just, I think it's outdated. I much rather prefer, you know, biotech powered.

13:17You know, that's very important. I love that you've said that, that you're biotech powered. Your products are really high performing. So, you know, I would love for you to talk about, you know, what kind of consumers are you speaking to when you say this? Well, as you mentioned, coming to market as a clean brand is no longer a novelty. I believe that it's table stakes for entry. so that was not a really exciting differentiating point for us that was just standard so the consumers we're speaking to is if you love makeup but you also care about your skin health biotech was made for you we lovingly refer to our audience as healthy hotties and being a healthy hottie is about more than looking good on the outside it's about caring for your health internally mentally and even at the cellular level so our products nourish the skin microbiome and support the barrier, enhancing your natural beauty instead of masking and covering it up.

14:11That makes sense. Yeah, that makes sense. I like that. I like that because, you know, I think it's the masking that makes us break out. Right. Instead of supporting over time. Exactly. Yeah. I think it's the pounds of makeup, you know, that we're kind of told to put on by social media and whatnot. But I love that. And I think that that's one of the, you know, one of the big topics that comes to my mind is like the microbiome right now. You know, everyone's really kind of buzzing about it. I've been, you know, studying the microbiome for many, many years. And one thing that I've noticed is that, you know, makeup is a huge disruptor actually of the microbiome.

14:45And that's something that a lot of skincare brands are not really even talking about. You know, even though they might be, you know, leaning in that direction, consumers are not being educated on the idea that, you know, when you wear makeup, you have to be very conscious of what kind of makeup it is, the quality of it, you know, what kind of ingredients have gone in because the microbiome is it's very stable actually it's a very robust you know environment however there is there are certain chemicals that will quickly disrupt that and a lot of them are found in makeup so that's something that I think consumers should be aware of you know especially when they're approaching it yeah yeah well I don't know if some of our listeners know what the microbiome is I think you and I are so excited about it that we sometimes forget to dive deeper in.

15:33So I'd love to kind of chat about it a bit with our audience and then talk about how - Yeah, please. Yeah. So many of our skin concerns, such as acne, eczema, psoriasis, atopic dermatitis, these can be partially attributed to an imbalance in the microbiome. So that's why it's so important to maintain a healthy balance on your skin. So for those of us who are listening who are new to this topic, the skin microbiome is an ecosystem of trillions of bacteria, fungi, and viruses living on our skin working together to protect us. And when it's disrupted, it leads to dryness, sensitivity, and acne since it weakens the skin's defenses.

16:15So for those of us with acne, that can mean an overgrowth of certain phylo types of C acnes, which can trigger inflammation and clogged pores. And an imbalanced microbiome makes us worse by reducing beneficial bacteria that help control the harmful bacteria. And on the other hand, a balanced microbiome helps us maintain hydrated, calm, resilient skin by producing molecules that contribute to a strong and healthy barrier. So that's why creating microbiome friendly makeup that supports the skin barrier was so important to me as someone with acne prone and sensitive skin. So our products enhance the skin health rather than disrupting it, promoting that long-term balance and resilience that you were talking about.

16:58I love that. I love that so much. And I think the microbiome is, it's such an important player here because you're putting ingredients in that are very tried and true, right? And I think one of the biggest things is people forget that the microbiome feeds off of whatever is around it. It's microenvironment. And so anything, lipids, you know lipids when they're broken down their byproducts everything is feeding that microbiome so it becomes even more important when we think about makeup because you know makeup we wear makeup throughout the day it's like a 12 hour situation sometimes you know where you're just you have this on your face and so you know for consumers i think it's increasingly important to understand that you know whatever is in there one what's it doing to your normal natural lipids on the surface of your skin and then also the other you know proteins that are found there and other cellular signaling molecules because that's going to really determine the longevity of your skin barrier as it pertains to the microbiome you know because that's really what it is it's not even it's not so much a fact of like oh something is killing bacteria right it's not like a bactericidal thing that we're talking about we're more concerned about are the bacteria Yeah.

18:12You know, it's like dumping like, you know, your fish in like a dirty pond. You know what I mean? That's that's the analogy. How are we affecting the living environment of all these little guys that we're hoping to take care of? Exactly. Exactly. Now, I want to go back a little bit because, you know, when you had first mentioned about how, you know, you were struggling with this, some of the traditional makeup formulas that you, you know, that made you realize that they were actually worsening your acne? This research for me started before we had all of these ingredient libraries and pore clogging checkers.

18:45So I was deep in the weeds of skincare blogs, Reddit rabbit holes, trying to see what people say might be causing their acne as acne prone consumers, because there were formulas that I would look on what are kind of the commonly known comedogenic, commonly known as the comedogenic ingredients and nothing was on there. So I'm like, what are we missing here? So I realized that many traditional formulas, especially designed for long lasting wear, rely heavily on silica or silicones like dimethicone, cyclopentasiloxane, trimethicone, all of all of the versions. And these ingredients are popular in makeup for their ability to create that smooth, flawless finish and provide long lasting wear.

19:30They act as skin barrier protectants, lock in moisture and give formulas a really silky feel. But for those of us with acne prone skin, these silicones can be really problematic. So while they create a great texture, they can also lead to clogged pores and breakouts. And the reason they're so common in makeup and even in skincare is that it helps products glide on smoothly, provide water resistance, and it gives you that kind of blurred filter-like effect that so many people love. And they can be really beneficial for those with dry skin because it offers hydration and that occlusive barrier. But for those of us with more acne-prone skin, it creates a huge challenge of finding products that perform without causing breakouts or irritation.

20:11So that insight was one of the driving factors behind Biotech Beauty's commitment to creating formulas that are truly non-comedogenic, which means free from those core clogging ingredients, while still delivering the same high-performance color payoff and long wear. So we wanted to create options that don't compromise on quality or results for those of us who have to be extra cautious about what we put on our skin. Yeah, that makes sense, actually. And, you know, I think the comedogenic ingredients that I'm aware of, you know, they're still being used, you know, and that's what bothers me is that we've gotten so far.

20:47And unfortunately, we as an industry are not kind of getting rid of them. You know, we're not like progressively trying to be like, OK, let's just get this out of the you know the whole equation we don't need to have like you know coconut oil and everything or like you know you know what I'm saying like we don't need it so that's where I think I as a consumer I get quite frustrated because you know when you pick up formulations it's 2025 now right and when you're picking up a formulation you should be you should feel confident that the ingredient list is going to have very obvious comedogenic you know components in there but you know unfortunately makeup has to I think makeup has to catch up yeah yeah yes exactly um you know and I think um you know I want to talk about this actually a little bit more because not everything you know whenever if somebody's labeling an ingredient as non-comedogenic it doesn't mean that it can't still clog your pores right so I want to talk about that with you like how does biotech beauty ensure that its products are truly acne safe even if individual ingredients are non-comedogenic, the combination of some can clog pores.

21:54So it was really important for me as an acne prone consumer to take our finished formulas through clinical trials to test for comedogenicity. And so we sent our formulas to an independent lab to be tested on 25 subjects for 28 days under the supervision of a dermatologist. And we show that these are truly non-comedogenic. And we also conducted dermal sensitization assessments for 39 days on 50 subjects on sensitive and acne prone skin. And the data shows that our products are truly safe for sensitive skin as well. So this commitment to transparency and integrity is really rare in the beauty industry, but essential for building trust.

22:36So we go the extra mile to ensure our products truly deliver on their acne safe promises because everyone deserves makeup they can count on. yeah no i i love that i love that because you know i think that's the bottom line is that you have to build that trust with consumers you know you have to be able to say that this is this is really what i'm saying it is you know i it's not going to make you break out science is not saying that there's a chance of you breaking out from this that's very important um you know i want to um actually go into this a little bit with you in terms of formula because i know that right now the you know the world we're living in usually ingredient lists are like i mean the entire back of the packaging, right?

23:15It's like, it's an entire panel, you know? Or sometimes even the fold-out one, you have to open it up. Oh, God, yeah. I've definitely had those, you know, run into those because it's crazy. And when you look at it as a consumer, it's crazy because you're like, I don't even know how to decipher this. You know, even if you have like an organic chem background, even if you understand the words, you're just like, why in here? And so a lot of those are fillers, right? Filler ingredients. let's talk about filler ingredients um I would love for you to explain this because I know with biotech beauty you guys have zero fillers in your formulas can you explain what are filler ingredients and why are they so commonly used in makeup especially right so like I mentioned we need a really unique approach to product development we design custom formulas and that means every ingredient directly benefits our skin or the stability of the formula.

24:12So for consumers who have ever felt frustrated by trying beauty products that all seem pretty similar, you're not alone. There's a reason for this. And it's because many brands rely on kind of pre-made stock formulas from manufacturers. And these stock formulas are kind of like ready-made recipes that brands can pull from the library and they slightly tweak it to suit their needs. They'll adjust the texture, maybe the color, the fragrance, put it in their own pack. But the core formula often stays the same across all these products, which is why sometimes you go into Sephora and you see five brands just launched the exact same kind of thing and you're wondering what's going on.

24:48So it's a really quick way to launch something to market, but it doesn't necessarily mean the product is unique or customized for your specific skin needs. So instead of using these pre-made formulas, Biotech Beauty creates everything from scratch with a focus on ingredients that are safe, stable and high performing so our approach is a bit more labor intensive and costly but it allows us to truly offer innovative skin supporting makeup products that stand out in the market how is it by the way formulating with less ingredients um i don't think i would say it's harder what is interesting is sometimes brands will say you know formulated with 20 you know 20 different botanicals or all these things and it's like so all of those basically had to be reduced so that you can have a tiny bit of each one of them when you could have the same efficacy if you just chose one really good one.

25:41So for me, it was this intentionality of choosing what ingredient do we need for this function in terms of either supporting the skin or promoting the product stability. And I tried to make the inky as concise as possible in that way. So it was a challenge in the beginning because of course, when we start, we maybe have a bunch of different waxes we need to get the perfect hardness, or we have different actives that we're trying to incorporate and make sure that they're still working compatibly together. But I don't think it was as big of a challenge as people think. So while it might seem hard to like get a concise formula, I actually think it's more exciting because when you see those longer lists, it's typically for marketing reasons so that they can say there's these 50 plant extracts or all these different types of, you know, whatever.

26:32But in reality, you can achieve it with just one or two types of that functional ingredient. Yeah, I love that you have said this, because now, I was always wondering about this, because I was like, why do we need like, 15 different esters and stuff? What is the purpose they're serving molecularly? And it's like, you know, that's one of the biggest things. And also people often say, I think you had brought this point up earlier was the feel right people are like oh well you know the feel of something or the texture the way it goes on the way it makes your skin feel but every single product I've tried by your brand every blush it I was going to tell you this it has the most beautiful feeling it's so smiling it's so nice when you put it on because your skin feels so soft and it's not like you know because I've noticed this a lot with like previously clean makeup brands you know like brands that we're claiming like we're clean and we don't use a lot of ingredients a lot of the makeup that I had tried in that category was very patchy.

27:28Like you couldn't put it on, you know what I mean? Like you'd put it on and it was very hard to blend or like something, you know, something was up and it just used to make me think like, is it because they're using less ingredients, but yours, I mean, you've done such a fantastic job. Thank you so much. That means a lot. I'm happy to hear that you like it. And so the challenge really wasn't necessarily in having concise ingredient lists, it was actually finding that balance of something that performs as a truly effective skincare product and a truly high performance makeup product. For me, I knew if it performed just as one or the other, then it's not exciting.

28:09Nobody wants to buy a blush that's great for your skin, but it looks patchy or fades in an hour. So the challenge really was going through all these iterations to make sure that we had enough skincare levels of skincare ingredients to get the claims that we need and show the improvements in skin health over time. And then also to have the same performance and be up to par as any other non-skincare makeup hybrid product that you would find at Sephora. So that was really what took the bulk of the two years, which is much longer than what it would take if you were to kind of take one of these stock formulas from a manufacturer library.

28:45But for me, that was crucial. I knew that I wanted to create something that was very new to the market and not just something that was a little bit better and call it a skincare makeup hybrid. So that was the most challenging part, but you know, once we were able to achieve it, that's what makes me so proud and so excited is when people like you who have experienced and tried so many of these different formulas tell me that it really is performing a hundred percent in both categories. yeah it's it's beautiful you've really nailed it yeah no honestly and you know I think for everyone listening out there you guys you got you have to experience the brand I mean you've really nailed it and you know my favorite part is how much the science has impacted all of the components that we look for in a great product I mean you know let's talk about for example like you've used sugarcane squalane and vegan collagen right in your formulations and you know the best part about this is that you're supporting the sustainability aspect through your biotechnology.