Exploring the Innovation Behind Topical Skin’s Clean and Multitasking Products with Ewelina Aiossa

0:00Hey guys, welcome back to another episode of Spin Anarchy. I'm so excited because today's brand I'm introducing you guys to is a wonderful addition to my collection. I've been really enjoying it and I think many of you might have seen them around. I mean, they've gotten a lot of awards recently. They've been really in the press and rightfully so. And the guest we have today is not only a very dear friend, but somebody I really admire for her work. And she's just a go-getter and she's really always been behind amazing projects. And so I'm not surprised to see that this is kind of her brainchild, you know.

0:34And so without further ado, I want to introduce you guys to the founder of Topical Skin, Evelina Hayosap. Welcome to the show, Evelina. I'm so excited to host you. Oh, thank you so much, Akda. I'm excited to be here again. Yeah, no, I'm so, so thrilled that we're chatting and we're going to dive into the brand. And it's really exciting stuff, you know, what you're doing. And the science is really cool. So I'm going to pick your brain about that, Evelina. But I want to talk about you first, you know, give our listeners a kind of a background on like everything you've done. because you've just you've done so many cool projects you know in the past like how we met you know when i first met you you were involved with another very cool project and so if you could give us a background a little bit you know what led to the creation of topical skin what led you down this road that'd be great sure yes i've been in the beauty industry i would say for like 15 years mainly in the niche category of like physician dispense medical grade professional grade skincare scientific skincare whatever you want to call it way before it was cool i feel Like nowadays, everybody claims to have clinical studies and everybody claims to have science and links with ingredients.

1:35But I've been in this industry kind of like undercover for over a decade. I've worked with multinationals. I was the head of marketing product development at L 'Oreal for SkinCeuticals. I consulted for Bages of the world. I ran Pure Fab, Glyton and Aven brand. So I have been exposed to the medical beauty, you know, on a corporate level. I've worked with the best in class, you know, cosmetic chemists and scientists and R &D, you know, hubs for all these conglomerates. But I've also started my beauty journey with a contract manufacturer that happened to have a private label, but also happened to produce lines for big names, doctor names that are sold in Sephora and, you know, Procter & Gamble's of the world and things of that nature.

2:18So I feel like I was exposed early on to many different avenues within the beauty, not, you know, within professional grade, but contrappanil of acting and skincare and science in general. And I had the pleasure, you know, of running brands, but I've also, you know, stepped away from being part of the corporate race and decided to try my entrepreneurial journey. And I started incubating brands for retailers, for private investors. I've created another brand that I've exited out from. and since you know skincare and beauty are my passions I kind of live in PubMed and I you know subscribe to all the newsletters attend all the different trade roles and read all the magazines I have a notebook of ideas but I just you know waiting to come to fruition and I figure you know what while you know while I'm waiting for my next big break or whatnot let me put on my ideas and tangibilize them and that's how topical skin was born the name is kind of I guess I'm paying respect to my heritage where i came from i used to work for topics pharmaceuticals top with their arm back in the day since then you know the company's been acquired by private equity and they're doing great but i guess that's the where the idea of the name came in and i want to make sure that skin is in there as well because you know as a marketer for ceo purposes i always have this marketing hat on i wanted to make sure that it also is reflected in the in the brand name and it's somewhat universal and hopefully international i want its aspirations to be a global brand one day i wanted to make sure it's easily pronounceable and you know it's kind of you know speak to to itself regardless where you're coming from right no I mean I think it definitely does and I I think that the you know the buzz for me right now when I look at skincare is like you know something that can be used by by you like every day you know it's it's not so much like I feel like the industry has shifted a lot you know in terms of like we've started to concentrate more on like I guess maintenance skincare is what my what i'm trying to say and i like to see that i rather you know because i i'm all about actives i'm all about like you know really harsh treatments or just stronger treatments but i'm more so interested in like okay what can we do every day you know for our skin that's just something that's manageable it's maintainable and it's backed by really good science you know and it's gonna make a difference for the long term so i think what you're doing is pretty cool and your background definitely speaks for itself so yeah yeah yeah yeah like i feel like we've been talking about skin health internally within like I said the professional dispense you know market for for for decades so for me it's no news but I feel like everybody's jumping on that wagon now right now yeah absolutely so what made you so a topical skin I know you're doing some very exciting stuff so what really makes this brand unique I mean what you know can you explain to us like where that that white space was for you when you decided to start it up yeah sure I'm Yeah, I think when I'm thinking about topical skin, I'm thinking clean, cosmeceutical, clean derma cosmetics.

5:11Cosmeceuticals and derma cosmetics because it's, like I said, like it's my history. I cannot do anything but derma cosmetics and cosmeceuticals. I have those ingredients, but, you know, scientifically proven to be efficacious in skin and recommended by physicians at the right concentrations and the correct formulations that actually professionals are using in a practice. but I wanted to make sure that I you know look through a clean lens when formulating custom formulating all the products for topical skin I feel like cleaning beauty you know movement has been happening for a while and it's it's a standard in the industry everybody nowadays is clean there's no clear definition what clean is but everybody's clean when it comes to professional grade skincare this is not a primary message a primary message for what derma cosmetic is always to be efficacious to support skin through aesthetic procedures, things of that nature.

6:01So nobody really cares or at least scrutinizes the ingredient labels or markets. The product says, hey, this is a clean, you know, derma suruco. And I wanted to make sure to, you know, I guess start a conversation with topical skin. As a mother, I am so aware of what I'm putting, you know, on my child's skin, but also the food I'm putting on a plate, you know, the snacks that we are eating. So I always check ingredient label. I wanted to make sure that I, you know, can control the ingredient label in the products as well. It wasn't always easy when I worked for the corporate environment because there were so many stakeholders to please and everybody had a different MO.

6:37But here, since I am able to control the entire process from custom formulating to actually hand-selecting ingredients, speaking to raw material vendors, looking for better alternatives, you know, that was kind of like my mission to introduce clean, cosmocytocool line of product from A to Z, start to finish. So I think that's kind of the point of difference. And also, I wanted to make sure that this brand is attainable for every wallet size. So I am not as highly priced as perhaps competitors, but I also, you know, I'm not a mass market value either because of the quality of formulation. But I wanted to make sure it's clean, cosmoceuticals, but it's also attainable, preventive, corrective products for oral.

7:15yeah no that makes a lot of sense and I I think that you know it's interesting because you're the offerings in the wine are not too like it's not too much it's not overwhelming to the point where people don't know what to do you know and I think that's that's really good because right now I mean there's so much clutter in this industry I mean there's a lot of redundancies you know and so like when I look at the when I look at what consumers have to deal with right it's just a lot of well what what's good for my skin I don't know because there's 50 products you know what I mean claiming to do the same thing and so when you when you have a line that is offering you like concise products you know a concise routine it really becomes easier for consumers I think to understand that this is what I do you know I wash my skin I have you guys have a serum you have a moisturizer that's what you do you go through that and that is your routine and that makes it a lot easier I I think day to day to manage and to build a habit around, you know?

8:12So I really like that you've done that with the offerings as well. Thank you. Yeah, I definitely wanted to launch with like essentials. So like the basics, you know, cleanse your skin. There's a treatment serum if you need it. If you don't need it, just jump to moisturizer and good. Obviously, you want to finish up with a sunscreen. But, you know, when I'm looking at other brands on the market, I think there's a blueprint, unspoken blueprint to launching lines. Everybody wants to jump on the wagon of success of somebody else's, you know, success. So we just copy or mirror what the offering is.

8:38So everybody has the vitamin C serum. Everybody has the retinol. Everybody has, you know, a plethora of moisturizers. And that's fine. But I, you know, truly believe that you can capitalize on the fact that there are so many innovative multitasking ingredients out there that one formulation can deliver on at least three, you know, skin benefits. So all you have to do is just pretty much hand select those ingredients, those actives or those blends to ensure that you're taking care of the basics and the rest obviously you can always supplement with treatment serums and things of that nature but I think the basic regimen it's there what I did unorthodoxly a little bit was to actually launch with a lip product but it wasn't just any lip product it was an anti-aging kind of a serum I don't see that many of them on the market they might be coming up soon but again I wanted to go to the market with not a cookie cutter approach.

9:28I wanted to see, hey, will it resonate with the audiences? And then if it doesn't, I always have my, you know, plan B, the backup, the regular, you know, the cleanser, moisturizer, kind of routine available for anybody who's interested. Yeah, absolutely. No, I mean, also you have some cool technology. I mean, I'd love to dive into that as well. I mean, you know, I know you've spoken to me about oleosomes before. What is an oleosome? Can you explain that? Yeah, I mean, oleos is a nature-derived ingredient. It comes from a plant seed when the seed is about to germinate they use the oil you know for all the nutrients so in a nutshell it's like a multitasking seed oil with linoleic acid vitamin e all like the skin beneficial ingredients but you know beneficial for the skin it's also a multitasking ingredients because it helps deliver hydration throughout the day to the skin because of its lipid nature obviously it can you know go through the lipid barrier in the skin it's not recognized as a foreign object so it's definitely.

10:25It also acts as a delivery system. So it's phenomenal, you know, ingredient. I feel like you as a physician, you probably have a better, you know, understanding of what it can do for the skin. But when I did my preliminary research on oleosomes, I had in a moment, I'm like, how come nobody is really talking about this ingredient? I mean, and this is, it checks all the boxes. It's sustainable. It's from a family. It's nature derived. It's multitasking. Like I said, it can be a delivery system. It can be, you know, just like a hydrating, you know, lovely oil it's actually stable you know full of antioxidants so for me i was like okay this is a no-brainer whenever i have a formulation that is water-based i'm definitely adding all your cells to the formulation yeah no it makes a lot of sense actually because the properties like you know of them are very like lipid friendly so you know it's interesting because people don't really talk about delivery systems enough i think you know in in the sense that we have a lot of buzzwords out there but no one explains them and just for our listeners you know i'm i'm very pro delivery systems like i really am i think that that's the future of any industry but when it comes to like medical you know like the delivery of even drugs you know even drug delivery and talking on a pharmaceutical level i'm very interested in how you get that drug to where it needs to go you know so like when it comes to something like oleosomes i mean the biggest thing to keep in mind i think and to understand is that the skin has a lipid layer at the very top so like you're dealing with a lot of things not getting through you know people say oh your skin barrier prevents anything from coming in well that's because of the chemical properties you know and you have to be there has to be a specific makeup you know of the molecules that want to cross that barrier and i think with these kind of systems you make it a lot easier to get through and you make it a lot easier to like actually incorporate into the normal physiology of the skin and i think that is the future you know of skin care like good topical skin care because you know it's not always about like you know punching holes in your skin and getting things super deep into the dermal layers sometimes it's more about just going right beneath the surface delivering things so that they can be actually utilized by the you know the pathways that are already at play so this is very fascinating for me, you know, as a scientist.

12:44I think it's very cool. Yeah, no, thank you. And, you know, I spoke with you. I consulted with another dermatologist. I consulted with two cosmetic chemists. They all give me a green light. They say, like, this is a stable lipid molecule. I'm like, stable is a key word. Like, okay, great. And it can deliver small and large molecules with high efficacy. So, like I said, it checks so many different boxes for me. And it does look like it's a cool biotechnology, you know. It has a potential to transform, like, natural treatments in dermatology, right? just by utilizing its unique structure. And on top of it, like I said, it gradually raptures on skin, dispersing fatty acids, antioxidants, all for long lasting moisture and hydration.

13:21And we know that hydration is key, especially for the aging skin. Without intact skin barrier and proper moisture levels, nothing will work, whatever you put on the skin. So I felt like oligosomes were the great foundation to build topical skin on where applicable. so it is included in most of the formulations that I have right now in the pipeline and I'm excited to expand on the portfolio again yeah no it's really cool because you know another thing that oleosomes for me you know it really brings up this idea of like time delivery you know like it's like gradual delivery or active ingredients and and and the way of delivering them so that the body can actually utilize them that's another big part you know I think that a lot of times what we do is we bombard our skin with whatever ingredient or active that we're using and we don't realize that the skin gets saturated you know and it becomes it becomes a problem and and that's when people start seeing redness and like you know irritation with products because you if you have too much concentration of a product and it's not properly packaged in a good delivery system you're gonna just deal with irritation that's what's gonna happen because your receptors are going to get saturated your skin's going to be saturated so oleazones i mean also for me it's fascinating because they do have this time delivery you know kind of built into them you know how they work so that's something to consider for everyone listening out there is that this is kind of like you know gradually released you know ingredients over time you know that really work with your skin and they work with the normal environment of your skin so that everything you're actually getting in these formulas is being incorporated you know into the normal workings of the skin so that's very fascinating stuff you know it's really fascinating especially especially for like encapsulated stuff you know ingredients yeah i think there's like the liposomal delivery system there is many different delivery systems i'll be honest with you i think i'm very grateful for all the you know vendors and people that i used to work with in the past and i've met along the way because now i have access and right of first refusal to tap into the novel you know research that those or material vendors are conducting on ingredients and molecules some of them are synthetic some of them are nature derived and you know with topical skin i'm commercializing that ingredient that's that's oleosomes and hopefully you know others will follow as well as nothing to do with me obviously that's doesn't benefit me in any other way or shape or form i feel like i'm paving the way but i feel like oleosomes are definitely here to stay and quality ingredients make quality products and like i said i want to make sure that every ingredient in in topical skin has a safety profile and you know efficacy profile that meets you know thermocosmetic standards and i feel like all your all your stones bring that you know element of nature and efficacy to the table but i wouldn't want to look in you know in the synthetic library yeah yeah no it's really cool and and so what about like you know in terms of like the people that have already kind of spoken up about topical skin you know what is some feedback you've gotten about the line thus far?

16:24Yeah, so far so good. I have a couple of consumers that obviously provided feedback during the perception study, so it was all positive. I only had to tweak minor things when it comes to like dispensing mechanism. It had nothing to do with the formulation of cosmetic elegance. I had the product tested by dermatologists, very, very positive feedback, and a lot of estheticians because, you know, they are my guinea pigs in a sense. They love to try new products. very very positive feedback as well and i know that the brand has been noticed by a couple of beauty editors as well so so far i've been blessed to receive very positive feedback like anything people are asking you know when more products are coming up from topical skin i think they are praising the fact that the little goes along the way you don't need much of the product in order to you know see the difference the visible difference a little goes along the way they love the multitasking multi-purpose ingredients in the formulations the clean profile of all the formulations.

17:21They love to see, you know, but I tap into Mother Nature and draw inspiration from traditional Chinese medicine and molecules of such. So I think it's been positive so far. Yeah. That way, yeah. That's cool. I like that. And you guys are carried by some medical spas, right? Correct. Yeah. Yes. Mostly on the East Coast and we have a lot of other esthetician medical spa owners testing the products right now. And hopefully they will be also, you know, offering the Popupo Skin Porto in their practices as well. That's really cool. I love that. Yeah, I mean, I think it's just, you know, everyone's looking for the science, you know, honestly.

17:58That's what it is. You got to follow the science. You know, like that movie, you know, Dory, follow the show. Follow the science. And I love innovation in science. It happens every day. You know, it takes time to commercialize science and innovation. But that's why I'm here. I'm open to, you know, bringing forth the most novel, you know, technologies. But I also, you know, you know, tap into the tried and true ingredients, delivery system as well. I don't want to reinvent the wheel, but whenever there is something new and exciting or maybe new and exciting that people don't know about, I'm happy to, you know, give it a platform through topical skin.

18:31I know the estheticians use and recommend our products, but they also wrote treatment protocols utilizing topical skin products. So for me, obviously, as a formulator, it's music to my ears because I know that they don't only recommend the products, they actually use it during, you know, professional protocols, facials and things of that nature. So, yeah, all positive. That's awesome. That's really cool. I'm glad to see that. You know, I think, you know, for me, when I see a product that's actually being utilized by an esthetician or any professional that understands skin, I mean, that really speaks for itself.

19:05Because everybody understands. anyone who's dealing with skin or you know works with it every day like you quickly start to see you know that there are certain things that are just going to be better for the long run and that's what I meant earlier when I was saying like there's so we've been bombarded so often and for so many years we just all these actives right like just here's AHA here's this here's that but it's like we finally I feel like are rounding a corner you know what I mean as like an understanding of skin science where it's like no we need really nourishing products we need things that are going to work for the long term and even when it comes to going and getting a facial yeah you're going to have your extractions you're going to have all these wonderful things that your esthetician does for you but really it's about finding a staple product that can be used and make your skin as healthy as possible you know and so that's where i i think you guys are just you're you're doing a great job you know with that because we need more of that more of that in this industry, if you ask me, you know, rather than just, oh, yeah, by the way, this works for two days and then you won't use it again.

20:09Yeah, no, for us, it's, you know, it's all about, you know, keeping sensitive skin in mind and designing formulas that are mindful about, you know, sensitivities and possible origins and things of that nature, because we know that most of the population will identify themselves as sensitive skin partially or fully. And we want to make sure that we don't put any additional aggressors into the formulas that would aggregate the skin. And if anything, we'll just help support the healthy skin, healthy skin barrier through oleosomes, through peptides, through ceramides, you name it. I mean, we have an arsenal of tools in our toolbox to play with, but we always lead with, you know, hydration and sensitive skin, kind of like a profile when formulating.

20:52Yeah, I think that's a very smart way to approach it because it is i mean sensitive skin you know what's interesting evelina lately i've seen a lot of people like you know you'll see it on tiktok or social media right you'll see a bunch of people posting about well my skin didn't used to be sensitive but now it's sensitive you know like now i can't use anything or whatever for example i think about a week ago i saw something about like benzoyl peroxide somebody was posting about it and they're like yeah i used to be able to use this all the time but now i'm like i can't use it and i was thinking to myself and i'm like you know for so many years you know this space has been we've just been using chemicals that have been very very harsh you know without realizing that they were harsh like you know even i i say this often and i mean i have all the respect in the world for dermatology but i have always thought that a lot of the dermatology drugs out there were a little dated at this point because they are so harsh sometimes you know and i think that consumers need options that are going to work but they're gentle enough for sensitive skin because we have all kind of sensitized our skin at this point you know yeah like i mean all of us have in a way because we use products every day we're always you know we're trying new things we're we're in the environment the environment's changing you know it's changed a lot in the last 10 years there's a lot of factors that contribute to it but at the end of the day it really becomes this question of well you know when it comes to skincare, when should we be using something harsh and when should we be really sticking to something that's working for the long term?

22:24So, you know, I think there's a real market for this, you know, in that way. Right. I believe that consumers is expecting immediate gratification because of the aesthetic procedures that become very mainstream and, you know, you can get injectables or neurotoxin and almost immediately see the difference that they expect the skincare that's, you know, sitting on the shelves of different dermatology practices or many spa owners to do the same. But I think slow and steady wins the race in this case. Like people forget that skin is an organ and you have to treat it as such, right? With a little bit of respect and TLC, you wouldn't put certain ingredients in your liver or your heart if it was the case.

23:01And why would you put it on your skin? So I think, you know, the social media is also helping spread the education, some misinformation, but also education and awareness. and more people are jumping on a wagon of the clean beauty. And yeah, topical skin is here to bridge the clean beauty with their beauty. I love that. I love that. Well, I want to ask, you know, as a rounding question, is there anything new on the horizon? I mean, are you coming out with new products soon? Or how is the growth of the brand? Yes, absolutely. I think the focus has been always to, you know, promote the essentials used by the standard, the cleansers, the moisturizer, the serums.

23:36And these products are performing well. and they have a unique, you know, we all custom develop formulations, very, very comprehensive. What's next on the radar is an eye cream. I'm thinking illuminating eye cream that would work, you know, camouflaging dark circles. We have a wonderful formulation, but I've partnered with Bromaterial Vendor to create using their new ingredient, which is very, very exciting, and some mica. So that should be coming out hopefully by the end of December of this year, just in time more yeah just sometimes for the new year and then we also have a face oil because i'm a huge fan of face oils a lot of estheticians which are part of my focus group use facial oils as part of their facial massages they love the slip of facial oils i personally have you know pro beauty facial massage roller as part of topical skin product portfolio and i think that you know that formula will go really, really well.

24:30It will feature custom oil, frankincense oil, a lot of good, good nature-derived ingredients. It's going to be very, very clean, almost free of synthetics. And there's nothing wrong with synthetics because sometimes synthetic ingredients are just in purified, more potent version. But I'm going to try to make this formula as almost organic as it is. So I have those two SKUs coming up on the radar and they will complement beautifully the existing portfolio. That's so cool. Yeah, I love a good face oil too. i'm not gonna lie yes they're hard too face oils are hard to make like i i feel like a lot of like a lot of brands come out face oils but it's it's really a hit or miss you know it's they either work really well and they're you know gonna actually not make your skin feel greasy or they're just you know it's not so and listen face oil is like a typical product where you will see in a portfolio of you know germ beauty brands so again i'm trying to break out the normal a little bit and lead with something that it's you know out of the box or maybe for the space but i believe there is a there is a demand for those type of products so yes and i feel anybody can use a good i-frame there's so many wonderful out there but again i have on my radar ingredients that you know haven't been commercialized yet so that's what i'm trying to always put other topicals can bring something new to the table or something exciting i had that product tested by a couple of my close friends and family and so far very positive feedback from all skin types and skin tones so i'm gonna keep my fingers crossed for that lunch as well yeah no i mean eye cream is one of the hardest ones to perfect too so i'm excited to see that yeah i mean honestly like eye creams like people people always like you know with eye cream it's like well do i really need one it's like well if it's a good one yeah you do you know because i mean there is a lot of truth to the under eye area being very different in the rest of your face and i think a lot of times people have i think a lot of consumers have dealt with so many bad eye creams that they're just like where's the you know how do you make a good one i've seen maybe a few really good ones you know and so i'm excited to see what you're doing oh good good good yeah listen nothing is a miracle warfare but i feel like this will be a very nice addition to anybody's skincare regimen i'm sure i'm sure you're always doing great things abelina so i have no doubt that's gonna be amazing both products but thank Thank you so much.

26:50No, I really encourage everybody, you know, you guys got to check out topical skin. I really love the line. Like I said, you know, I am a firm believer in science. I really do believe that you, if you follow the science, you're going to get to the solution, you know, and at the end of the day, a lot of you chime in and you ask us about recommendations or you'll ask us, Hey, my skin is doing this. And what do I do to fix it? And then my answer is honestly, my my answer to that is you've got to figure out what's wrong and you've got to find you know the ingredients that are going to calm it down a lot of times the things that we're experiencing are results of inflammation you know or just sensitization of the skin and this is a brand that i think is really keeping in mind all of that and you have to find brands like that because at the end of the day we love our actives we love that you know like instant brightening effect that you get after a really you know intense peel or something like that but that's fine but for your day-to-day you have to find something you can stick to use every day make a habit you know and and i think this is a great line to do that with so really hats off to you i mean that's beautiful you've created yeah thank you thank you yeah and speaking of what you just talked about inflammation and you know that's why i put a lot of antioxidants broad spectrum antioxidant in every single formula i wanted to make sure that i picked the antioxidants very fast but i also So, you know, go after so many different radicals.

28:12So they cover like a blood spectrum of free radicals, damage to make sure that protects from environmental damage. So definitely check topical skin out. You won't be disappointed. Yeah, no, you won't be. I've used it. I love it. Awesome. I'll be linking everything for everyone listening. I'll be linking everything in the podcast notes for this episode. So make sure you guys check it out and definitely leave some feedback. Let us know what you think and chime in and ask questions and we'll pass them along. But thank you for tuning in. And if you do tune in regularly, please do not forget to subscribe.

28:44And, you know, whatever platform you tune in on, you know, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, wherever it is, please hit the subscribe button. And thank you so much, Evelina. Thank you. Thank you. Bye. Hey, guys. So I hope you love that episode. Please make sure to hit subscribe if you're tuning in to us on any podcast platform. We are available on so many different platforms. So wherever it is that you're tuning in, just go hit subscribe. you will be immediately notified when we publish new episodes. This way you're able to tune in to amazing insights from experts, brand founders, industry leaders, authors, all the wonderful people that we host.

29:19And that's very important for me because I love to hear from you guys and really understand what you love and what you want to hear more of. Also make sure to give us a follow on all of our social media outlets. We're available on Instagram, TikTok, X, you name it, we're there. we also have a blog on medium so if you're a reader and you love medium blogs check us out on medium we publish some really great articles on there that do deeper dives than just what's available on the podcast and it's really a great place for all of you science geeks out there that want to learn a little bit more we go above and beyond with our research and making sure we're bringing you information that you usually probably won't hear about in other outlets so check us out leave us a comment leave us a review and we'll be back next time with another episode thank you