The Breakthrough Hyaluronic Acid Technology You Need to Know

0:02Hey guys, welcome back to Skin Anarchy. This is your host Dekta and I'm very excited to introduce you guys to a brand that I have been absolutely loving, especially for the colder months, for anybody out there that has drier skin type, you're looking for products that are just going to really nourish, hydrate, plump up your skin. I mean, this is the brand for you. So I can't wait to introduce you guys to the brand, of course, but also the wonderful CEO that we have with us today, Keith O 'Brien, who is the CEO of Hydrenity Accelerated Skin Science. Welcome to the show, Keith. Keith, I'm so excited to be chatting with you today and to learn from you.

0:39No, Eka, thank you. It's an honor to be here with you. So thank you for having me. You know, I would love to learn, Keith, about your background because you have truly a very impressive background, you know, and just trying to understand, you know, what led to the creation of Hydrogenity, if you could kind of walk us down memory lane. Yeah, no, well, I don't know how impressive it is. I've just probably been around a while. So I know I started my career. I was in pharma. I was a pharma executive, you know, worked there for 18 years. And then I had the itch to become an entrepreneur. And so then we started a biologics company, did really well.

1:18And then from there, I guess the past probably 10 years, more of really advanced wound care and regenerative medicine. that's that's where we were that's the space we were in before we started this foray into aesthetics and I think it's a problem it's a natural progression because the statics is skin health very very similar to what we some of the same principles that we applied in advanced wound care and regenerative medicine they work really well for when you're trying to heal someone's skin and so it was just it was it was that we were lucky but it was a natural progression also yeah no that makes sense actually because i've i've worked in wound care you know for some time in my career you know with research and stuff and i know that one of the biggest things is exactly what you said it's this application of very deep-rooted principles that are involved in just wound care but also healing and they also apply to the micro traumas that our skin faces on the daily so i know for a fact that this is very applicable and it translates very beautifully You know, when you bring it to this space of skin health and skin care.

2:24So that probably explains why your products work so well, because they work beautifully for me, you know, as a consumer. But I would love to dive into some of that science, if you don't mind. I mean, what were some of the parallels that you saw and the similarities between like wound healing and when you're crafting the line? Well, what you want is, and we took those principles and we applied them. So expeditious wound closure was one thing that we always worked on. It's the same thing for skin health. The faster that it works, the better it's going to be. The other thing is every Hydrogenity product we formulate to make, they're anti-inflammatory.

3:01If you have inflammation in your body is bad, whether it's your gut, your joints, but it's very troubling in your skin. If your skin is inflamed, it's not going to be optimized. You'll never have luminous skin if it's inflamed. The other is pH. The data really shows now if you don't normalize or balance pH, then no matter what you're doing, you're not going to get the optimal result. So all of our products are anti-inflammatory and they're also they're to balance pH because when you get those two things right, it makes it makes everything else just work better. And so we take those principles fast, needs to work fast, needs to be anti-inflammatory and balance pH for every one of our products.

3:48Those are non-negotiables. That makes sense. So what were, you know, I know this can be very challenging, you know, when you're working with the complexity of something like, you know, when we're trying to understand wound healing, for example, I'll just go back to that. You know, there's a very complex set of mechanisms that come into play, you know, when it comes to your body, as you know, for our listeners sake, I'm mentioning this, you know, when your body's trying to heal, it goes through like, oh my gosh, like a plethora of different mechanisms, you know, to try to make sure everything's coming, bouncing back the way it should.

4:19And so when we apply that to the skin, I'm really curious, you know, what were some of the most challenging aspects of moving from this advanced wound care kind of mindset into the drug delivery, like in terms of drug delivery systems, you know, for these consumer based products? Yeah. The biggest change was when you work in the previous company, all you really, your number one focus was results. You wanted efficacy. That was it. But as you get into aesthetics, it's more than just efficacy. It has to be an experience. When you put these, when you use these products, you know, most serums and lotions, it has to feel good.

5:06Because if it doesn't feel good, if you don't get the right experience, you won't use them long enough to get the optimal results. It's funny, I read something the other day that says 78 % of all patients with psoriasis stop their treatment within 30 days. and and that really stuck with me is you have to make this you almost have to have people want to over overuse your product because it feels so good if you know that's a that's a debilitating disease of the skin so if if people will stop within 30 days of that we can do better we can give them products that help with that but it's got to feel right and that that was probably the biggest transition.

5:52And so we work really hard at form, fit and function. So it's got to feel right. None of our products have added perfumes or scents to them because some people just don't like that. So we don't have that. The other thing, it has to be pliable. It has to feel good because many times you're using multiple products. So it has to absorb. What we do is we try to give you the luxury experience with the best scientific product out there. And when you marry those two together, that's a high-earned-y product. And I think that's the reason that we've been so embraced by the aesthetics community is we're checking both boxes.

6:30Yeah, no, that makes sense. And I know that you guys are really known for your hyaluronic acid technology as well. Can you explain, you know, what really makes your patented, the injectable grade hyaluronic acid, you know, really special? If you can dive into that. Yeah, no, it is. I kind of got this man crush on hyaluronic acid. I just, I believe it's one of the most underutilized molecules out there because it does so many good things. But I tell people this all the time, all hyaluronic acid or HA's, they're not equal. The hydrinity HA is different. It's the real first advancement in HA therapy in 30 years.

7:10There had been nothing since streptococcal HA, the extraction from bacterial fermentation, until we launched Hydrenity in 2022 with our HA, that we just make ours, we don't induce heat. The extraction process doesn't include heat. What heat does, the molecular, HA molecular chain in your body is long and slender, but when you add heat to it, it breaks it. And that's troublesome for many ways. A longer molecular chain has a large surface area, so the critical peptides and antioxidants can attach to it, and the HA is used as a delivery system. If the chains are broken, your surface area is smaller, and they make little balls, and it doesn't allow it to penetrate down to the dermal layer, and that's where the hydrinity HA is really good.

8:05We use a high and a low molecular weight HA. I believe you have to have both. They both do different things. The high molecular weight gives you that barrier protection on your skin, keeps you super hydrated. That low molecular weight, being able to penetrate down to the dermal layer, stimulates your collagen and your elastin. And that's when you do that, that get rid of the senescent, the zombie cells, as some people call them these days. It really it helps speed up that exfoliation and turns over your skin. And it just that's how that's how you can tell when somebody has plenty of collagen and elastin.

8:44They just have that beautiful luminous. They kind of have that glow about their skin. RHA, it is it's different. We're super precise. the way that we produce ours with the with the no heat it gives it a little extra charge it's got a positive charge so you do stimulate it's you increase cellular turnover with with our ha and the other thing that ha is known for which ours is great for too is just the hydration if your skin's not hydrated it's you're not you'll never get optimal results and so So that's the reason we tell everybody, use RHA two pumps twice a day. Use it morning and at night for your hydration.

9:24It makes everything else work better. It just, it's a core technology. We use it not just as a hydrator, but a delivery system. And all hydrinity products have a delivery system. That's just, that's one of our main ones. Because you have to get the critical ingredients down to the dermal layer. That's when you're going to have your best efficacy. Absolutely. Yeah. Yeah, no, I'm glad that you mentioned this because, I mean, many times I hear about the differences between the molecular rates of hyaluronic acid, but it's not very clear as to like what are the fundamentals of why they work differently.

9:58I mean, I think a lot of consumers kind of get lost here because there are some products out there that claim, you know, we have like five different, you know, HA molecular weights in here. And it's like, well, do you really need that? You know, how relevant is that? You know what I mean? In terms of skin health. I mean, at the end of the day, we all know that there are different purposes. I mean, the skin only has receptors for, you know, it has receptors that say I can recognize this, you know, but it's not going to recognize like 18 different types of molecular weights. It's just going to use what it actually is.

10:31It's like a machine. So, I mean, for that, I'm actually curious because one of your products really stands out to me. And I'd love for you to speak on this. The eye renew complex, I think is brilliant because a lot of eye creams for everyone listening, that's the eye cream in the line, hydrant design. And it's really nice because I feel like when it comes to the skin around the eyes, it's so delicate and it's so thin compared to the rest of your face that a lot of times I think people go overboard with eye creams. You know, I think that they're doing too much, but this one is so good because it literally just, that's what it does is hydrate the eye area.

11:09So things like crow's feet, fine lines, you know, especially under the eyes, if you're wearing makeup, it really helps with that because I really believe that the hydration is the, it's the key thing, you know, to having that youthful appearance. So I'd love for you to speak on this product a little bit, if you could just, you know, absolutely. Yeah. It's, it's one of our, it's, well, I guess you love all your children, but it really is one of, one of my favorite ones. And, and we did, we started with our renewing HA serum as our foundation. And to back up for a second, when we talk about HA is we put twice the amount of hyaluronic acid in our products as anybody else.

11:49Cause I, cause I do believe in it that much and hydration is so important. So when we started looking at adding products, cause we had, we had three to start with, and now we have 12. So our customers would come and our partners would say, you need an, You need something around the eye. We already use your stuff anyway, but develop us an eye product. And I said, OK. So we started looking. And what I noticed is, like you said, people overdo it with eye. Most companies or a lot of brands have two or three eye products. And I thought, well, why don't we just do one that's a super hydrator, takes care of fine lines and wrinkles, puffiness and dark circles.

12:30And so the team went to work and you're right. This product does all three. And what it does, you get those rapid results. The puffiness goes away. It breaks up that bilirubin for those dark circles. but also when your skin is hydrated, that skin under your eye, you're correct, it's so thin. And what our product does is help build that, help thicken that up to where it does hide that because you're always going to have some type of pigmentation or dark circles there. But the thicker, when your skin gets a little thicker as when it was young, how it is, then it just doesn't show up as much. And the fine lines and wrinkles go away.

13:11It's got some great ingredients in there. But DHA is what really makes that product for sure. Yeah, it's a really great product. And I have noticed that, you know, in the sense that my under eye area isn't really as irritated as it usually gets sometimes because I try a lot of products. You know, I try to test everything that I get sent. And sometimes, you know, my skin, I have to take a break and I have to rely on certain products to bring it back to where I need it to be. And this is a product I've been using very consistently. And I've noticed that my under eye area, you know, a lot of people think that there's a lot of milia that they deal with.

13:49I mean, for me, it's just really smooth everything over. And I don't have like crow's feet that I had to correct, but it's made my eye area a lot more like stronger, I guess, for lack of a better term. It feels stronger, you know, and I feel like when I'm applying, whether it's concealer or whatever I'm doing, it doesn't feel like it's getting stuck as much, you know, in like the little lines and the little crevices that form with. age it's natural for them to occur but it really has strengthened i can definitely see that visibly so i mean i think it's a brilliant product i think that you know the approach you guys are taking here with an eye product and eye cream specifically that's something that you know it's almost like it's simple but brilliant you know the brilliance is in the simplicity of the fact that it's really working to hydrate you know and i really like that so no hector you're right i think you know back, let's say in the COVID time, when everybody was working from home, you had two hours to be able to do your routine and you had, and you could use 10 or 12 different products, but now people are busy.

14:56They're, they're on, they're on the go. And so what we try to do is develop products that can do multiple things. You know, I, we really embrace skinomization, you know, skinimize, let's, let's take a few products that do a lot of different, a lot of different things. And so the eye product is a perfect example of that. You're right. Just with some of our other products also. Absolutely. And the other one, speaking of other products, there's another one I really wanted to chat with you about. And I never talk about cleansers. Very rarely on the show, do I like rave about cleansers because for me, they've never been, you know, it's like very rare to find a standout cleanser.

15:32Yours is amazing. You have an amazing cleanser. And I don't know, I mean, how much thought you guys put into this but it seems like a lot because it's revolutionary for my skin i mean i don't know how many of you out there are struggling to find like your ideal cleanser but this one is just phenomenal like it works so well in terms of prepping my skin for whatever i have coming up whether it's just putting on moisturizer and walking out the door or it's a full routine it works beautifully and i'd love for you to talk to us about this one as well, because it's, I just feel like it's so well formulated.

16:06No, thank you. We're super excited. We launched that product earlier this year and we're not bashful. We call it, it's a therapeutic cleanser. It's the only cleanser that I'm aware of that actually has technology included in it. And again, part of our, part of our ethos here is we're driven by innovation, but guided by, by our partners. And that was one of the products that everybody asked us. They say, you have to have a cleanser. We want it with yours. And so what we did is we started looking at, Hey, how can we make this better? How can we make it unique? Cause we try to, our products are unique in some way, but we also, every one of our products has, has, has a carrier, have a delivery mechanism.

16:49And so with this one, the delivery mechanism on this is we have a technology, It's called microfusion technology. That's, it's powered by fulvic acid and fulvic acid is a humic acid that's found at the bottoms of lakes and streams and peat moss that's been just deposited over the years. But with that, it has amino acids in it. It has trace minerals, but it's, it's small enough to where it can absorb up to three times its own weight. And so it can penetrate down to the dermal layer also. And fundamentally different thing about this molecule is it has a positive and a negative charge. And it's only one of a handful that actually can do that.

17:34And it changes during oxidation or when you apply it, Ecta, it takes all the peptides and the antioxidants that are attached to it and ingredients and it deposits them. It's like an elevator. On the way down, everything gets off. But on the way up, it changes its polarity and it starts sucking out toxins and dirt and grime. And that's the reason that it works so well. I give a lot of lectures and I'm not a big before and after pitcher, but on the cleansers, the only one that I use a before and after pitcher on. And it's just because most people can't believe a cleanser by itself in our clinical trials could change someone's skin the way that it did.

18:16it. It's so it's, it's an amazing cleanser. It's, it has some botanicals in it. So it's one of our products that does have a scent, but it's, it's so pleasant. I get people ask me, Hey, can you put that sin in everything else? And we, we don't, cause that's, that's not what we want to do, but it's an important part of the cleanser. And, and you're right. I get asked about it all the time. People are obsessed with it. They really, yeah, it's amazing. It's a really, really great cleanser and I I'm glad that you went into the science because honestly at the end of the day when it comes to cleansers there's not a lot of information about the science of why people have formulated those cleansers I mean for this for me this one I mean it really does work like when when I think of cleansing I think of that first step in your routine that is going to really prep your skin you know it's going to make you feel like your skin is baby soft it's ready for whatever you've got coming next.

19:11And unfortunately, I hate to say it, but there's a lot of products in the cleanser space that simply just don't deliver that, you know, they just don't. And I think it really does. It's a lack of technology. That's the reason for that. Because, you know, when it comes to this step, I think it's very underestimated how much you can do with a cleanser. I know a lot of people love the double cleanse mechanism and, you know, that method. And that's great. But this one by itself, I don't really think you need a double cleanse at all with this. I mean, I haven't had run into any problems with like removing my sunscreen at the end of the day for example like it really gets everything off so yeah it does it gets in your pores in your crevices the the dalton size is so small yeah it really cleans out your pores it gets in your crevices and it does what a cleanser is supposed to do it's just not soap and water it it gets your skin right for the rest for your rest of your day and it's it's it's powerful and gentle that take your sunscreen off your makeup off it just it it does exactly what you what you want a cleanser to do and that's what people tell us all the time is say if we could draw one up this is what it would be it's interesting what you said about the charges like the polarity because this is a topic i'm very interested in you know scientifically when we think about like the proteins right like on our skin surface and like part that are part of the skin barrier we always we kind of i don't know i think we ignore that part about the idea that proteins also have a charge that that are on them and so when you're using like heavy surfactants right like these some of these products i mean they're very very harsh on your skin yes and they're disrupting obviously people say yo it's disrupting your skin barrier but no one talks about why and i think a lot of it has to do with disrupting protein charges because that is really what's creating the holes in your skin barrier is this idea of you're destroying naturally occurring proteins that are there for the integrity of your skin and the surface and so when you're utilizing something that has advanced technology even if it's that cleanser step it you know it's really important to have that because otherwise you're just you're damaging your skin before you even know what to do next you know it's like you're damaging it and then you're trying to repair it with serums and moisturizers and i think i think for consumers it's important to get behind and rally behind this idea that no from the very get-go from my cleanser step i need to be taking care of you know the i guess the molecular level of my skin health you know and so yeah it really speaks to me is that's why i'm ranting so much about it yeah we're very intentional about that because you have that not only disruption of the barrier but you have to be intentional about whether it's a positive or negative charge because free radicals free radicals are are super damaging to the skin and they come in both positive and negative and that's the reason that that our fulvic acid our microfusion technology is so good is because no matter what if your free radicals are positive or negative at some point during the therapy or the treatment, it's going to eliminate those.

22:18And so that's just going to benefit you through your entire routine. Wow. Yeah, no, I agree. And I want to actually ask you a few more deep dive questions about your data that you've gotten, because I know you mentioned clinical trials. Can you share some of the insights from the clinical trials or consumer studies? Yes, I am an advocate for clinical data. And every product that Hydrenity releases has clinical data to support its efficacy and its safety. I will tell you, I'm the first person in the company that tries something when it comes out. I tease everybody, you can't mess this up, it doesn't matter.

22:56So I try everything first. And then what we do is we do things a little bit different with our clinical trials. So we'll do two arms of our clinical trials, sometimes three. And we get the clinical data from the clinicians or the providers but we also get observational data and from the patient or the person that uses it. Because to me, that's very important that both of those match up. And sometimes there are things that are more important to the end user than it is to the clinician. And I want to see both. I want to see both of those to make sure that we've got it on the mark. The other thing we do studies, we don't exclude people.

23:40So you can have oily, normal, dry skin. I don't care. Fits one through six. A lot of clinical studies, when people do them, they exclude certain people. Well, I don't want, I want everybody to be able to use hydrinity products. I don't want it just to be for people with normal skin. If you have oily skin, I want you to be able to use it. If you're a fits five or six, there's not a lot of good options out there sometimes. I want you to be able to use, I don't want you to have to think about that. I want you to pull that blue box off the shelf as a provider and know that your patient's going to benefit from it.

24:12And so our clinical data backs that up. When we first started, I knew no one. They would question, hey, what's a hydrinity? So we did clinical studies before we came out. We did a 71 patient study. It was randomized to look at the anti-aging as effective or renew seral. And that's how we came up with a tagline results in two weeks, because I knew it worked. Hypothesis was better ingredients, give you better products, better results. And so when we did this study, we looked at it multiple times because it's like they got really well because the industry at the time a couple of years ago, it was, hey, six or eight weeks, you're not going to see results before then.

24:58But we saw dramatic results within two weeks. Then we did another study, a post-laser study, and we saw results versus placebo at day two that were phenomenal. And so that's how we know our products. Number one, they work well, they're tested. And that's the reason we can say we give you more rapid results. You get the immediate benefit from using these products. Absolutely. That's really fascinating that you did a post-laser study as well. I mean, I feel like that's something that is really a gray area for consumers to understand is what products are great for post-procedure care, you know? And ours is good.

25:38And that's one of the reasons, too, we use injectable-grade HA is because when you go through a procedure like that, it's very aggressive, very ablative. And I wouldn't put a regular HA on some of those, but injectable grade HA, you don't have to worry for, you know, granulomas was one thing I said, let's try it and make sure. But if it's injectable grade, it's pure. You don't have to worry about that. And so that's one reason I will say we're probably one of, if not the top, one of the top post-procedure brands out there right now is because you don't have to use injectable grade. it's anti-inflammatory it has an analgesic effect and it takes away the redness it takes away the pain the the itch it shortens up your your recovery time it it significantly reduces that and that's a huge advantage for for for everyone especially the person undergoing the procedure that's phenomenal that's really phenomenal i'd love that you guys have created a line that is it's truly like a transitionary line you know you can use it in so many different parts of your skin journey you know that's so so important i feel like right now the industry is buzzing about this whole personalized approach to skin health and i love that you know on some in some ways i love that but in a lot of ways i feel like true personalization is the ability of products and brands to be flexible, you know, and to be used in different scenarios and different time points.

27:10And I think that really speaks very heavily to the efficacy of a brand, you know, if you're able to do that, because I mean, you shouldn't have eight products on your in your vanity to try to do the same thing. It shouldn't be like that, you know. I agree. Yeah. So, I mean, I know Hydrenity and just for everyone listening, I mean, Hydrenity is available in over 2000 professional practices. So this is a widely used and recommended line in terms of just professionals recommending it as well. How was that, you know, trying to get you guys, when you guys were trying to get into the professional practices, what were some of the factors that really facilitated this level of adoption?

27:49I think part of it is, it was, the hyaluronic acid was pros and cons. So everybody knows about it. they know it's safe. And so that's one reason we did our clinical studies to show, listen, this is not like anything else. It's better. We're the only one that uses 100 % injectable grade in there. And then we did our clinical data to show how well that it worked. And we talked a lot about ingredients. We use unique ingredients. Our ingredients are active. They do things that are different. And it really has been amazing how well the status community has embraced us. The other thing is we just made it real easy to do business with us.

28:36No minimum orders. We have what we call the hydrinity guarantee. Hey, if you bring this on and for whatever reason, if you're not happy with it, I'll buy it back from you. We've had zero of those accounts in the little over two years that we've been in existence. Once somebody uses this product, they never want to give it up. And so we just, you know what, we put our money where our mouth was and we just we let people try it. Because once you touch this, it feels different. I mean, you know, you use the product. Yeah, it's great. It feels different than anything else out there. And we worked really, really hard on that.

29:16What we try to do is we try to find that intersection between science and luxury. And we think that's where hydrinity fits. It's at that intersection. We have all the science you want, but we have luxury at an affordable price. And I'm very cognizant about the price that we charge also. So I never want to be the most expensive thing out there. I just, to me, I want as many people to benefit from this as we can. And so we're very intentional that we make luxury affordable. That makes sense. And it really shows through the products. I mean, I honestly, I cannot stress that enough for our listeners is, you know, very, like I said, you know, I don't get excited about things like cleansers, you know, it's just very rare for me to get excited about things that I think you know should be basic steps but this has really blown me away the whole line is just so beautiful and it's very well thought out you can see it from you know in any product that you guys try you'll see it immediately I think that's one of the very unique and exciting factors for me as a consumer is that sometimes you you know you come across brands that might have like one great product but I have really noticed with hydrinity's entire line you see it across the board every product is very heavy hitting and it's really providing those real results, you know, in a very timely way, because none of us want to wait around for a month, two months to see any sort of results from our skincare.

30:43I mean, that's the honest truth, you know? Yes, absolutely. Yeah. We don't want that. I mean, that's the whole idea. I think that's something that sometimes people try to tell you like, no, you got to be patient. But I think when it comes to skincare, I mean, you have to have some expectations. And as a consumer, I can say I would rather see something work within a couple of weeks, you know, a week or two and really show me results. And I think this line really speaks to that and that fundamental for me. But Keith, you know, I'm really excited to see what you guys come out with next. Is there anything you can share with us?

31:14Like any new products coming out or any new news? I wish I could tell you. So no, it's, we have, we have multiple product launches and 20 and 25 coming. So we'll have, we have at least one product in the spring and we have one in the fall. The spring product, it's a perfect time of the year for it. People have been asking, they've been begging us for this type of product. So it uses our HA as a platform technology that people are really going, you're going to want this product. And then the one in the fall is I'm super excited about clinical studies start here in a couple of weeks on it. It has a chance to be industry changing.