The Science Behind Effective Skincare with Scott Futterman and Samuel Raoof of DRMTLGY

0:00Ekta Yadav:Hey guys, welcome back to Skin Anarchy. This is a very special episode because I'm interviewing a brand that I have been using for quite a while now. I've been a huge fan of their entire line and I think they have such amazing products and really, really they lean on that efficacy component when it comes to skincare that you can rely on. I always love these opportunities to talk to those type of brands because I think this is really the future of skincare as I've told you guys many times on the podcast. I would love to introduce you guys to the co-founders of Dermatology, Scott and Sam. A pleasure to be here.

0:31Thank you for having us.

0:32Ekta Yadav:It's a pleasure to have you both. And I'm so excited to dive into dermatology. Like I said, I'm a total stan for the brand. And I think that what you're doing is very unique in the space. You know, I don't really get to talk to a lot of brands that are so heavily focused on just let's do the science, you know, and let's get that right and go with that first and foremost. I really actually even love the kind of marketing you guys put out, you know, it's just like all jives with what I think skincare should be doing. So that's my, I mean, that's my little intro, but I would love to start off, Sam, can you maybe get us started?

1:04Ekta Yadav:Walk us down memory lane, you know, in terms of like, where did the brand begin for both of you? I mean, what really kind of sparked that interest where you both thought, I need, you know, we need to start our own thing? Absolutely. So, you know, the story goes back 24 years. I'm a cyber dermatologist. My father has been practicing for many, many years. And as a kid, we grew up going to the American Academy dermatology as our annual vacation. And so I get dragged around the convention floor with my father and, you know, learning all about dermatology at a very young age. So after school, I started working for my father in his practice and saw a true white space and a lack of high-end technology based in care products that were accessible for doctors in office dispensing.

1:46And then as a result, I decided to start working with some other labs, start developing some of these formulations to meet that need that I saw that was greatly lacking within industry. But as I did that, I quickly realized that there's an integrity and issue with a lot of manufacturers, and they really themselves didn't really understand, and formulation chemists, how to develop such high-active synergistic formulations that are really superior and that the dermatology community really needs. And so as a result, I started my own manufacturing facility from the ground up. Started with a 3 ,000-square-foot facility, personally got my drug license.

2:22And really this was to support our industry in terms of making these formulations really accessible and available to the dermatologists and plastic surgeons for in-office dispensing. Fast forward many years, you know, we're now one of the premier manufacturers for highly active formulations, highly unstable products. And we manufacture millions of pieces to major pharmaceutical companies and retail channels and brands, you know, nationwide. And so Scott and I are childhood friends. We grew up together. And actually a part of the story that we missed is as we fulfilled this need, we started offering these formulations to over 3 ,000 dermatologists and plastic surgeons nationwide for in-office dispensing.

3:08And this is where that heritage comes in. So these are highly efficacious results in formulations that doctors continue to sell in their practice. And so Scott and I are childhood friends. We grew up a block away from each other. And when Scott really came to me and said, hey, you have these amazing formulations, but they're not accessible. They're only available for the doctor's office. You have to get a visit to see them. There's a lot of places in the country that just don't have easy accessibility to dermatologists. So why don't we take these formulations and make it more accessible to the masses?

3:43And as a result, that's kind of where dermatology was born.

3:47Ekta Yadav:I love that. Scott, I'd love for you to tell us what made you really want to take that leap, taking it out of the Derm office and to bring it to consumers. Yeah, so this is about 2015, 2016. I had a lot of friends that were selling products online, electronics, supplements, you name it. And they were doing really, really well. At the time, I was in an industry that I kind of felt was dying and I was looking for something new. And And as Sam mentioned, we were childhood friends. I got to understand his business a little bit more. And I realized that you have incredible formulas that are trusted by thousands of dermatologists.

4:26But these dermatologists are overcharging for these great formulas and products. I was like, what if we created a brand and sold all of those products online, making them not only accessible as far as price point, but also the ease in which a customer can get it, right? So our own.com and Amazon at the time. and um and so anyways he's like good idea run with it uh we came up with the name dermatology which really um encapsulates sam's background selling to dermatologists and plastic surgeons and uh you know we started online for and sold online for about nine years before entering into ulta december of 2025 again just to make those products more accessible to consumers and meet

5:07Ekta Yadav:them where they want to shop that makes sense well i mean i love that you guys started in the clinic space though. Like I really, really love that because I think there's no tried and true way to like test a brand, you know, than to give it to the, give it to the derms and let them play with it and then let them see, you know, is this actually applicable to my patients? I think that's probably why consumers love your products so much because they've been, they've been tested, you know, like fully, fully vetted. You know, I would love actually to expand on that. If you guys don't mind, you know, maybe Scott, you can expand a little bit more for our audience because I know this is a trend right now in the space that I've seen, you know, in skincare where we're seeing a lot of people come up with brands, right?

5:45Ekta Yadav:And that's great. Entrepreneurship is great. But like, just your thoughts on this idea of like, where do you think skincare needs to be focused when it comes to like understanding truly what is efficacious? Like, what do you think consumers should understand when they're trying to evaluate a brand based on is this going to work? Should I invest in this brand? Is it worth the money versus like the$12, you know, dupe or whatever they find? I mean, just your thoughts. I would love to hear your thoughts on that. So really, I think what's important is, you know, utilizing the highest cost of nutrition of actives available.

6:16So at dermatology, what we really focus on is a combination of gold standard raw materials with new and novel technologies, and in turn, synergistically see the best results possible. So we're looking for a synergistic effect of gold standard technology and new and novel actives. And within that, we can see the optimal results within the skin and really see a difference. That unique combination is really a core philosophy to our DNA. And this is what consumers should be looking at. Products that have a real heritage in dermatology, who understand how to formulate and how to bring results within these formulations.

6:51And so it's not marketing fluff, right? And a marketing story, but the real substance behind it. And there's a real art form when it comes to developing formulations. And so anyone can develop a vitamin C product. But the question is, is it really efficacious? And is it the right particle size? Do you have the right bioavailability? Do you have the right delivery system? Is it really working in the skin? And these are what consumers should be looking for as they decide which brands or which type of products that they want to use on your skin. It's the real art form behind it. Science is very, very important.

7:26but to understand how to develop the product to get the right penetration to get the right delivery system and more importantly as well equally is the aesthetics as well and another example of this is sunblocks right if you look at physical sunblocks you know you have the full spectrum of products that make you look white and blue and you know it looks like the olden days with the lifeguard and the white yeah those days have come and gone and so you have some really amazing formulations that are all physical, titanium, zinc, very high use levels. And why do they not have that white look to it?

8:01That's because it's the art form of the science of the formulation and really getting the combination of the unique particle size to get the right penetration, to get the right aesthetics, but also larger particle size and have those work together synergistically to ultimately get the broad spectrum rating that you need, which is the right protection, but at the right aesthetics. It's very important, you know, that stuff that asked by someone. Yeah. And I think the other part of your question is like, obviously, it's a very crowded space, right? I feel like every day, there's a new line coming out from someone or somewhere.

8:38And, you know, I think for consumers, there's a few things that you need to look at. Like, where's this, where's this product actually coming from? Was it developed through clinical channels or was it just marketed that way after the fact um you know what's behind the claims like what testing have they done what data are they using what substantiation are they using you know what went into it um you know as a marketer myself i see like a lot of lofty claims with a lot of but not a lot of evidence um and you know i feel like the consumer also has to look at like are these products built to sell or are they built to perform um and i think we see a lot of times that products are following trends that maybe, you know, aren't really following science necessarily.

9:22And, you know, they're really just built to sell. So I think dermatology, like Sam said, you know, we're focusing on those gold standard actives, clinically proven, but we're also constantly looking at new and novel technologies, which do have science behind them. And we're really not driven by trends.

9:39Ekta Yadav:I really, I mean, I really respect that a lot because I I think, you know, speaking to, you know, both of your points, I think there's so much that goes on to really create a brand in that way. And also, I think consumers don't fully grasp that yet. Like, that's what I've noticed is like, like, you'll see a lot of people on, for example, TikTok, right? You'll see a lot of people on social media that are like, oh, well, this is just as good as this. And the product took like four months to formulate. And I'm like, how can you say, you You can't make claims about products that literally just came out yesterday, the same claims that you're making about something that's been around for 10, 12, 13 years.

10:18Ekta Yadav:You know what I mean? That just doesn't add up to me as a scientist. And I want to get this message out there. And Sam, I'd love for you to speak on this because I know formulation, that's a world. And I'm sure what happens behind the scenes in the lab and understanding how do you optimize, right? especially for the audience that you guys served in the very beginning with the dermatologist offices. I mean, what are some of those hurdles that consumers never really get to hear about? Realistically, how long do you think something like that takes for a brand to truly do their due diligence to bring that to market?

10:51Look, I think there's, you know, R &D is something you can't rush, right? It's something that takes time. It takes multiple different iterations of those formulations and requires real clinical testing. And a lot of companies will just use raw material supply data, and that's great, and we do that too. But we really take it a step further by actually conducting real clinical trials on our finished products, in our finished formula, in the final packaging, and really proving that the combinations of those materials are really working together and seeing the best results possible. And I think that's really critical, and it separates us from a lot of other brands out there.

11:28As an example, we have our needleless growth factor serum, and we recently did a RRB-controlled study with Dr. Stephen Day on a lot of formulation. And, you know, it's a very, very expensive clinical trial that we conducted. It's a drug-level trial. And as a result, we saw some fantastic results from that. But that really goes to the level in which we're going into to substantiate those. But to develop a formulation is not easy. There's a lot that goes into it, right? We have full-on stability that we have to focus on, and stability is a real key factor here, right? We're not looking just to make sure that the product doesn't separate, doesn't change colors, but also the material itself has the right bioavailability, has the right concentration, and ultimately sees the best results possible.

12:19And so things that we do here, you know, from a development standpoint is we undergo what's called an accelerated stability process. where as we develop a formulation, we actually take that product and we incubate it in an oven at 40 degrees Celsius with 75 % relative humidity. And what we do is at the baseline, so day zero, we check for color, odor, appearance, pH, viscosity. We check the drug active level, and we'll see what that looks like. And then at the 30-day, 60-day, 90-day mark, we check all those specifications again and see what's happening to the pH, what's happening to the color? You know, is this product really, really stable?

12:59And that really ensures that we have a good quality product. And then, of course, we also run that in real time as well, because if we do something in accelerated, that may not mean it'll translate in real life. And that accelerated stability every day in the oven is considered one week on the shelf. So a 90-day accelerated stability gives us a two-year tentative expiration date from that. So every formulation undergoes the accelerated disability process. It also goes through a room temperature, real-time study for 24 months, where we're checking zero, 30, 6, 9, 12, 18, 24 months, and we're checking all those specifications again.

13:38And then we do additional testing, where we do preservative efficacy tests, where we're actually injecting 70 million strands of bacteria into a product, and then we incubate it for up to 21 days. And we look to see, play the game, what wins, preservative system or bacteria. And then we also do a freeze-throw test. We're actually freezing the product and then let it draw back to room temperature. And then we're checking all those specifications again. And the idea here behind it is what happens if we send up goods to New York and it freezes over the weekend, right, at the warehouse and the consumer gets it?

14:13Is it going to be stable? Is it going to be safe? is it still going to work? And so these are all, you know, some of this testing that we do, you know, early on in the development stage to really ensure that we have the right safety, the right efficacy, the right performance, that the product is really going to work from that perspective. That's brilliant.

14:33Ekta Yadav:I love that you really dove into that. Thank you, Sam. Scott, I just want to know, like, from like a, and this might be a little, you know, straightforward, but how much does all that cost? Like, that's a really costly process, right, for a brand to go through all of that testing and like and to get all that done before you know even coming out yeah no it's it's it's expensive but at the same time we want to make sure that we're doing things the right way at the end of the day the consumer comes first efficacy comes first and you know the whole goal is to get someone into a dermatology product have them love it have the best experience the best outcome and you know continue to purchase not only that product but get into other products as well um so yes while it's expensive while some brands don't do the level of testing that sam was just mentioning um it's really important to us um and if you go back to like you know our heritage sam was manufacturing these products and still does for thousands of dermatologists and plastic surgeons um there's a level of efficacy and safety that's required for them to feel comfortable to you know dispense those to their their patients And dermatology follows that same model.

15:42Ekta Yadav:I always try to say that on this podcast where it's like, you know, you guys got to start looking for things. You know, if a brand is publishing results, like you guys have done clinical trials on your products. You've done the homework. You've done the due diligence for your consumers. So it's like for me as a consumer, I can say I have faith in a brand like that that's being transparent from the get-go instead of relying on these buzzwords or these like, you know, like non-regulatory labels. like it that doesn't those don't matter at the end of the day what matters is if a brand's actually done it they'll show it to you and if they haven't done it they're just not going to talk about it or they're going to dance around it and a very unique environment as well is because we have you know we're not just a brand right but our heritage is manufacturing developing it's physician dispense and that deep understanding of actually developing products actually manufacturing products really allows us to be superior in a lot of different ways.

16:36And most brands out there do not manufacture and do not develop their own formulations. They use third-party contract manufacturers to achieve those, even major, major brands out there. And so from that perspective, the insight that we have is really, really unique from that perspective of really being able to understand the true needs from a development formulation standpoint, but also understanding what the needs are within the dermatology offices and really making sure that we have the most efficacious and results from formulations from that perspective.

17:11Ekta Yadav:That makes sense. And just to go off your point, Sam, what does it take to take a professional-grade product and bring it to mass scale for consumers? What do you have to do from the manufacturing side to really make that possible? It's a great question. There's a lot that comes into it. You know, quality, safety, clinical efficacy is always number one, right, as we look at that. And so for a brand to really do this and transition from a physician dispense to make it more accessible, I think it comes back to education. Education is key. You know, here at dermatology, you know, we believe in a multifaceted approach to solving issues.

17:50We don't believe that anyone active will address any one issue. You know, we believe in it's truly a synergistic effect. And a good example of this is for dark circles. Dark circles can be caused for hereditary reasons, aging, smoking, environmental conditions. But each one of those have a different treatment method to address those. And so really you need that synergistic effect to achieve and resolve those type of problems. But as you look to take products from the masses, you know, a physician-discipline's brand and drink from the masses, we want that DNA to stay the same. And education is a key component of it.

18:22Examples we have are, say, our retinol products. Well, right now, products, we educate our customers that you are going to have some irritation, some redness. And this is normal. This is expected for this product. And that means it's working. And we're getting the cell turnover that we're looking for. But in a mass brand that's, let's just say, you know, that's out in the drugstore, you know, you don't have that ability to educate that consumer. Or the brand is really not doing a great job at that. So as a result, they have to adjust the pH. They have to adjust the concentration of those actives and really dilute it to make it to the point that it's not causing that redness or irritation in a short window.

19:00But in turn, you know, they don't get that consumer complaint or the, you know, of, hey, I have an allergic reaction to this product when really this is the intended result that we're trying to achieve with this. So to me, I think it's really critical as we look to bring on these type of high active formulations, making sure it's safe, making sure that we educate the consumer to understand what are you looking for, right? What is the size that is working? What size that's not working? When is it really an allergic reaction versus this is the stimulation of the skin that we're looking for? And the other part of that is just like, you know, we're operating at a different economy of scale, right?

19:40when you're selling to doctors offices you know the the scale is is much different than the brand like dermatology which is selling to millions of customers so um yeah we're able to maintain that integrity of our products because we are operate and and sell them for significantly less because we are operating at scale um and also that just the physician's defense model is just a different business model than what we're operating and that we're selling to mass consumers We're trying to be accessible to everyone where, you know, a physician is basically a middleman, right? It's the company, the doctor, and then the end consumer.

20:18And, you know, everyone needs enough margin to make it worth their while. So I think based on economies of scale and just a different business model, that's how we're able to maintain that same integrity of physician dispense style products, but selling to the masses. this.

20:36Ekta Yadav:How do you actually balance that, like, you know, the cost and then keeping that efficacy there, you know, as well as the compliance component? How do you balance all of those factors when you are scaling to this level? You know, I think it's better being transparent, right? For us as a brand, we are focused on quality, right? At the end of the day, we don't want something that just smells good and feels good. There's a lot of brands out there that do that. But what they're lacking and why they keep looking for other brands is because they're missing the efficacy. They're missing the results. They're missing the difference, seeing a difference in their skin in a short period of time.

21:13And that's really who we are as a company. And so as we focus, it's not on profitability. It's focused on efficacy and results. And that's the core of who we are. A lot of brands will use, you know, buzzwords, buzz actives, very low concentration. According to the FDA, in order to say you have raw material in your formulation, you have to use a minimum of 0.001%. That's nothing. That's fairy dust. Not doing anything, right? And so you have two brands, one's that using at 2 % and one's using at 0.001%. They're both making the same claims right they're both saying it has you know uh retinol or whatever it may be and so for us you know quality concentration formula efficacy is number one and we do not compromise on that

22:04Ekta Yadav:yeah no that's i mean thank you for clarifying that i think that you brought up such a good point with that percentage thing you know and i i'm kind of glad because consumers these days are starting to look deeper i think into that you know because they're realizing like there is a lot of fairy dusting that's been going on, you know, in terms of a lot of these, like, the products that are claiming to be more active-driven, you know, I think they are saying, oh, you can expect this, but they're selling at price points where it's like, how did you accomplish that? Like, if you're selling a peptide serum for$5, like, I'm going to wonder, as a consumer, how you're even able to do that because peptides cost so much and you have to buy them in bulk.

22:38Ekta Yadav:So, like, how do you even sustain that? You know, so that's where I think it becomes really important, I think, for consumers to, I mean, you know, one, the price point, right, where people say something's too expensive for my budget, but then also looking at why is this product expensive? There's got to be a reason, you know, some there's not, some there's no reason, you know, I know there's a lot of brands out there like that, but some, I think brands have a real reasoning behind what they've done, how they've done it. Exactly, speaking to your point, Sam, where it's like, we're accounting for a lot of things here, You know, efficacy is first and foremost for you guys.

23:11Ekta Yadav:So, yeah, the percentages have to be right, you know, and with that is going to come in built cost. There's just no getting around that. So I think from a consumer standpoint, I always like to play that devil's advocate of like, you know, well, hey, listen, you know, you got to really look into that. You got to start accounting for that. It's a mixture of like, you know, having that R &D, but also marketing it in a digestible way to where it actually matters for a consumer. I think that's where a lot of brands miss it. And I think that's where dermatology has done a really good job is like, you know, how do we, we, we do this, but like, how do we, how do we present that to a consumer where it actually matters to them?