The Science of Nutrient Preservation in Modern Beauty Ft. HPPY Skin

0:00Hey guys, welcome back to Skin Anarchy. Today's episode is going to be all about how we extract ingredients when it comes to skincare products. I think this is very rarely talked about in our space because companies don't want to disclose that maybe X amount of the product or the ingredient is being lost during this extraction method. And so I find this to be very unique and interesting about HPPY Skin. So welcome, Hannah Penn, who is the founder. Welcome, Hannah. I'm so excited to dive in and chat with you. Thank you so much for having me. I'm so excited to be here and to talk more. Yeah, no, I'd love to get started.

0:34I mean, you started Happy Skin at 20-something. I mean, that's really young for starting a business. How was that? Tell us about your journey. Yeah, I grew up in a family business. My dad started Good Foods that also uses HPP technology in 2008. It has been quite a journey. I was introduced to the technology really young as well. There's like a few moments in my childhood that really stand out to me. One of them was when my family first started talking about high pressure processing. There was a conversation that my parents had where he never saw the technology. He never saw the equipment in person, but knew what it did.

1:14So he decided to invest sight unseen. He just believed that it was going to change the food industry. That's kind of where this all started was how significant that moment was in my life and my family's life. And every single thing we did revolved around this food business and bringing people really high quality products. that they saw the label, they knew exactly what was in it. There was no preservatives and it's excellent. It's healthy for you. And that piece of technology was really the sole purpose of what it was meant to do. So the three main benefits of HPP is safety, extending the shelf life of a product and nutrient retention.

1:58And so when I started digging into skincare and how actives and ingredients are made and processed in the skincare industry, I just knew HPP could really transform the space through that nutrient retention piece. It's been ingrained in me from a very young age, and I just was on a personal mission to bring HPP into skincare. I love that. I think this is so fascinating. I want to learn more though about the actual HPP component, the technology itself. Could you tell all of us, how does this work? What is it? I know the benefits are immense, but just kind of walk us through like what the actual tech is.

2:38Yeah. So it is a 90 ton stainless steel machine. You really would not think that that would fit in beauty. I mean, it is not at all, but it essentially uses 87 ,000 PSI of cold water pressure. So if you imagine taking a product to the deepest part of the ocean and then six times deeper. That's the amount of pressure that high pressure processing uses. And so typically what you see in the skincare industry, the traditional methods of extracting ingredients is heat or chemical solvents, both of which really degrade the nutrients, which then in return really degrades the benefit for the consumer.

3:20So HPP uses universal pressure because it's universal. It's very gentle and it doesn't smush anything. Like I feel like when you think about pressure, you think if you put a grape in the machine, it would come out completely smushed because it's universal. You really, you put a grape in and you get a grape out. And so what happens with that intense amount of cold water pressure is that it pokes holes into the plant cell walls. And the plant cell walls, it's like a balloon of nutrients. It just kind of like pops the balloon and allows the nutrients to flood out into the formulations and into the substrate.

4:02It's really able to keep whole food ingredients and their nutrients intact and even more bioavailable and more bioactive than they were when they were stuck behind the plant cell wall. Wow, I love that. That is really cool. I mean, that's like literally taking a lot of plant-derived, botanical-derived ingredients to the next level. I mean, I think that's half the battle in this sector of the industry where we often are using products that do have very botanical-heavy formulas, but then half the time, most of those ingredients get denatured. This is something that I know a lot of us as consumers struggle with.

4:41Maybe you believe that when you're buying a product, it's got all that stuff jam-packed in it, but unfortunately it doesn't survive the processing that takes place in the industry. So that's really cool. You are like speaking my love language. That's right. I mean, that's, I think why natural skincare has gotten such a bad rap. And just because blueberries doesn't mean we're a natural brand. I really believe in science and I really believe in delivering consumers results. But I think because of my background, I have grown up on a manufacturing floor. And so I've always judged a product based off of how it was manufactured, how it was processed and how it's delivered to the consumer.

5:21So when you start seeing these natural ingredients, use heat or chemical solvents, you just know that the nutrients are completely degrade. And we've even done a ton of testing with leading universities and third party labs to show our formulations are 10 times more potent when you look at our antioxidant content. So they, I mean, this piece of technology is just really able to deliver bioactive and bioavailable nutrients to your largest organ, which is your skin. I love that. This makes me think of when like cold pressing became a thing, you know, in the skincare industry, like everybody was obsessed with like cold press oils.

6:04And like, that was a big thing, right? For a lot of us consumers was like, okay, great. You know, my oil is going to do what I want it to do, you know, that kind of thing. So this is taking it to like a whole different level. I mean, I, this is very fascinating, especially when it comes to, you know, one of the big things I'd love for you to also speak on is a lot of times, and I'm a huge fan of botanical based beauty. I really am because I think that that's how nature intended it to be. You know what I mean? The way that molecules interact in nature is something we can never replicate in a lab.

6:35It's just, that's just where science is. And we're going to be there for a long time because it's, it's truly an enigma how things happen. So when you're able to bring things out from natural, I don't want to say natural ingredients because ingredients are ingredients, but the point is like when you're able to bring them out, right, with disrupting them the least amount that you do, the formula itself is so dynamic that we can't accomplish that in a lab. Yeah. Very, very fascinating for me to hear this. And I think the really cool part and to even just distinguish it from what cold pressing does.

7:07So cold pressing, imagine actually taking a grape and smushing that between your fingers. And you're really just getting like the juices and a very small part of that nutrient spectrum. But because HPP is universal and it's 87 ,000 PSI, I mean, it's down to the plant cell wall where all of these little holes are poked and so the nutrients flood out and you're able to get so much more. And because of the way we process it, it's actually bioavailable. And that's something I really care about because I think we talk a lot about absorption in skincare, but I mean, bioavailability goes a step further where the ingredient remains stable and can reach the target layers of your skin and in a form that your cells can use and recognize.

7:58And I think that's kind of the part that you were talking about from nature as intended. We're taking six berries that have a full nutrient profile. And what we're doing, we highlight our anthocyanins because of how amazing of an ingredient they are, but you're still getting the vitamins, the minerals, the antioxidants, all of the nutrients from those berries as well. And I think it goes back to, too, you nourish your body. You eat berries all the time to nourish your inner body. And your skin's your largest organ. So being able to offer it the same nutrients in a form that your skin can use and recognize is really where you see those results.

8:47Absolutely. Absolutely. I love it. Thank you for diving into the cold press. This is very fascinating. And I want to touch on the idea of clean beauty because I'll be real with you. I think right now we're seeing a shift in this industry from what I'm seeing. And people are finally realizing that clean beauty isn't what we thought it was for a long time. And I think that this is a really great conversation for us to bring this up because you're not claiming that. You know what I mean? Even though you're using a new technology for natural ingredients, this is a whole different approach. So can you talk to us a little bit about that?

9:18Where do you see the brand? Where would you, I hate putting things in boxes, but if you were to put a box around it, where would you place the brand on that spectrum? So we definitely, I mean, we're clean because of how we're made and what we're made with. It's so funny, clean doesn't really mean anything. Every brand, every retailer, they're able to kind of define what clean means to them. And that was very actually similar to what I saw in the food industry of the term natural. all. So really the way that I look at it is I kind of look at it from the industry as a whole. What I know is 40 % of skincare users say that their products don't work and beauty innovation as is at a 10 year low.

10:01I just really look at HPPY as bringing true innovation down, down to the ground level. Like we started, we really started looking at this industry as, okay, how is everything being made from an ingredient level, from a formulation level, and then down to what packaging does it go in and why is that important? And then how do we deliver that in the most effective way to the consumer? So, I mean, I really built this to be as transparent as possible and not to rely on these fuzzy ingredients that continue to kind of show up in the industry, make impact, and then kind of just leave. So I really wanted to look at it from the ground level of how do we process this in a way that the ingredient is going to stay intact, stable, and get the maximum benefit to the consumer.

10:59That's really kind of where we just went back to the beginning rather than just trying to find an ingredient that was going to make headlines. Right. Oh my God, I love that. Now you're speaking my language. I really love that because I think this whole performance driven science driven approach you just can't you cannot replicate that by just doing the buzz buzzy thing like the oh this is what's trending right now consumers love a quote-unquote clean product I mean that just it's time to go with that and that's just my message to the whole industry out there I've been kind of blowing the whistle on that for I think for a while now because I just don't I don't like it I think that when you do that you take the science out of things and you're not able to focus on why does this work the way it does and what benefits can I expect from this so I love what you're doing where you're saying that listen you can still use botanicals you can still use nature derived ingredients we're just going to do it in a better way so that you actually get what you're paying for that kind of deal so I think this is great this is really really great I want to talk to you a little bit about what was what were some of the early versions of your product you mentioned that some of them smelled like spoiled baby food in the beginning.

12:12Can you tell us about the beginning phases of kind of the trial and error portion of all this? Yes, I totally missed those days. It was just so much fun. I really, I just was so driven to bring this technology into this industry. I saw what it did in the food industry and I knew there was a nutrient gap in skincare and HPP was going to be the way to fill that gap. So the rotten baby food was definitely not fun to put all over your face. I mean, we were making masks, we were making serums. And so it was a lot of trial and error. It was a lot of test and learn, because I think the crazy part about our brand is that we built a process that we were able to patent.

13:00So we use HPP in an incredibly novel way that no one has done before. And it's basically a method of extraction. And so our first products used HPP quite traditionally, which is you make the formula, you put it in its packaging, and then you HPP it. That's what gives you the safety, the shelf life and the nutrient retention. We were able to then take those learnings. And for our bio berry infusion, create ingredients using HPP as a method of extraction, which nobody has done before. That's patented. It's novel. And it's, it's only something that HPPY can do that level. We just, it was such a test and learn of like, wow, we're trying to bring this technology into this industry.

13:47It's never been done. How are we going to continue to do it? And I'm so lucky I'm surrounded by experts that have really been able to help me wrap my mind around what all of this could look like. And took a very long time. We've been developing this for about five years now. Yeah, it's been quite the journey, but starting at foul baby food masks and being able to get to where we are today, I'm incredibly proud and I'm incredibly excited about the journey. I love that. Well, it always takes a lot of trial and error. I think what you're creating is truly, it's important and you have to go through those phases.

14:27So that's very cool. I mean, And I'd like that you've assembled a team that's really kind of blending different disciplines too. I mean, I think this is also a topic that rarely gets brought up where we think of skincare, we're only thinking about like cosmetic chemists. And I don't ever hear about different disciplines coming into the picture. I know you have a few different people on your team that are like from different backgrounds and expertise, like food scientists. Can you talk to us about that in terms of what was that kind of collaboration like and watching that kind of take place and bring all this to life?

15:00Yeah, we work with the one of the top cosmetic chemists in the industry in the country. I mean, she's amazing. When we brought her on, that really just leveled us up from that was like the foul rotten baby food days was really me tinkering around in a kitchen. And I still put it on my face, which I will say you did see results. That's why I kept going. But we brought our cosmetic chemist on and she really leveled us up. And then we have a, um, an HPP process authority expert on our team. She's one of, I think three in the country. And then, so she's just an expert on the technology, anything that you wanted to know.

15:42And even down to like the molecule, she's able to tell you how the technology will impact it. So, and then we've also blended my food background. We have a food scientist on our team who is really able to look at it from the food side of things. Like how, what berries should we be looking at that have the highest anthocyanin concentration? and how are these all going to be blended together and interact together to bring you all of the maximum benefits so it's been quite a team effort over here i love that and i think that's what it takes it takes multidisciplinary teams to create really magical products i'm a firm believer in that i think science reflects that so heavily rarely will you see a full wet lab only consisting of like the same type same type of scientists you know what i mean like you You need to collaborate.

16:37You need the people from across the street to help you out with certain parts. I mean, that's just how science works. I love that you did that. I think it's bringing true scientific collaboration to the forefront of your brand. I think that a lot of brands can actually learn from that approach. So really hats off to you for that. Oh, thank you. And I think it's really pushed us. It's challenged us to look at things differently and to bring all of their knowledge together. And I think that's really where we've been able to see the results side for the consumer is just, it's been amazing. And so I think we just have such a holistic approach of let's go back to the beginning.

17:17Let's look at how everything is processed down to the ingredient. How are we going to formulate? How are we going to then process and manufacture these products? And then even to take it a step further, what packaging are we going to use to protect these nutrients? And I don't know if we ever would have been so holistic with our approach if we didn't have all of their expertise guiding us throughout this journey. Yeah, no, absolutely. I think it's really critical. And, you know, I'll give you an example. And I'm not bashing anyone when I say this, okay? But, like, I have to share this for everyone listening because recently there was an ingredient that came up.

17:55I was like, there was a comment that I was replying to, and I wrote an article about it. And it's one of those ingredients where it was only based in cosmetic chemistry, you know, like it wasn't based, like, if you look at it from the perspective of physiology, it doesn't make sense, you know, so I was writing this article, and I got a lot of comments about it and questions. And it really brought this topic up to the surface, where it was like, when you ask, if you were to ask a different scientist that same question, they would have a totally different response for you. So like, I think as an industry, you have to like, we have to come to the point where we're saying like, okay, we want to see how many different levels of review did you go through?

18:30You know what I mean? Or like insights did you go through, right? When you created something final, because that really shows you the multifactorial, the systems level approach that you've taken so that because you're dealing with the skin at the end of the day, this isn't, this isn't makeup, this isn't anything that you just use for like two minutes, like no, this is something that you're putting on your skin. You want results. You want things to improve, whatever it is for you. And I think that requires that conversation. You know, it requires that amount of homework being done on the part of brands, on the part of even consumers.

19:02And we're shopping, like voting with our dollars, like, okay, this brand did that homework. So I'm going to get, I'm going to buy them versus somebody who just put like, you know, one ingredient together and there you go. So, I mean, I think it matters a lot at the end of the day. So yeah, I'm a huge fan of it. absolutely and I think that's where a lot of the conversations I have today it totally lends to that it's like just because an ingredients on the label doesn't mean that it's actually making impact and I think that's where like I loved bringing HPP into an industry that has never experienced this technology it makes impact and it's important because of the way in which it'll interact with your skin and the way in which it'll deliver results.

19:46And so I think that's, it's, it's so true. Yeah. And also, you know, we're living in a, in a world right now where most skincare brands are just white label from the same five to 10 manufacturers. It's literally the reality of, of the industry. So I want to ask you, why did you really choose to take this harder path? I mean, I'm sure that you were pausing at some point, right. And saying like, okay, I'm doing this from scratch. Like I have to really kind of brace myself. How was that for you? Oh my goodness. Thank God for like all of my support systems and all of the people that have just surrounded me.

20:21I mean, it's definitely not been easy. There's a lot of days where you kind of look in the mirror and you're like, oh my God, like, what am I doing? It's been quite the journey. I think my family business is so important to me. It is, it has shaped me from a really young age. It has completely shaped my family and HPP is a part of that journey. And so I never would have done this. I never would have created this brand if it wasn't going to follow the same principles of innovation, quality, and excellence that my dad really believed in bringing into the food industry. I've seen exactly how that that has changed the industry, how it's uplifted it.

21:07And I wanted to do the same exact thing in skincare from a really young age. I was just a beauty lover. I mean, throughout my high school years, it was makeup in college. It was skincare. I really wanted to be able to go to class with no makeup and feel great. And so I think what it really comes down to is that I never would have done this if it wasn't going to be important, if it wasn't going to be impactful, and if it wasn't going to deliver real results for the consumer. Innovation, quality, and excellence has been ingrained in me from a really young age. And so I just, I never would have done this if I didn't think that this was something that the consumer needed.

21:51There's, the space is crowded enough. It doesn't need another person coming in and white labeling a formula at those five to 10 factories that you mentioned. I mentioned earlier, UD Innovation is at a 10-year low. And so I have access to a piece of technology and I don't take that lightly. So I was determined to fill that nutrient gap that's present in skincare and skincare formulas today. yeah no I I love that I think that it's it's so needed and it's so genuine to come from this place because we're just overwhelmed as consumers like I'll be real I I go to like CVS and I'm sure you you feel the same Hannah right I mean you go to like a like a retail store and you're just looking at these shelves and I mean it's the same stuff over and over and over and I'm and I love this industry as a consumer as somebody like but at the same time it's exactly like you hit the nail on the head we've got to innovate like you've got to put the innovations out there and you've got to find different ways to deliver even if it is vitamin c right even if it's like a source of vitamin c or it's a source of antioxidants you have to find a way to deliver that so that's the person who's buying these things especially in the economy we're living in now is going to say you know what, I'm glad I invested in this.

23:10I need this on my shelf every night. I need this in my bathroom. And I think that's the difference between skincare and most of beauty is that we, as consumers, when you invest in a skincare product, I think you go on this different journey, expectation of hope, because it's exactly what you were saying, where I want to be able to have no makeup on and walk in with confidence and feel beautiful. And that requires, I think, a greater amount of, I think, ethical responsibility because you're working with an organ at the end of the day. So like, you have to have that as I think as entrepreneurs, as businesses, like we, you have to have that in the front of your brain at all times that you're dealing with people who want results and they want to see them actually see them not wait like 15 months before anything shows up.

23:56And then by then they've spent all their money and that kind of thing. So I think it's, it's huge. It's absolutely huge. Huge. And it's a huge responsibility. And you know, I experienced horrible hormonal acne right at the start of COVID. And that's really when I started tinkering around with HPP in skincare formulations. But I have felt that I mean, I have felt like, what do I do? Who do I turn to? And I'm in pain. It is not just it's an uncomfortable, painful experience. And it's not just painful from like a physical standpoint, but even mentally, I really entered this space with one goal and that was for the consumer and their results.

24:36Yeah, no, I love that. Now I want to, I want to ask you about ingredients because I know I brought them up earlier, but if there was one popular skincare ingredient you, you think is totally like misunderstood or maybe misused, what would, what would that be and how would you change it? Yeah, we are BioBerry Infusion. We talk a lot about anthocyanins and antioxidants. And so I feel really passionate about antioxidants. I think they are able to change your skin and your skin health. And we've really, we've really honed in on that. And that's really why we added berries into our BioBerry Infusion collection.

25:17Today, what you are seeing within the industry are antioxidants that have been completely processed out of these formulations. So you're really not able to get those benefits. I mean, even going down to the antioxidants, they're really unstable. So it's hard to get them into your formulation. So using heat and chemical solvents are just, that's not going to do it. So we've been able to take six berries, use our patented process through HPP to obtain a 10 times more potent formulation for these antioxidants and anthocyanins. Something that I love about anthocyanins is that's what give berries their color.

26:04And so when you look at our products, they have these beautiful hues and you can see that they're actually present in the formulation. which I think is so cool. And if we want to talk about, I mean, like even why antioxidants are so important, you walk outside, you wake up every single day and there's just so much free radical damage that happens to your skin. I mean, it's UV rays, it's pollution, it's the toxins and the environment and all of it. And even your daily stress and the sugar that you consume, that all causes free radical damage. And in return, you see accelerated aging within your skin.

26:44I always think of it like rust. It just breaks down your collagen. It causes dullness, a loss of elasticity, dark spots, and just speeds everything up for your skin. I was very passionate about addressing this because antioxidants are really one of the best ways to do it. And you'll see in skincare today, most skincare only targets one type of free radical. We go after all three major threats to your skin health. What's so amazing about our BioBerry infusion and the way in which we've approached the patented process using HPP and the ingredient is that we're scientifically proven to protect against 91 % of free radical damage.

27:28So that's breakthrough. I I mean, it's unheard of in the industry. And I love antioxidants because I think a lot of our skin concerns come from this free radical damage. Yeah. Can you go through more in more detail that 91 % number? What type of damage is it really like blocking, like kind of go into more detail about it? We're able to really impact your cells. So we always say we block and we boost. So we block your cells from the damage. And so what you'll see from that damage, those cells are there to help your collagen production, help your hyaluronic acid production, help your elastin production.

28:07And also you just want healthy cells. So we're able to protect your cells against that damage, against the free radical damage and the oxidative stress. And then anthocyanins are shown to even help stimulate your collagen, elastin, and hyaluronic acid production. And so we're really that dynamic of we're going to protect your skin cells so they can continue to give you that healthy foundation to continue to help your skin be at its healthiest and strongest, but then also stimulate those really great like collagen, elastin and hyaluronic acid production. So you see even more benefits. So we, we always say we block and we boost their bioberry infusion.