Ask away.

Five skincare products, each with one clear job, built around ingredients that have a real, peer-reviewed paper behind them. We publish the papers. We call them the receipts. The line launches soon and the waitlist hears first.

See the receipts →

Clean Slate washes face and body. Bright Side is the morning vitamin C serum for dullness and uneven tone. Mixed Signals is the morning peptide serum for firmness and texture. Coming of Age is the retinal night serum for wrinkles. Baby's Bottom is the barrier cream for dry, rough or irritated skin. The sixth, Human Condition, is for hair and comes later.

Compare all five →

If you only buy one: Baby's Bottom for dry or irritated skin, Coming of Age for lines and texture, Bright Side for dullness. If you buy two, add Clean Slate, so your cleanser stops undoing the work. The routine page lays out the full order. If you buy all five, we will notice, and we will be pleased.

The routine →

No. Each product stands alone. They are formulated to layer without conflict, so adding one later never means throwing another out. Five is the line for now. The sixth, for hair, is on its way.

Two are, lightly. Clean Slate carries a scent called Clear Conscience and Baby’s Bottom carries First Skin. The three serums are unfragranced, on purpose. Every scent has its own page that says what is in it and what was left out.

The formulas are simple on purpose, but 15% vitamin C and retinal are actives, and actives can sting. Patch test on the inner forearm for three days before using a new product on your face, and start Coming of Age at two nights a week. Patch testing is boring. So is a week of a sore face.

No. The only animal involved is the founder, and he volunteered.

Each name is a small joke about the problem it solves. Baby's Bottom is a barrier cream that borrows its lipid logic from vernix, the coating newborns arrive in. Coming of Age is the retinal serum for the visible consequences of birthdays. If you can laugh at getting older you are more likely to do something about it.

Yes. Bright Side, then Mixed Signals, in the morning, with a minute between them. Thinnest first, let it absorb, then the next. Two is the most we ask of anyone before moisturizer. Three would be showing off.

Three a day is plenty: vitamin C and peptides in the morning, retinal at night. The whole line is built so every active has its own slot and none of them overlap. Adding a fourth from somewhere else is usually where irritation starts.

Not yet. When the finished formulas go through their safety and stability testing, we will say exactly what was tested and by whom. Until then, the studies behind the ingredients are on the Receipts page, which tells you more than a stamp usually does.

The receipts →

We will only say so when the full ingredient lists publish with sourcing. Cholesterol, for example, can come from plants or from wool grease, and the honest answer depends on which we specify. Every ingredient list will be public before anything ships.

Packaging specs are not final. When they are, the materials and how to recycle them go on each product page. We would rather be boring and right than say the word sustainable and hope.

Because that is the concentration in the study everyone quotes. Pinnell's group found L-ascorbic acid absorption into skin rises with concentration up to about 20%, and 15% L-ascorbic acid with 1% vitamin E and 0.5% ferulic acid gave the result we cite. Higher numbers add sting, not benefit. Twenty is a marketing number. Fifteen is a study number.

Vitamin C + E + ferulic →

Two jobs. It stabilizes L-ascorbic acid, which breaks down quickly in water, and in the 2005 study by Lin and colleagues it roughly doubled the protection the vitamin C and E combination gave skin against oxidative stress. It is the reason the serum has three names on the label.

Both must convert to retinoic acid in the skin to work. Retinol takes two steps, retinal takes one, so retinal acts at lower concentrations. In a 44-week comparison, 0.05% retinaldehyde produced results comparable to 0.05% retinoic acid on wrinkles, with less irritation.

Retinal →

Retinal is an over-the-counter retinoid that has been used in cosmetics for decades. It can cause dryness and flaking while your skin adjusts, which is normal and fades. Retinoids are not recommended during pregnancy or breastfeeding; ask your doctor. Use it at night and wear sunscreen by day.

Tretinoin is retinoic acid, the form skin uses directly, and it is prescription-only. Retinal is one conversion step away from it. In the 44-week trial that compared them, 0.05% retinaldehyde and 0.05% retinoic acid both significantly reduced wrinkle and roughness features on skin replicas by week 18, and the retinoic acid group had more irritation. The paper does not crown a winner on wrinkles. It does on tolerance.

Retinal vs retinol →

Eventually, yes. Start at two nights a week, one pump on dry skin, with the barrier cream over it as a buffer. Hold that for a month, then add nights as your skin allows. In the tolerance studies, 0.1% retinal on facial skin was well tolerated over years of use. If a night stings, skip the next one. That is the whole system.

The retinal starter →

Mostly the same actives with a gentler hand: lower strengths, more layers, more moisture. Our version of that is retinal at 0.1% at night, peptides and niacinamide in the morning, and Baby’s Bottom over everything. If you want a plant-based retinol alternative, we do not make one, and we would want a receipt before we did.

The routine →

Vitamin B3. It has human clinical data for uneven tone, texture and barrier support, which makes it the dependable one in a serum full of interesting bets. It also layers well with almost everything, including vitamin C and retinoids.

Niacinamide →

Copper tripeptide-1, also called GHK-Cu, is a small peptide your body makes that declines with age. In laboratory studies it shifts gene expression toward repair and remodeling and stimulates collagen synthesis in skin models. We label it interesting, which on this site means the mechanism is published and the human trials are still catching up to it.

Copper tripeptide →

Yes, with a minute between them. Bright Side goes on first and soaks in; Mixed Signals goes on after. The worry that L-ascorbic acid and copper interfere comes from bench chemistry, not from a skin trial. Letting the first serum absorb keeps the question academic.

The stable, saturated form of squalene, the lipid your own skin surface makes most of. It softens without feeling greasy and does not oxidize the way squalene does. It is in Coming of Age to keep the retinal comfortable and in Baby's Bottom for softness.

Squalane →

Ceramides, cholesterol and free fatty acids are the three lipid families that build the skin barrier. Work by Man, Elias and Feingold in the 1990s showed that damaged barriers recovered faster when all three were supplied together, in roughly the barrier's own proportions, than when any one was applied alone. Baby's Bottom follows that logic.

The barrier lipids →

The white coating newborns are born in: a mixture of lipids, water and proteins that protects skin in the womb and in the first days outside it. Baby's Bottom borrows the lipid idea, not the material. Nothing from any baby is in the jar.

A patent-pending lipid complex developed in our lab and modeled on vernix, the coating newborns arrive in: squalane, wax esters from candelilla, plant sterols, two ceramides and a fatty acid, in the proportions newborn skin uses. Baby's Bottom is built on it. In our lab's test on people it cut water loss through the skin by a third over four weeks, and most participants reported less itch and irritation than with a placebo. Nothing from any baby is in the jar.

The complex →

A beta-glucan, a long chain of sugars, made by fermenting the split-gill mushroom, Schizophyllum commune, in our lab. It is in Coming of Age to keep the retinal civil: in our four-way, double-placebo test on people it reduced retinol-related redness and irritation within 24 hours, and the effect kept building over five days. Published work on the molecule shows antioxidant and anti-photoaging activity in the lab.

Schizophyllan →

A six-amino-acid peptide first isolated from yeast fermentation. In Mixed Signals it is paired with copper tripeptide-1 in one complex made in our lab. The published work is in human skin cells: a 2015 paper in Redox Biology found it switches on Nrf2, the cell's own stress-defense program, and the machinery that clears damaged proteins. Interesting tier, with a mechanism you can name and a human elasticity measurement to go with it.

Hexapeptide-11 →

Hyaluronic acid that has been put through a fermentation in our lab's bioreactors, which breaks it into a spectrum of sizes instead of one. Size decides what hyaluronic acid can do: on Raman imaging of human skin, pieces between 20 and 300 kilodaltons passed through the outer layer while the large ones stayed on top, and in a 60-day trial the 50 and 130 kilodalton sizes reduced wrinkle depth where larger sizes only hydrated. About a third of ours ends up under 100 kilodaltons.

Fermented hyaluronic acid →

It can, and the culprit is usually nicotinic acid, an impurity in lower grades of niacinamide that dilates blood vessels. Mixed Signals uses the low-nicotinic-acid grade, 20 parts per million, the gentlest specification made. If a niacinamide serum has ever made you go red, it was probably the grade, not the vitamin.

Niacinamide →

A mild, coconut-derived cleansing agent that foams properly at a skin-friendly pH. It is the workhorse of gentle cleansers because it removes oil and sunscreen without the stripped, tight feeling that starts the whole apology cycle.

Sodium cocoyl isethionate →

No. They are soft wax spheres that melt as you wash. They do not scrub and they are not plastic. They are there because they are beautiful. That is allowed.

In cultured human hair follicles, caffeine counteracted the growth-suppressing effect of testosterone. That is a laboratory finding, not a promise about your head, and we do not make one. We include it because the research is genuinely interesting and the ingredient is gentle.

Caffeine →

A synthetic sandalwood aroma molecule, and the sandalwood note in Pep Talk, the scent of Human Condition, the hair product that comes later. Lab-made, so it is consistent from bottle to bottle and no tree is involved. It is in the conditioner for how it smells.

Sandalore →

Good means human clinical data supports using the ingredient the way we use it. Interesting means the research is real but comes from laboratory models, small trials or mechanism studies. We would rather tell you which is which than round everything up to proven.

Morning: Clean Slate, Bright Side, Mixed Signals, Baby's Bottom, then sunscreen. Night: Clean Slate, Coming of Age, Baby's Bottom. Each step waits a minute for the previous one to soak in.

The routine, step by step →

Yes. The warning that they cancel each other out comes from test-tube chemistry and from flushing caused by low-grade niacinamide, not from any skin trial. Both have good human data on their own and layer fine. Bright Side first, wait a minute, then Mixed Signals.

Yes, on opposite ends of the day. Bright Side in the morning, Coming of Age at night. Separating them means each works in the conditions it prefers and you are not stacking two potential irritants in one sitting.

Yes. In our routine peptides are morning and retinal is night, so they never meet. If you want Mixed Signals at night as well, put it on before Coming of Age and let it absorb.

Baby's Bottom is the moisturizer. It is a barrier cream, which is what a good moisturizer turns out to be when you read the ingredient list. Very oily skin can skip it in the morning and keep it at night.

Yes. Nothing here replaces SPF. The vitamin C serum works better under sunscreen, not instead of it, and retinal makes daytime protection more important, not less. Sunscreen goes on last in the morning, over Baby's Bottom. We do not sell one, which is how you know we mean it.

Softness and hydration from Baby's Bottom: the same day. Brightness from Bright Side: a few weeks. Changes to texture and lines from Coming of Age: eight to twelve weeks of consistent use, which is the timescale the retinoid trials measured. Anyone promising overnight is selling the overnight.

A temporary increase in breakouts when a retinoid speeds up skin turnover. It usually settles within a few weeks. If the problem is irritation rather than breakouts, drop to fewer nights a week and apply Baby's Bottom before Coming of Age as a buffer.

Clean Slate: a pump or two. Bright Side and Mixed Signals: three or four drops, or one pump, for the whole face. Coming of Age: one pump. Baby's Bottom: a pea for the face, more for the body.

Clean Slate is a face and body wash. Baby's Bottom works anywhere skin is dry, including hands, elbows and feet. The serums are formulated for the face. You can use them elsewhere; it is just an expensive habit.

Skip Coming of Age. Retinoids are not recommended during pregnancy or breastfeeding. The other five use ingredients generally considered fine, but ask your doctor, who knows you and we do not.

Skin is skin. The formulas are not gendered and neither is the packaging. Mortality is not gendered either, and that is the actual target market.

Cleanser, serum, retinal, moisturizer. Morning: Clean Slate, Bright Side, Mixed Signals, Baby's Bottom, then sunscreen. Night: Clean Slate, Coming of Age, Baby's Bottom. Thin to thick, a minute between each.

The routine →

Last, every morning, over Baby's Bottom. We do not make a sunscreen and will not pretend Bright Side is one: vitamin C adds to sunscreen's protection, it does not replace it. Use one you will actually wear.

Clean Slate, Mixed Signals, Coming of Age, Baby's Bottom. Thinnest to thickest, with a minute between each.

Baby's Bottom, morning and night. Add Clean Slate so your cleanser stops removing the lipids you just paid for.

Baby's Bottom →

Clean Slate for a clean that does not overcorrect, Mixed Signals for texture, and Bright Side for tone. Use Baby's Bottom at night only if your skin still feels tight after cleansing.

Coming of Age, at night, with patience. Bright Side by day for the tone and dullness that arrive with them.

Coming of Age →

Bright Side, every morning. The niacinamide in Mixed Signals helps with tone too, so the two together are the tone routine.

Bright Side →

Baby's Bottom and Clean Slate. Introduce the actives one at a time, a week apart, so you know what your skin thinks of each.

Clean Slate, Baby's Bottom and Mixed Signals, yes. Retinal is for skin that has started showing the consequences of birthdays. There is no rush.

They are not acne treatments. Clean Slate and Mixed Signals help with congestion and texture, and retinal can help keep pores clear, but if you have acne, see a dermatologist. That is what they are for.

The hair one, and it comes later. A cleansing conditioner for the scalp, which is skin: it has a barrier and a pH, and it gets washed harder than your face. The five face products launch first. Human Condition follows, with its own launch date, and the waitlist hears first.

The hair FAQ →

Yes. The same organ as your face, with the same barrier and the same objections to harsh washing. It is simply out of sight, so it gets treated worse: scrubbed daily, moisturized never. Human Condition, when it arrives, is built for the scalp first and the hair second.

The hair FAQ →

Both, which is the whole point. Use it as your wash. If your hair is very oily or you use heavy styling products, a clarifying shampoo once a week alongside it is fine. Nobody will tell.

We make no such claim. The caffeine research comes from cultured follicles in a laboratory, not from heads. We include it because it is gentle and the research is real, and we tell you exactly which kind of research it is.

Yes. It cleans with mild surfactants rather than sulfates, which is part of why it does not strip. Sulfate-free is also the least interesting thing about it, but people ask.

Fine hair: use less and rinse thoroughly. Curly or coily hair: it works well as a co-wash; leave it in for a minute before rinsing.

Soon. The waitlist hears the date first. We would give you a number now, but we would rather give you the right one.

Join the waitlist →

Pricing is being finalized. The waitlist gets the numbers before anyone else, including, at this rate, us.

The United States first. Other countries as soon as we can do it properly, which is a promise to do it properly, not a date.

That is the plan. The waitlist hears the details first. The box will be nice. We are not above a nice box.

It publishes with the shop at launch. We would rather write it once than promise it twice.

Leave your email on any product page or at the bottom of the homepage. Occasional emails, no daily countdowns, unsubscribe in one click.

One field, your email. It goes to our email list and nowhere else. You hear when there is a date, a price and a way to buy, roughly in that order. No payment, no card, no obligation.

No. The waitlist takes an email address and nothing else. There is nothing to charge you for yet, which is an unusual position for a cosmetics company and we are enjoying it while it lasts.

For what is in the bottle. No private equity, no venture capital, no formula by committee. Every formula is developed in our own lab at the studied strengths, and the price reflects the actives, not the overhead. The expensive part of a serum is the active, and that is the part you get.

Why the price →

Not yet. If a pre-order opens, the waitlist hears first, and the price and ship date will be on the page before you pay anything.

Not at launch. Full sizes first. If that changes, the waitlist hears. The sample-size business is a whole business, and we are busy with this one.

At launch, direct from this site. Retail is a later conversation, and probably a long one.

Not at launch. If enough people ask, it becomes a thing. Skin does keep aging on a schedule, so the logic is there.

Each pack carries a period-after-opening symbol, and the number goes on its page once packaging is final. Bright Side is the one to use up promptly: L-ascorbic acid oxidizes with air and light, so keep it capped, cool and dark.

The country of origin and the manufacturer line go on every label before anything ships. The formulas are ours, developed in our own lab; the label names who fills them.

It ferments actives in its own bioreactors, synthesizes peptides, and runs a skin biology bench that tests an ingredient before it earns a place in a bottle. Five technologies came out of it so far: a patent-pending vernix lipid complex, a fermented mushroom beta-glucan, a two-peptide copper complex, a hyaluronic acid fermented into a spectrum of sizes, and the low-flush grade of niacinamide. Each one has its own page in the lab.

Inside the lab →

The formulas are ours, developed in our lab at the studied strengths. The vernix lipid complex in Baby's Bottom is patent-pending. The fermented actives and the two-peptide copper complex come out of our lab's bioreactors and peptide bench. What we do not do is call a molecule exclusive when it is not. What is ours is the formula, the strengths, the pairing and the testing, and that is the part that decides whether a product works.

Inside the lab →

That the figure comes from our lab's testing of the ingredient, on people or in cells as stated, rather than from a published paper. We keep the two apart: published studies are on the receipts page and every number there is checked against its PubMed abstract; lab figures carry the asterisk and say what was tested.

How we test →

Yes. The vernix complex was tested on people for water loss, hydration, itch and redness. Schizophyllan was tested on people against 0.2% retinol in a four-way, double-placebo design. The fermented hyaluronic acid was tested on ten people for skin hydration and water loss against the unfermented material. The cell and assay work is labeled as such. The trial on the finished bottle is next, and it will be published here with its design and its sample size when it is done.

The lab →

Andrew, the founder, who spent years working in beauty while assuming skincare was for other people. Then he looked in the mirror. The full story is on the About page.

About →

The founder and the people who make it. No private equity, no venture capital. The money goes into the bottle instead of around it.

Why the price →

The formulas are developed in our own lab, by us, at the studied strengths. The commercial batches are made to that formula by a manufacturing partner, whose name goes on the label as required. Nothing about the recipe is delegated.

Our lab →

Every active ingredient links to the study that justifies its place in the formula. The Receipts page lists all of them, with what each study did and what it found, and links to PubMed so you can read them yourself.

The receipts →

The ingredients are, which is the point of the receipts. The finished formulas go through the stability and safety testing cosmetics require before they ship. We do not run our own twelve-person study and call it proof.

Five clear jobs. Six seemed excessive, so the sixth, for hair, is taking its time.

On the Receipts page and on each ingredient's page in the dictionary, with a link to the paper on PubMed.

Ingredient dictionary →

No, and neither is any cosmetic. The FDA does not approve cosmetics before sale. It regulates them, and it draws the line at drug claims. We stay on the cosmetic side of that line on purpose: we describe what the studies measured, and we describe what the products do to how skin looks and feels.

No. A product that claims to treat, cure or prevent disease, or to change how the body works, is a drug under FDA rules. We describe research in the study's own terms and our products in appearance terms. Wrinkles look softer is a cosmetic claim. Reverses aging is not, and you will not find it here.

Yes, and you can check. Every receipt links to its PubMed record, with the journal, year, design, subjects and outcome listed on the Receipts page. If a link ever breaks, tell us and it gets fixed the same day.

The receipts →

It is a limit, stated up front. Five products can change how your skin looks and feels. They cannot fix the rest of the human condition, and we would rather say so than imply otherwise. Skin-deep problems are the ones we are qualified for.