Picture this: A 17-year-old working his first real job at a pharmaceutical company in summer 2023, watching millions of dollars flow through the doors every month. But something didn't add up.
The company claimed to be "the first pharmaceutical for sensitive skin"—their marketing was everywhere, their profits were insane, and customers kept buying. But during lunch breaks, while everyone else scrolled social media, I did something different. I read ingredient lists.
What I discovered changed everything. Their "revolutionary sensitive skin formula" was loaded with harsh actives at concentrations that would make a dermatologist cringe. Sulfates, aggressive surfactants, synthetic fragrances—everything that sensitive skin should avoid. Yet somehow, they were making millions selling "gentle" skincare.
That's when it hit me: 70% of a brand's success isn't the product. It's the marketing. The emperor had no clothes, and I was the only one pointing it out.
The Research Obsession That Started It All
Every lunch break became a research mission. While my coworkers grabbed sandwiches, I grabbed scientific journals. I studied ingredient databases, clinical trials, and most importantly—customer reviews. Not the 5-star ones. The angry 1-star reviews where people poured their hearts out about products that failed them.
I started seeing patterns everywhere: "Left my skin tight and stripped," "Broke me out worse than before," "Stings my sensitive skin," "Expensive but just like drugstore brands." These weren't isolated complaints. These were systematic failures across the entire industry.
Finding Dr. Dominika: The Missing Piece
After months of research and countless rejections from labs who wanted to produce the same generic formulas, I found her. Dr. Dominika—a world-renowned cosmetic chemist from New Zealand who had worked with major US brands but shared the same frustration I did: the industry was broken.
When I told her my story—the pharmaceutical company discovery, the 500+ customer complaints I'd analyzed—something amazing happened. She didn't just listen. She got excited. "Finally," she said, "someone who wants to build skincare for humans, not profit margins."