Mood-boosting skin care has arrived.
On Friday, mental wellness company Amare, best known for its ingestible products, revealed the launch of Skin to Mind, its new skin care brand that employs neurocosmetics to calm the nervous system and boost mood via topical products. The lineup, which has been in development for over two years, includes the OptiMist Awaken + Glow Facial Mist, $56, NeuDay Brighten + Revitalize Serum, $95, and NeuNight Restore + Renew Serum, $106. According to industry sources, Skin to Mind is expected to reach $10 million in sales its first year.
“Everything that we put forth from a portfolio perspective is currently an ingestible, so we know that your gut is your second brain, and that anything you put into your body has an impact on how you feel,” said Amare’s chief marketing officer Marie Swisher. “Now we know that your skin is actually your third brain.”
She added: “We know that many skin conditions [can link back] to a mental component. That’s when we got really interested in expanding our supplement portfolio into skin care, but not skin care for skin care but skin care that is linked back to the mission of mental wellness. What we like to say is that this product line targets stress signals and supports bliss signals.”
Skin to Mind products.
Courtesy
Neurocosmetics is based on the concept that “the neurons that exist in the skin are connected to the brain, which is part of the nervous system,” according to Amare vice president of research and development Kseniya Popova. Therefore, in a similar way to functional fragrance, topicals may target these neurons to evoke certain mental benefits.
For the products, the Amare team tapped into several unique technologies. Specifically, for the OptiMist Awaken + Glow Facial Mist, they developed a SeaMist Ferment to support mood.
“The supplier harvested the bacteria that’s in the ocean waves,” Popova said. “When you stand in the ocean and you feel this sense of calmness and sereneness, that is because there are these biochemical compounds that are activated through your inhalation and impact your brain.”
Additionally, for the serums the brand created its proprietary HuG Cell technology, featuring rhodiola and L-theanine, meant to replicate the feelings of a hug via skin care and target the “happy hormones [in the] brain,” per Popova. The formulas also include a variety of skin-loving ingredients to address hydration, fine lines and overall radiance.
“Skin care does have an effect on the brain because it has a certain sensory sensation that makes you feel a certain way. We intuitively knew that as formulators, but we never quantified it,” Popova said. “That’s what’s exciting now, is that we’re able to quantify and measure the effects of what we’re putting on our skin and how it relates to the skin-mind axis.”
With this, Popova said neurocosmetics will become more common in the beauty industry, particularly as new technologies roll out.
“There’s new ingredients that suppliers of cosmetic ingredients are putting out almost every day,” she said. “They have true validation of the effect on certain neurochemical compounds in the skin, either elevating the bliss ones or reducing the stress ones.”
In addition, the team worked with an essential oil supplier that tested its products in a hospital setting to ensure the Skin to Mind formulas also had a functional fragrance component. Therefore, each product’s scent is meant to provide further benefit.
To validate the efficacy of the products, Skin to Mind conducted clinical technical measurement testing, which showed improvement in fine lines, radiance and hydration after just four weeks for both serums, consumer perception testing, which showed an array of skin and mood benefits, and emotional response testing, which showed that the products boosted mood and a sense of calm. For the emotional response testing specifically, participants wore an electroencephalogram (EEG), which reported how their brain waves were impacted when using the products and how they instinctively responded to questions regarding their feelings.
While the brand is launching with three products to start, Swisher sees potential for growth, including new categories.
“There’s so many other spaces to play in that would benefit linking the skin to mind,” she said, hinting at opportunities for body products and skin-specific supplements.