Our Story

I started by taking courses in cosmetic formulating. Then I set up a prototyping lab to get hands-on experience. Learning about cosmetic ingredients and formulas was eye-opening and left me with the certainty that it was possible to improve significantly on the products that were already commercially available. My initial goal was to make a facial cleanser that would be gentle but still remove my make-up. I also wanted to see if I could discourage a common skin mite called Demodex folliculorum, since overpopulation of the mite had been documented in the skin of people with rosacea.

I was so energized by the results I decided to make an entire regimen for myself. Each product would avoid irritants and allergens, promote a balanced microbiome, and support the skin’s important barrier function. The latter meant keeping the pH skin-friendly, promoting moisturization, not stripping away helpful substances and not clogging pores. Finally, as a healthcare provider, a mother and someone who strives to be a good steward of the planet, I wanted to use only ingredients with a strong record of human and environmental safety. Meeting the challenge of formulating within these parameters required thousands of hours, plenty of advice from experts in the field and hundreds of iterations. By mid-2020 I had developed three dermatologist-tested products that I didn’t want to be without, and MeridaSKIN was born.