I have been surrounded with skin care and beauty products for as long as I can remember. My parents were pharmacists and the best features of their drugstore were a huge beauty and dermo-cosmetics fixture stocking a myriad of exciting skincare as well as a small beauty salon. Sales representatives for skincare laboratories would visit my parents on a monthly basis to convince them to stock their new products or new brands. I would often happen to be sitting in my parents’ office quietly doing my homework in the corner after school when these meetings took place, and I remember being fascinated hearing all about the science going into the new ranges. My mum would sometimes interrupt the negotiation, turn to me and ask me for my opinion on some of the new innovations – which in hindsight was probably highly irritating for the sales guys, when the success of their deals sometimes hinged on the thoughts of an 8 year-old. I remember my mum responding quite emotionally to these sales pitches; business sense vacated her when it came to new exciting skincare, and she would just decide on gut feel to stock a whole new collection when shelves were already far too full and inventory far too high. You could feel the excitement in her eyes; she just “knew” it would be a hit (it was not always).
My parents sensed my passion for skincare early on and played along to it.
I spent my 9th birthday away from home in a 3-week Summer holiday camp. Most kids there used to receive parcels from their parents bursting with candy and toys. My parcel was skincare, with a sweet note from my dad: “I noticed you forgot some of your favourite face creams in the bathroom before leaving for camp, I thought I would send them so you can stay all beautiful”. (Of course I had not “forgotten” them, I had only packed Summer favourites). In that same Summer camp, I recall leaving the canteen with extra fruits in my backpack, taking them to my bedroom to later create a banana-based face mask to fight blackheads on my T-zone, or a peach and lemon juice to create a vitamin and fruit-acid boosted concoction for my face and hair.
When I was 16, my mother invited me to come along with her to the skincare conferences she was invited to by laboratories. I remember finding these events highly glamourous: evening cocktail, “petits fours”, posh hotels, and a huge scene where the pharmaceutical companies’ communication directors would put on a show to explain all about the breakthrough research and development that had gone into their products. This is when I decided: “this is it, this is what I want to do with my life”, and embarked onto the journey to Business School, to do a major in marketing and secure a 1st internship at l’Oréal.
10 years on, I have worked in a few beauty jobs, in colour cosmetics and make-up, hair care, body care which I have all loved, but I must admit my real passion has always and still lies with skincare. Now I feel is the right time to consolidate my skincare knowledge, product experiences and tell the story of my quest for the perfect routine – the journey continues with “the skinologist”.
The skinologist 