There are a lot of celebrity-endorsed skin care brands, but few have a “dream team” of scientists—and a unique formulation—behind them. And that’s what the players behind Skinphonic contend will help their products for pigmented tones top the charts in a competitive beauty category.
 
The Skinphonic team includes Les Riley, a 30-year pioneer in the field of dermatology with 17 years of experience at with Johnson & Johnson; Dr. Sergio Nachta, a skin biologist with 35-plus years of commercial experience that includes 14 years as director of biomedical research for Richardson-Vicks/P&G and director of the development team for brands like Clearasil, Oil of Olay and Pantene; and Dr. Edward E. Dickerson IV, a double board certified specialist in facial plastic and reconstructive surgery, distinguished military surgeon and chief of staff of OHNS at Womack Army Medical Center. There’s an extensive board of directors too.
 
All told, the company has “over 100 years in clinical experience…this isn’t just a band of rookies,” Dickerson told Happi in a phone interview ahead of the brand’s debut.
 
And, of course, there’s Smokey Robinson, whose resume in music is beyond comparison; the “King of Motown” has an extensive list of top 10 hits as a solo artist. He and his wife, Frances, are the faces and marketing fire behind the two new gender-specific lines—Get Ready for men and My Girl for women—which are targeting pigmented skin types that include shades from beige to dark brown. 
 
There are three products in each line—AM and PM treatments and a twice daily cleanser—that are formulated with cosmetically vital vitamins, botanical extracts, special marine ingredients and essential oils, according to the company.
 
Key formulations, according to Riley, deliver optimum levels of retinol with minimal irritation and are clinically proven to reduce visible signs of hyperpigmentation, wrinkles and superficial lines within two weeks for men and women over the age of 50.
 
Clinical testing is a big part of the messaging coming out of the Skinphonic camp, as the lines showed marked improvements after testing conducted at AMA Laboratories. For example, 96% of clinical subjects obtained positive results using the My Girl regimen. Also during, clinical trials, 96% of subjects obtained positive results, with 98% of subjects reporting skin brightening results after eight weeks with the Get Ready ‘Cause Here I Come range for men.
 
Rather than treating individual areas or single concerns (think dry skin, spots, wrinkles, or texture issues) Skinphonic is taking a “whole health” approach to improve the appearance of the skin and repair damaged caused by sun and environmental damage, which improves many issues at once. 
 
In addition, Riley contends Skinphonic is tapping into what they see as an underserved group of customers: the pigmented population that represents over 80% of the world population. Both he and Dickerson noted the cosmetic industry's penchant for creating  products primarily for single issues (wrinkles, age spots, dry skin) and testing primarily on light skin. Skinphonic instead has taken into account the biological differences between Caucasian skin and pigmented skin, such as different size cellular structures and behavior to certain ingredients, say the executives.
 
Both Robinson and his wife were on hand last month New York City for the official launch of the lines; now it’s time to see if Robinson has another chart topper on his hands.