Words & Creative Direction: Amy Sessions
Photographer: Ziga Mihelcic
Fashion Editor: Camille Macawili
Makeup & Hair: Melanie Meyer at MMG
Model: Sama Zakeri at Signature Element
All Fashion with thanks to OUNASS
In The Skincare Guru, we discuss skincare and scaling a successful business with CEO and founder of INSTYTUTUM, Nataliia Derkach, MD, PhD
What do the first 30 minutes of your day look like, your morning routine?
I wake up early, then have a nice cup of coffee. After that, I do some self-massage for my face. The relaxation of facial muscles is a key component of maintaining youth. I spend 20 minutes doing transcendental meditation and follow this with exercise before the working day starts. How did you know it was the right time to launch the brand and what was the catalyst for this? Before us, there were several baseline approaches that were common to the industry. Skincare products were either professional and effective but also aggressive and/or potentially toxic. Or they were of premium retail-worthy quality, with stylish packaging and nice textures, but blank and non-effective formulas. Creating a product that is simultaneously effective, safe and able to transform skincare routine into a unique experience was a real challenge, but since I am a doctor and PhD in medicine, I do not believe in making compromises. When formulating our products, we only use next generation of clinically proven actives in highly-efficient concentrations, balancing them with soothing ingredients while also paying attention to the sensory experience (texture, colour and smell) our products provide. And we never stop growing – even if it means doing 32 iterations of a cream formula or upgrading our formulas every couple of years.
CEO and founder of INSTYTUTUM, Nataliia Derkach, MD, PhD
What is the DNA of the brand and how do you approach things differently?
I’ve realized that consumers underestimated home care. After all, professional care at home is 90 percent of the success in skin care. Of course, the beauty industry is developing: injection cosmetology has already risen well, but there can be no long-term effect because patients do not know how to take care of themselves at home. That’s when I started looking for brands I would like and which worked but did not find them. People used to believe cosmetics were just marketing: beautiful stories, cute jars, packaging that sells, and pleasant textures. But with entirely useless ingredients. I wanted effective products to appear. This is the idea behind INSTYTUTUM. We aim to teach consumers to understand cosmetic formulas, help them take care of their skin with the most effective skincare products, and, thus, grow a community of skintellectuals. INSTYTUTUM is result-driven skincare. Our products have active ingredients in effective concentrations created in a Swiss laboratory. As a doctor and woman, I believe that care cosmetics should give a visible result. This is exactly the approach we implement in our products.
How challenging has it been to stay ahead of the curve in such a fast-paced industry?
When I launched INSTYTUTUM, no one in my inner circle believed in it. None at all. I wanted to prove that I could do it. It was a business from scratch: a new company, new development cycle, new team abroad. The market was completely unknown to us. They told me: “Your creams are too expensive. Who will buy them? Who even needs such expensive skincare? The skincare market is oversaturated. And it was hard to fight off these doubts all at once. I experimented with the team a lot, with the structure, and with the approach as well. For example, I changed three development teams before I found those who understood me and my vision. Now everything is fine. We are successful in many countries around the world. We started out as a premium retail brand. That was the strategy. Premium retail is skincare that is sold in large retail chains and these tend to have no active ingredients. They can also contain toxic ingredients; we wanted to do things differently. However, we quickly realized that we needed to change strategy as our audience is different – we speak the same language as estheticians. So we pivoted in strategy to focus on doctors and beauticians and it worked.
CEO and founder of INSTYTUTUM, Nataliia Derkach, MD, PhD
What are your non-negotiables when it comes to skincare?
I never launch products I don’t believe in.
Which are your hero products?
Every product is a blockbuster in their category. We have a very focused line because I don’t believe in scaling into larger lines of products just for marketing purposes – we focus on hero products that drive results.
How challenging was it to refine the formulations?
Of course, it is hard. But we are product perfectionists, so we never stop growing and updating our formulas, if we believe it is necessary. So we have selected the most effective forms of each ingredient and chose the maximum allowable concentrations so that the products are effective. We also added balancing components to each product so that they can be used at home and not be afraid to harm yourself. And we did it because we believed that to be necessary to compete in the most challenging markets of Asia and USA.
The brand is aesthetically super clean – was this your vision from the outset?
Yes. Our packaging resonates with the brand: clear, minimalistic and works.
How do you approach scaling without compromising on quality?
We invest a lot in education about the brand and explain our value to our customers.
What has been the biggest challenge to date and how did you overcome it?
Our biggest challenge is to disrupt the skincare industry by educating everyone on transforming the skin at home.
How has social media supported scaling the business?
At the core of every business are people. Our clients use and engage with social media, read the information there and follow the advice of influencers. That’s why our team focused on approaching and engaging the clients on Instagram. We used the perfectly combined approach and it has helped grow the brand and our client base in two years. The content we create is based on education. We educate with a focus on proper skincare approaches, ingredients and common mistakes to avoid.
Have you had any mentors and if so, what advice did they impart?
I have the most amazing father, who taught me to think unconventionally and built up my love for innovations. My father is also a doctor and a scientist, and he’s accomplished so much in his life. But what I love most about him is his kindness and his creativity. He always told me to lead, not just to follow. So the only thing I do follow is this advice.
What advice would you give your younger self?
Always remember, that mistakes do not exist. Everything that feels like a mistake to you will be the first step to your next best thing.
