Meet Ewelina Aiossa of Clinical Skin

CREATING MEDICAL-GRADE SKINCARE WITH GROUNDBREAKING RESULTS.

Hello, February.

This month is often associated with all things love. Because February isn’t just about valentines or chocolates or date nights. Instead, this beautiful winter month is often known for self-care and self-love rituals. Instead, this month is often about many of us fostering relationships with family and friends and, most importantly, ourselves.

We love love over here.

And because self-care is often associated with our beauty rituals, it’s only apt that this month our Founder’s Corner continues the conversation around efficacious skincare; this time, centered around medical-grade skincare, which delivers professional strength and medical-grade results without the cost of real dermatological or surgical procedures.

Ewelina Aiossa is the co-founder and creator of Clinical Skin, a cosmeceuticals skincare brand designed to improve skin health and appearance through innovative topical skincare solutions. She is also the inventor of the brand's A.C.E. Technology: the proprietary blend of antioxidants, ceramides, and an enzyme) that powers all Clinical Skin products.

Also known as “cosmeceutical skincare,” medical-grade skincare targets specific skincare issues; like wrinkles or sagging skin, delivering both medicinal and cosmetic benefits. According to dermatologist Purvisha Patel who spoke to Byrdie last May, “the concentration of active ingredients is generally greater than what you can find over the counter, [in medical-grade products] and they have been tested to be effective on the skin, hence there are greater results with such skincare."

Clinical Skin, which blends spa-like luxury with medical-grade formulas, is the product of rigorous research and testing that has ensured both optimal efficacy and safety of the product line; line targets common signs of aging and supports the skin’s epidermal barrier to prevent future damage and deliver visible results.

A true product of innovation.

With a background in some of the world’s most notable beauty corporations, Ewelina often spent time wondering why brands couldn’t be more agile–a common frustration among many marketers and developers in the world of massive beauty conglomerates.

“I was getting so many perspectives and insights from our physician partners and skincare experts, like the dermatologists and estheticians,” she said, recounting her experience, “but when trying to pitch a product idea or suggest a formula improvement, there were so many corporate layers and stakeholders to please and business cases to build that the process became immobilizing and somewhat frustrating. Innovation was not always prioritized if significant revenue projections did not back the pitch up."

This led to ideas being put on the back burner while the strictness of regulatory and compliance groups often hindered the execution of even the best of the cases.

“It takes nearly three years on average to commercialize a product the right way,” said Ewelina, “even amongst some of the most agile leaders in the industry.”

Which leads many ideas to being shelved.

Permanently.

Ewelina’s desire to accelerate the innovation pathway and find someone willing to take a risk on her ideas prompted her to partner with a like-minded businessman, Israel Zahler, who shares her passion for result-oriented, professional-grade skincare products and brings decades of experience in the supplement field. With her extensive knowledge of product development and marketing and Israel's business acumen and financial support - they set out to make the results of scientific research available to the rest of us.

“I didn’t want to plateau,” she said, “Our skin evolves, and we deserve products that are evolving with our skin needs.”

It took nearly two years to develop, but Ewelina has had the privilege of “single-handedly doing it all,” with a little help from freelancers and a few creative and administrtive hires, eventually bringing Clinical Skin to life.

In 2020, the brand name and concept were born.

It was a labor of love and, she said, a very creative process.

“Clinical Skin is my brainchild,” she said, “Like any young baby, it’s crawling right now,” she laughed, “but I hope it will be walking and running very soon.”

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Meet Ewelina

“Trust your gut and true skincare experts that look out for skin health.”

• Can I just start by saying, I love your product line? From the packaging to the formulas…Magic. The moisturizer is so lightweight but incredibly hydrating, especially since these cold winter months have definitely impacted my skin, so I must say it’s incredible how you’re packaging “procedures” in your products! How do you prioritize the quality of your ingredients and formulations as a growing brand?

The quality of ingredients and final formulations is of utmost importance to me. I’m a perfectionist at heart and whatever I put my name on must come as close to being excellent as it gets (at least according to my definition of perfection) …while also setting stringent demands for performance, innovation, and efficacy…

…Especially as they relate to formulations.

I conduct my own research and rely heavily on published peer-reviewed studies and medical literature to identify unique (or tried and true) ingredients that have been proven to have meaningful action on the skin. And I don’t stop just there–I make sure that those ingredients are used either at efficacy or optimal levels in the final formula and that most innovative delivery systems and encapsulation technologies are utilized. While I do read and analyze what the raw material suppliers provide me with in terms of ingredient data sheets, I always cross-check their claims with what the medical literature supports, (because safety and efficacy profiles are of very high interest to me).

Where applicable, I try to source ingredients that are pharmaceutical grade. In fact, even water in Clinical Skin formulations is pharmaceutical grade.

Additionally, I veto actives that come as a not-so-desirable blend. I rejected a key peptide active because it was offered in an alcohol base. I favored a glycerin base containing peptides and made sure it was incorporated into our Polypeptide Firming Formula in lieu of an alcohol one. I work very closely with the biochemist, microbiologists, and chemists in the formulation lab to ensure they follow my brief and vision and adhere to the standards I have set forth for Clinical Skin.

I am also an advocate for green and sustainable ingredients and packaging. I strive to be mindful of consumers' preferences in terms of vegan and green alternatives.

I push back where I can, ask a lot of questions, and pose challenges to the team in charge of prototyping formulas. I push boundaries to ensure that quality and consistency are what you get from Clinical Skin time and time again.

I have all Clinical Skin formulas tested by an independent 3rd party clinical laboratory (pharmaceutical style) to ensure the final products are safe and effective.

• As a fellow “perfectionist,” I understand wanting everything to be just as I envision with my business. Are there any parts of your business that are less than perfect due to your acute focus on other areas, or do you feel like you're able to devote your attention equally across your brand?

There are many parts of the business that have room for improvement. For me, being a D2C brand, that includes the website and social media presence first and foremost.