Ourself co-founders Lauren Otsuki and Vimla Black-Gupta: ‘Clinical skin care is back’

Ourself’s science-backed products are said to give the same effects as fillers and toxins. The company’s ability to leverage science has helped it gain a large following in less than a year. Currently, the brand has 23 products, with some standouts being a two-step lip filler alternative and a five-product hyperpigmentation healer.

“The idea of Ourself was about looking like yourself — because when did that actually stop being OK? The second meaning of Ourself is that you actually do it yourself,” Black-Gupta said on the latest episode of The Glossy Beauty Podcast. “What our technology offers for the first time ever is to be able to get visible results that are self-administered from the comfort of your home. It’s easy to use, and you get visible results.”

Co-founders Otsuki and Black-Gupta have long careers in the beauty industry. Otsuki previously founded five biotech firms, including SkinMedica and Alastin Skincare, and is the evp of Glo Pharma, Ourself’s parent company. Black-Gupta was formerly CMO of Equinox and also held marketing roles at Estée Lauder, P&G and Bobby Brown.

The duo is confident Ourself will revolutionize topical skin care. And as the brand prepares to celebrate its first anniversary, Otsuki and Black-Gupta are working to strengthen its DTC channels to ensure longevity.

Below are additional highlights from the conversation, which have been lightly edited for clarity.

The benefits of alternative beauty
Otsuki: “One of the things that’s really interesting about the most common, non-invasive or minimally invasive procedures — fillers and the toxins — is that they’re both put underneath the skin. They balloon up in the areas where maybe you’re losing fat pads or they’re going down lower in the muscle, but the one thing they never do is they never work on the skin, which is the thing that everyone sees. [Fillers and toxins] are like the tablecloth on top of the table — it’s the dress. If you don’t make [your skin] healthy, firm it up, hydrate it and do all the things that our products do, even if you add volume by putting in fillers or do things with toxins, you aren’t going to address the overlying skin. [Our products] help with the rejuvenation and anti-aging process. For younger people, who haven’t yet had lines and wrinkles, they also keep the skin nice and firm and tight. … Almost everyone who is an adult has reason to use these products to prevent aging from happening more quickly than it might or to get back a few of those years by turning the clock back a little bit.”

Choosing the right distribution channels
Otsuki: “We saw more opportunity with products that would reach directly to the consumer than the ones that would go through the doctor’s office. … We know a lot about the science and how to make products, but nothing about how to commercialize [them]. We absolutely needed [Black-Gupta] as our partner to do all of this because it was a big leap.”

Black-Gupta: “I’d say the consumer overall has gotten a Ph.D., right? Consumers are smart, they’re savvy and they oftentimes know more than we do just about what’s the latest and greatest. Their expectation now in these retailers is for them to provide that, and obviously the retailers want to be at the forefront. … Science is the new science. Clinical is back. If you’re a retailer and you know how savvy and smart consumers are, you want to make sure that you are providing what they want. And, in addition to retail, we are in modern-day spas. … [We’re in] Ever Body’s fabulous modern spa that is open in New York, as well as D.C. They were the perfect partner for us. [Spas] also understand the modernization of the dermatology-meets-spa experience, and they want to make sure they’re providing both. They also have a retail part of what they do. It’s like a mini Sephora of their curated list of the latest and greatest [products] that you can either use on your own or in tandem with their treatments. The whole industry has evolved quite a bit.”

Consumers’ top skin-care concerns
Black-Gupta: “[Concerns] are pretty standard and have not changed; they manifests themselves in little tweaks. … The three biggest are sagging skin, and volume loss that manifests itself on the lips, face and cheeks. … Hyperpigmentation is also huge — and that’s all over the face, on the neck, the decolletage, the hands, … The top-three [concerns] have never gone away, they’ve just gotten more nuanced, in terms of their care. There’s much more attention to how those issues also manifest themselves across the rest of the body.”