This is an episode of the Glossy Beauty Podcast, which features candid conversations about how today’s trends are shaping the future of the beauty and wellness industries. More from the series →
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With over 20 years of experience in her dermatology practice, Dr. Rose Ingleton is known as the “dermatologist to the stars.”
Reported to be the dermatologist of Iman, Chrissy Teigan and Adriana Lima, Ingleton took the leap and branched out with her own skin-care brand in 2019. Now stocked at eight retailers including Sephora and Net-a-Porter, Rose Ingleton MD Skincare was developed to address the most common skin issues that Ingleton sees among her patients.
Dr. Ingleton, who still practices dermatology, sat down with the Glossy Beauty Podcast from her Manhattan practice to discuss all things skin care. While she won’t confirm which celebrities see her — “Unless you see them coming in and out of my office, you’ll never know who comes here,” she said — she shared details on her approach to skin care, the growth of her brand and her belief that luxury skin care is shifting toward experts. Below are a few highlights:.
Getting her start in dermatology
“When I graduated, I didn’t have many offers to work for anyone. First of all, I was the first Black person to graduate from my residency program in dermatology. So when I got out, it was not usual for the world to see Black dermatologists. I had no examples really to go by.
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I started the practice really with no money and very few instruments — I got disposable instruments, just in case they didn’t work. And I figured out how to set up a business with no template. And lucky for me, I became very popular very quickly.”
The secrets of supermodel skin
“They’re oftentimes just getting on good regimens for their skin, doing facials, some microdermabrasion — things that help to purge the skin and keep their pores clear. But I won’t say I don’t do Botox on models. I need to do Botox for a lot of younger models because they’re squinting in the sunlight when they’re doing an outdoor shoot, and the photographers and producers are not having it.”
Rapid retail expansion
“When I started off, we were just direct-to-consumer.
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The retailers started approaching me after the lockdown. We were only in the marketplace for about 4-5 months before everything went into lockdown. And the retailers actually reached out to me before I reached out to them.
It was amazing that, in the space of about six months, I was in probably six of the most major retailers.
The cherry on my sundae was Sephora. When Sephora approached me, that was right at the height of them taking the 15% Pledge to bring in representation of brands from founders like me on their shelves.
They’re not just putting your stuff on the shelf and then leaving you out there to flail away. They’re really, for the most part, stepping up and offering to support, [like the way they’re] getting me on Instagram Lives with various influencers and celebrities.”
Expertise is the new luxury
“The focus is now going toward the ingredient story. And: ‘What can this [founder] do for me? What do they know that they can teach me and convince me that the product is going to help my skin?’ That’s opposed to just having beauty branding.
The trend is more toward those with the knowledge base, whether they’re the physicians or the estheticians of the world. It’s people who have hands-on knowledge, and years of it, of how to take care of skin. The luxury market is seeming to trend in that direction.”
