BEAUTY

In recent years, the beauty industry has been revolutionised by celebrity-owned and -promoted skincare products. Hailey Bieber’s Rhode line caused a frenzy, selling out within 10 minutes of its initial release in 2022. The following year, Rihanna’s Fenty Beauty was valued by Forbes at $US2.8 billion (about $AU4.3 billion) and recognised as one of the highest-grossing beauty brands. Among this cohort is the German luxury beauty label Augustinus Bader, which has no shortage of celebrity endorsements. Gwyneth Paltrow is a firm believer in its Retinol Serum, Bobbi Brown claims The Rich Cream makes her skin smoother and, within a year of entering the market, Victoria Beckham Beauty launched a collection in collaboration with the company. But in such a competitive industry, oversaturated with labels fronted by high-profile fans, how did a humble professor and a financier persuade consumers to pay almost $450 for a 50-millilitre bottle of face cream?

In an interview with the Augustinus Bader co-founders, the former investment banker Charles Rosier and the medical doctor and professor Augustinus Bader, the latter, dressed in a crisp shirt and bow tie, softly suggests that the answer to that question can be found in the ingredients listed on the brand’s royal blue packaging. Augustinus Bader’s product line is powered by TFC8, short for Trigger Factor Complex. According to the company, the technology comprises “natural amino acids, high-grade vitamins and synthesised molecules that encourage optimal cell renewal”. Production is backed by Bader’s 30-year-career-spanning research and medical practice at medical schools in Chieti in Italy, Würzburg in Germany and the Inselspital in Switzerland. Bader has also worked at Shanghai Second Medical College and Harvard Medical School, and is now director of cell techniques and applied stem cell biology at Leipzig University in Germany.

“I was originally trained to work in organ transplantation, and it was during that time that tissue transplantation was really starting out,” Bader says. “I had a great teacher who was doing research on the new surgical procedure and, at some point, I decided it was better for me too to go into research, because I am not the best surgeon.”

Transplant surgery was prohibitively expensive at the time, Bader says, and the cost was matched by daunting waiting lists. “I wanted to find a way to eliminate the need for surgery, which led me down the path of skincare,” he adds.

In 2018, the professor and Rosier pitched their company to journalists, leaning hard on Bader’s medical research background.

Lewisham developed her own trademarked methodology, the PSU (Physiology Synchrony Unlock) Method, in collaboration with physiologists, focusing on identifying cellular processes essential for addressing skin concerns. “When formulating skincare, many brands start with the ingredients,” Lewisham says. “But we do it backwards. After we identify the cellular processes that must be triggered to reverse and prevent a skin concern, we then source the extensive combinations of active ingredients required to do this.”

It could be argued that consumers are actively seeking such innovative technologies. But even so, and despite the scientific credentials of its namesake founder, Augustinus Bader still relies heavily on consumer trust. Those willing to invest $561 for a 30-millilitre bottle of The Serum are taking a risk. Charles Rosier asks that customers share his faith in the skincare. “We’re not just packaging and marketing a group of ingredients that already exist in a different manner,” he says. “We’re selling a really disruptive product and technology.

“The story behind our brand is strong enough to tease the curiosity of consumers,” he continues. “But where we are lucky is that they actually like the product when they try it.” Perhaps he knows we’re predisposed to believe in miracles.

This article originally appeared on page 34 of T Australia’s “Structure” issue, with the headline “The Secret Ingredient”. Purchase a copy of the issue straight from our online shop or visit your local newsagent or supermarket.