A collage of Augustinus Bader products. Images courtesy of the brand. 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.
Boldly, they initially offered just two products: The Cream (for normal/oily skin) and The Rich Cream (for dry skin). By 2022, the company was valued at a billion dollars after a $US25 million ($AU38 million) strategic funding round led by General Atlantic with the participation of Javier Ferrán, Antoine Arnault and Natalia Vodianova. Its range has grown to include a full skincare line and haircare products and supplements, and there are plans to expand into SPF formulas.
While Augustinus Bader explores cutting-edge medical technology, the Australian skincare brand Ikkari is tapping into natural resources and embracing the wisdom of ancient techniques. As far back as 5000 BC, the ancient Egyptians were pioneers in the realm of cosmetics, making cleansing creams from animal fat or vegetable oil blended with powdered lime and fragrances. Similarly, traditional Chinese medicine, practised for more than two millenniums, uses ingredients such as winter melon and ginkgo seeds for skincare. Ikkari’s Clear Skin Cleansing Oil echoes this heritage with a vitamin-rich ingredients list including Camellia oleifera seed oil, Rosa canina (rosehip) fruit oil and papaya fruit extract. “Our approach is much like traditional techniques of ancient formulas,” says Ikkari founder Adrian Norris. “We use methods to ensure our plant extracts function exactly the same way in our formulas as they do in the plant, retaining their full power and potency.”
The New Zealand-based beauty brand Emma Lewisham upholds similar principles, prioritising natural ingredients. The brand launched in 2019 and quickly earned a celebrity following, including actors Margot Robbie and Phoebe Tonkin and model Kate Fowler. After sustained efforts to align with the United Nations’ 2015 Paris Agreement climate-change treaty, in 2021 it announced itself to be the world’s first carbon-positive, 100 per cent circular-designed beauty brand.
The eponymous founder attributes her success to a belief not so dissimilar to that of professor Bader: the power of pioneering technology.
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.
