Last week, The Inkey List introduced its latest serum at Sephora, the $22 Exosome Hydro-Glow Complex Serum. A search for the ingredient on the retailer’s site brings up just one other product: Skinfix’s $69 Exo + Ectoin Retinol-Alternative Intensive Skin Barrier Repair Baume. The Inkey Lists’s product is sold at Sephora and on the brand’s e-commerce site.
Exosomes are increasingly buzzy in the skin-care world. Simply put, exosomes are tiny messengers that help skin cells communicate with one another and promote skin healing. In a skin-care product, they work overtime. “They’re not singular in their approach, [like, for example] vitamin C, which is brightening, or retinol, which is regenerating. … Exosomes elevate everything, and they work with your body to lean into what is needed,” said Mark Curry, co-founder of The Inkey List. Due to the fact that exosomes target what their user needs, the brand marketed its new serum as being like a “facialist in a bottle.”
Until recently, Curry said, a product like The Inkey List’s new serum would not have been possible. Until about 18 months ago, exosomes had to be kept in temperature-controlled environments, and as a result, they were most often found in clinics. They were also derived from animals. The Inkey List, however, has derived its exosomes from the cica plant. Such scientific advancements, which have led to exosomes becoming easier to bottle up and sell, have also contributed to their increase in popularity.
“From an innovation perspective, Inkey has worked best when we bring the latest and greatest to the masses at the same time an ingredient or innovation enters prestige skin care,” Curry said. “[We’re] leaning into the democratization of beauty, as we’ve always done.”
As for the ability to offer the product at just $22, Curry said the brand’s current size and the volume at which it is placing orders is an advantage, as are his and co-founder Colette Laxton’s longstanding relationships with raw material suppliers. Esthetician Angela Caglia, meanwhile, sells an exosome serum dubbed the Cell Forté Serum for $325, which uses human-derived exosomes. Eighth Day’s hero product, its Regenerative Serum, is also $325, and, like The Inkey List, it uses biomimetic (non-human-derived) exosomes.
To promote the launch, the brand hosted a one-day pop-up in NYC, during which separate informational sessions centered on the concept of a “$22 facial” were held for media, influencers and community members.
Acknowledging that education about exosomes has been a barrier, the pop-up centered on the teaching moments. “Our main goal was to show that the glow [this serum gives the skin] is accessible,” said Nathalie Manivong, CMO at The Inkey List.
At the pop-up, guests walked through a room made to look like the waiting room of a clinic. An additional room was made to look like three different bathrooms, fitting the profiles of different possible users: “The Minimalist Mirage,” “The Trendseeker” and “The Roommate Situation.” The Exosome Hydro-Glow Complex Serum was the proposed solution in all three.
In addition to the pop-up, the brand worked with a number of influencers on paid content. It stuck with influencers who know and love the brand. “I wanted to make sure that we had authentic feedback,” Manivong said. “They had to be able to answer questions about exosomes and be informed on the ingredient.”
Exosomes now are like hyaluronic acid ten years ago, Manivong said. In other words, they’re the next big thing. “It’s what I was waiting for in the beauty industry. … It’s the new magic,” she said.
