Beauty Tech Launch: the Atolla Skin Health System hits the market

15-Aug-2019 - Last updated on 15-Aug-2019 at 17:12 GMT

photo courtesy of Atolla

This week the Brooklyn-based beauty tech venture headed up by Meghan Maupin and Sid Salvi officially launched. The new personalized skin care system makes use of an at-home testing kit, mail-order custom serums, and machine learning to document and adapt to consumers’ ever-changing skin.

Avid Cosmetics Design readers may recall an article about Atolla published late last year when the startup put their business venture to the crowdfunding test on Kickstarter.

But of course, the idea that became the Atolla Skin Health System was sparked long before that. “I have super sensitive skin, and when I got to MIT, I found myself dealing with a whole new set of skin issues. I couldn’t understand what was causing my skin freakouts or how to solve them,” says company co-founder, CEO, and MIT graduate Meghan Maupin, in a media release about this week’s product launch.

On-going personalization

The idea that each person’s skin condition is always changing and therefore has regularly changing needs is key to the Atolla business model. Using app-scanable paper testing strips, Atolla Skin Health System customers will test hydration, oil, pH, and absorption of their skin monthly and be sent a custom serum tailored to their current needs. The system also takes lifestyle and environmental factors into consideration as well.

“Through our extended research, we have identified the key variables to optimize customized skincare,” explains Dr. Ranella Hirsch, chief scientific officer at Atolla. “Each month,” she says, “we...send the customer easy-to-use, app scanable tools to track how their skin is changing.”

“We use these physical data points plus information on the users’ environment, lifestyle, diet, and products in their routine to design their custom serum,” explains Hirsch in the company media release.

Adaptive skin care

Atolla is to skin care formulation what social media is to advertising – a two-way communication channel. “The Atolla model is built on giving and getting data and feedback from our users,” says company co-founder and COO Sid Salvi, in this week’s media release from Atolla. “This include,” he says, “uniquely combining key measurements of skin health with an extended dermatological history and product preferences to make the most efficacious product that someone loves to use.”

Machine learning algorithms are the foundation of the Atolla Skin Health System. Each month, when consumers update the Atolla app with their skin test data and any lifestyle changes, the system gets ‘smarter’ and is increasingly better able to customize skin care for each person.

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Deanna Utroske, CosmeticsDesign.com Editor, covers beauty business news in the Americas region and publishes the weekly Indie Beauty Profile column, showcasing the inspiring work of entrepreneurs and innovative brands.