One specific type of data that I have OUMERE’s customer service team to report to me weekly is what brought new customers to us. The majority of new customers come to OUMERE for one of five things:

 

1. They are looking to prevent or reverse aging, but their skin is otherwise healthy or normal
2. Their current skin care isn’t working and they need something that delivers results
3. They have had acne or another skin disease for a long time and they need something to improve their skin
4. Their skin was ruined by skin care
5. Their skin was ruined by a ‘professional’

 

We constantly hear of people who had their skin ruined by an esthetician who told them that the ‘cure’ to acne was a series of (damaging) treatments such as microdermabrasion, peels, and a take-home regimen of alcohol-laden, alkaline products and destructive tools such as mechanical face brushes.

 

While you’re at it, be sure to to go jogging if you have a broken leg because exercise is good for you.

 

However there is one other professional who people report severely destroyed skin after following their guidance. And this professional is reported ten times higher than any other group.

Dermatologists.

We receive piles of e-mails from people reporting acne, thinning skin, excessive dryness and a multitude of other ailments after visiting the dermatologist.

Unless you have an illness that requires medication, need a procedure such as a cyst removal, need to treat a life-threatening illness or are looking to prevent cancer I don’t agree with going to visit a dermatologist.

 

 

And the reason for this is made clear when it is understood what a doctor is there to do.

The main job of most medical doctors is to identify a disease or illness and prescribe a course of treatment. Or to carry out a type of procedure for treatment or preventative purposes.

It is not a doctor’s job to cure you. It is a doctor’s job to treat you.

A cure is not always possible, you could die waiting for a cure, but there is always a way to treat a symptom and this is often necessary to provide quality of life or prevent death.

However, a treatment may get rid of one symptom and create another.

So when you go to a dermatologist for acne, they are going to treat your symptoms, not create a cure. And your skin may be worse for wear as a result.

That means if you go to a doctor for acne, they are going to prescribe medication to you, such as antibiotics, which will destroy your protective bacterial biome and make your acne worse (in addition to your overall health) once you go off the antibiotics. The doctor may also provide Accutane when it isn’t necessary which carries its own severe side effects.

So why do so many doctors wrongly prescribe antibiotics and other medication for mild skin issues? For two reasons:

1. It is their job to treat symptoms
2. Most doctors are not well trained in biology so they do not understand skin biology

 

I had a bet going on with about 7 friends who regularly went to the dermatologist for skin care (acne, anti-aging, etc.) because I told them that their doctor was the reason why their skin was constantly inflamed and broken out, oily or excessively dry. I told them their doctor was ignorant of fundamental tenets of skin biology, and I bet them that if they asked their doctor 3 basic questions about skin biology, the doctor wouldn’t be able to answer:

1. What is an acid mantle
2. Where in the skin are keratinocytes made
3. What biological processes are necessary for a new skin cell to be made

None of their doctors were able to answer any of their questions.

And these were the so called “top rated” dermatologists in Beverly Hills and Newport Beach.

 

These questions are part of the foundation of a basic knowledge of skin care biology, and the ones prescribing medication, treating your skin and performing procedures on your body are clueless.

Because doctors are falsely believed to be fountains of knowledge on health, we have the rise in the dermatologist-made skin care.

 

Besides the fact that a dermatologist is a false idol when it comes to skin care authority, there are 2 main reasons why dermatologist made skin care is less fountain of youth and more sinkhole of income.

 

1.Good dermatologists are busy. They do not have time to have a second career.

 

Ever find a great doctor? Ever try and get an appointment with that doctor? Good luck.

 

But Smith Jared is my boyfriend

 

 

Doctors are busy people, and have enough of their day filled with doing their job.

 

When I was first starting OUMERE and I was in the research and development stages, which took quite some time, I was doing a 18-20 hour work day.

I can’t imagine being a good doctor, and still having enough time to start a company. Unless you live on Mercury there simply aren’t enough hours in a day to have two full time jobs. So how is it possible to see patients all day, and then start a skin care business which requires thousands of hours of research, testing, development, and business logistics just to get one product to market.

Its not possible. Or at least not possible to do as well as you would be led to believe.

The only doctors that have the ability to have a second job are the ones who aren’t dedicated or very good at their first job.

And this is the person you want making your skin care? A dermatologist who no one wants to go to?

 

2. Private Label Skin Care

 

But there is one other option for those who are too busy to make a skin care line, but still want the profits and the prestige: private label.

 

I remember going to a sushi restaurant with a friend of mine on Sunset blvd around this time last year. We were sitting outside because I had my 10 week old puppy. I took her everywhere for the first 5 months. And because we were right on the sunset strip the tables were close together and the two gentlemen sitting at the table next to us hopped into our conversation, which was of course about skin care.

The man was a well known dermatologist in Beverly Hills and his friend was a well known surgeon. It was the typical Los Angeles conversation went to who they were suing in the film industry for stolen intellectual property, how bad driving on the 405 is, and then their startups: skin care lines.

They wanted to know more about my line, which I mentioned briefly about my background and how OUMERE came to be.

Then I was asked something I have never been asked before: so who does your private label? At first I was confused because I never would consider private labeling something I had put so much time and effort into researching and developing. I said no one, I formulated everything and OUMERE manufactures all skin care in our lab. Both men were surprised and said both of their skin care lines were formulated and manufactured by another company.

And this is the world of private labeling.

For those who do not know what private labeling is, here is an example.

You need frozen carrots so you go to Albertsons or whatever local grocery store you have, go down the frozen aisle and you see two options: Birds Eye frozen carrots and Albertsons frozen carrots. The Albertson’s brand is 25% cheaper, in similar packaging to Birds Eye and says “Compare to Birds Eye frozen carrots.”

Albertsons doesn’t have their own carrot fields, manufacturing facility or anything else required to pick, process, freeze and package carrots. They just paid Bird’s Eye to do all of that. And put an Albertsons label on the package. That is the world of private label. You pay another company to brand their products as your own. Its the same when you see generic aspirin, paper towels, bottled water, etc.

 

  

So in the world of skin care, private label means that someone paid a company who has a base formula for serums, creams, moisturizers and cleansers to put their personal label on their products. They have their stock of containers and take care of all of the manufacturing. The only thing that person with their name on the label did was pay for it, or maybe say that they want a little argan oil in there. Because argan oil is so in right now.

And the skin care you paid a premium for is the exact same skin care being sold by hundreds or thousands of other brands. The only difference being the label and maybe one or two ingredients.

The fact that private label exists for skin care is disturbing to me.

Its fine for carrots or toothpaste, but not for something that affects your mental and physical wellbeing.

Skin care to me is the culmination of endless scientific research in the pursuit of preventing aging, and making skin look its best using the finest and most effective natural ingredients.

The fact that skin care private label exists means that my views and methods in skin care are the minority. And that most who own skin care companies are looking to make a quick buck by taking advantage of a popular industry with vulnerable clients.

The worst part of this is that doctors know that patients are vulnerable and trust them implicitly. Profiting off of this with generic cream sold as some sort of self-achieved skin care revolution is unethical.

 

When you buy private label skin care, all you are paying for is the name. And doctors bank on the appeal to authority bias, and that you'll believe their products are better because of the MD distinction in their name.

The dermatologist, surgeon, celebrity or anyone else utilizing private label had no substantial input on the formula, which is good and bad. It’s good because someone who knows nothing about skin biology shouldn’t be making a product that directly impacts your skin’s health. It’s bad because the wool is being pulled over your eyes by the private label industry. And you are receiving mass market goods, with mediocre results at a premium price.

So with dermatologist made skin care, you either have someone whose time isn’t filling up being a doctor making your product, or someone who outsourced the labor to the third party to make skin care from a generic formula.

You either get a bad product or a bad product.

 All that glimmers is not gold.