Wendy Ouriel began OUMERE while earning her Masters of Science degree in cellular biology. Throughout her life she had normal skin, and never experienced skin problems such as acne and skin sensitivity. Up until the age of 25 years, she had never used skin care other than a daily application of sunscreen, but her skin care regimen changed when she was persuaded to try high-end skin care for anti-aging purposes.

 However, after using the products for a month, her skin went from healthy to acne-laden and damaged. Throughout her teenage years she had never used facial cleansers, moisturizers, or serums, nor had she experienced one pimple, and at 25 right after using skin care she experienced acne and damaged, sensitive skin for the first time.

Having never experienced acne before, Wendy did what everyone with acne does: buy anti-acne skin care. The anti-acne skin care was gambling with her skin, sometimes it helped a little, but most of the time her skin was left worse for wear. And always, the products never did what they advertised. There was a need for an answer in skin care, yet all the skin care industry offered was another product. 

Wendy's research while earning her degree included being published in peer-reviewed literature and work in extracellular matrix biology. This led to her research in the biological mechanisms behind anti-aging at the same time that she was experiencing acne and damaged skin and then began a side project to determine why her skin was sick.

Through her research, Wendy discovered that the skin care she was using was the culprit. Every skin care product she researched, from the high-end department store brands, to the natural brands, to the anti-acne brands to the dermatologist and celebrity brands all contained skin damaging, age-accelerating agents. These agents—such as essential oils, fragrance, drying alcohols, and inflammatory oils—are present in almost all skin care, and they exist to make the product feel nice, smell nice, and look nice. None of which translates to skin care, but rather to marketability.

Wendy discovered the solution to her skin's problems by making her own skin care after extensive research on how to strengthen her skin through proper formulation. There was a need for a new skin care creation because all other skin care either made skin issues worse, or merely treated a symptom. OUMERE was created from the need for skin care that works.

The OUMERE brand was born out of the need for a skin care renaissance, for true skin care that has only the most powerful, effective ingredients, and is formulated to bring your skin to health, regardless of its current state.

References

Guadagnino, K., 2018. Brand to Know: A Skin Care Line by a Cellular Biologist. The New York Times,  Available at: <https://www.nytimes.com/2018/12/27/t-magazine/oumere-skin-care.html> 

Shabaz, A., 2022. This Young Biologist And Entrepreneur Is Shifting The Skincare Industry. Here’s How. Forbes, [online] Available at: <https://www.forbes.com/sites/alishahbaz/2022/10/12/this-young-biologist-and-entrepreneur-is-shifting-the-skincare-industry-heres-how/?sh=2c67899d369e> 

Vogue. Investment Beauty Products that are Worth the Spend. <https://www.vogue.com/article/vogue-club/beauty-haul-episode-12>

Webb, Kristina, 2024. Biologist Turned Skin Care Expert Brings OUMERE Line to Worth Avenue. The Palm Beach Daily News, Available at https://www.palmbeachdailynews.com/story/news/2024/03/19/oumere-in-palm-beach-wendy-ouriel-opens-boutique-on-worth-avenue/72402786007/