Skincare Decoded. Victoria Fu

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      he two of us met at L’Oreal, where we worked as skincare-formulation

      chemists. We quickly became friends because we share the same (terrible)

      sense of humor and the same frustrations with the industry. Thinking back,

      our whole crazy startup journey probably began as a little vent session

      powwow in one of our cubicles.

      We both felt like the beauty industry is just inundated with useless crap

      that gives consumers no way of navigating an overcrowded and overmarketed

      product landscape. Moreover, the chemist’s voice (ya know . . . the people

      who actually put the formulas together?) was completely absent. Ultimately,

      we ended up leaving our comfortable corporate jobs, convinced that we’d

      probably leave the beauty industry entirely and move on to bigger and better

      things. During our time off, we created the Chemist Confessions Instagram

      account in late 2017 as a last hurrah to the industry. We wanted to share our

      insider knowledge in hopes that it would help someone find their next skincare

      product a little more easily. Honestly, we thought it’d die into the abyss.

      When the account, against all odds, started gaining traction, we

      made a quick and perhaps foolhardy decision to jump headfirst into the

      startup world. Nowadays, we juggle the brand, the blog, the edu-Insta,

      and the podcast—all fueled by the belief that skin science should be fun,

      approachable, and practical.

      Chemist Confessions is the accidental

      creation of two frustrated cubicle mates

      All in all, people say startup life is full of surprises. But this book was not

      even within the realm of what we could fathom creating. We used to joke

      that we pitied the poor future intern who would eventually have to catalog

      and organize our incredibly whimsical collection of Insta and blog posts.

      Joke’s on us! This book was born from many nights of rereading all our old

      posts, researching, cringing at our evolving writing style, rewriting, drawing

      new sketches, brainstorming better ways to present difficult skin-science

      concepts, and just generally questioning our life choices. Oh, and alcohol.

      Lots of alcohol. Sorry, parents!

      So, whether you’ve been a part of the Chemist Confessions journey all

      along, or are just discovering us through this book, we hope this book can

      help guide you on your next skincare purchase with a few laughs along the

      way. And as always, if you have any questions, write to us!

      Your friendly neighborhood chemists,

      Gloria & Victoria

      Get in touch with us at

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