The Serum

Coming next: the exfoliant your skin can actually tolerate

The pimple goes. The mark stays. For months.

Exfoliating acids are one of the ways people work on that. Glycolic is the strong one. Salicylic is the pore-clearing one. Both are fine tools; both are easy to overdo on a face that's already irritated.

We're building a serum around mandelic acid. It's an alpha hydroxy acid with a molecule about twice the size of glycolic. It moves into skin slower, which is why it's often the AHA people reach for when they want exfoliation without the burn.

It was first isolated from bitter almonds in 1831 and studied in medicine for decades before anyone put it in a bottle for skin. It's older than the trend cycle.

When it ships, the label will say what every exfoliating acid should: a few nights a week to start, not every night, and never on skin you shaved that morning.

We're not selling it yet. We're not taking pre-orders. We're not charging your card.

Leave your email and you'll hear about it first, once it's ready.

No charge. No subscription. One email when it ships.