Quality control, efficacy, safety, and the production of novel products is key to doing it ourselves

NeoGenesis is a vertically integrated company that formulates, manufactures, and sells skin care products, including those classified as drugs and cosmetics. We even make our own stem cell released molecules in a high level biotech facility on site. Many reasons lead NeoGenesis to formulate and manufacture our products within our own facilities. For example, when I created the S²RM technology, no one else on the planet was making such an ingredient, let alone even knew what it was. This is a new type of active ingredient that had to be developed and then scaled for commercial production. We had to do it ourselves at NeoGenesis because no one else knew how to do it. This is still the case.

Here’s another reason we don’t use contract manufacturers that’s often not considered. Having our own manufacturing facility means that our products are not cross-contaminated with chemicals that we don’t want in our products for safety and efficacy reasons. This’s what often happens when small companies employ a contract manufacturer. One company will be producing a product with, for example, parabens, which are endocrine disruptors, and those parabens will be included in a company’s products who doesn’t want them because of cross contamination. At NeoGenesis, we don’t use parabens and so there is no chance of cross contamination

Little things are important when formulating. For example, we don’t use coconut oil in our products because it’s comedogenic -it clogs pores. I’ve recently formulated a mineral sunscreen that doesn’t use coconut oil or the ingredient BOS (Butyloctyl salicylate) as do many other companies. Why? Because BOS is a salicylate. And salicylates convert back to salicylic acid when they’re metabolized in the skin and other parts of the body, making them potentially toxic, especially for pregnant women. And children shouldn’t be exposed to salicylates at any concentration. Remember, children are undergoing rapid development, and toxins can negatively perturb developmental pathways potentially leading to life-long disease. Salicylic acid is a drug regulated by the FDA. For good reason, because it is easily systemically absorbed by the body and can be toxic. Children under 2 yrs should not use it. Unfortunately common in the chemical industry is that some companies will slightly modify a compound’s structure such that the altered substance stealthily flies under the radar of overwhelmed regulators, such as the FDA. BOS is one of those ingredients.

When Neogenesis formulates and manufactures our products, we know what’s in our product. Many contract manufacturers will source the lowest cost ingredients possible, and the formulations will also be made with the profit in mind first, over quality. Some will leave out an expensive ingredient to cut their cost of manufacturing and increase their profit. Some companies have been caught adding drugs, such as steroids, to their cosmetic products without disclosing these possibly dangerous chemicals to their customers.

Another aspect of being a vertically integrated company is that we control our sales and marketing. The narrative we tell is our own, and won’t be some made-up fictious story making wild claims that aren’t true. When we sell a product to someone it is meant to be beneficial to them, and not simply to take their money. As my father always taught me, if you take someone’s money, you need to give them something of value in return. Not every product that we make and sell will be right for a particular person – at NeoGenesis we let you know what is best for your skin and what may not be useful for you.

There are a number of ethical companies in the skin care industry – chose carefully, because some, such as Cosmetic Innovations in Texas, are not.