InnBeauty Project Launches Redness-calming Skin Care Serum at Sephora

One dual-chamber serum and nearly $200,000 in clinical testing later, InnBeauty Project is looking to bring a breakthrough to the anti-redness skin care space.

On Jan. 2, the brand, founded in 2019 by beauty veterans Jen Shane and Alisa Metzger, will introduce its Calm the Red Down Dual Chamber Redness Treatment Serum. Retailing for $54, the product entails a two-step system meant to address root causes of redness and atopic skin via long-term use, while neutralizing the appearance of inflamed, flushed skin in the immediate period.

“When you look at what exists on the market for redness, it’s usually one of two things — either a product that addresses vascular dilation, which is just one factor that causes increased redness but isn’t the full story — or it’s a coverage product,” said Shane, adding that the brand saw a white space for an offering that does double duty.

Equally as significant: the product seeks to address the myriad factors that can contribute to redness in one swoop, including “the effects of stress and cortisol on a cellular level, skin barrier strength, histamine response — or micro-allergies — and how skin reacts to pollution and temperature changes,” said Shane.

To that end, the treatment serum taps snow mushroom, glycerin, azelaic acid and a patented Hexapeptide-9, while the redness corrector harnesses centella stem cells, upcycled date seed and annonasense, which is a cherimoya fruit extract that purports to calm stress response.

“The combination of these ingredients gives you a fast, holistic result that hasn’t been done in the market before,” said Shane, adding the brand put forth its heftiest clinical testing spend for a single product to date — nearly $200,000 — in an aim to back this claim.

Third-party clinical results showed a 76 percent reduction in redness after six weeks of consistent use via Colorimeter clinical measurement, and the product is in the process of obtaining its National Eczema Association Seal of Acceptance.

Though Shane and Metzger did not comment on sales expectations for the launch, industry sources estimate Calm the Red Down could do more than $4 million in first-year sales. InnBeauty as a whole, meanwhile, is on track to reach $50 million in sales by the end of 2024 — a 100 percent year-over-year increase.

“We’re homing in on our positioning within beauty as high-performance skin care solutions at the highest value,” said Metzger, adding the brand is looking to go head-to-head in terms of efficacy with brands that sell at significantly higher price points. “Clinical stats are important to that. We don’t want to dumb it down and make it more palatable — we want to hit home that this is the most efficacious redness product that you can find on the market.”

The brand took a similar approach with the January launch of its first antiaging product, Extreme Cream, a reverse-emulsion moisturizer which retailed for $48 and had a $102,000 clinical testing budget propelling its skin-lifting and -firming claims.

Ten months after launch, the peptide-infused product took the number-two moisturizer spot at Sephora during the retailer’s November semiannual Savings Event. And shoppers are coming back: data shows 40 percent of consumers who purchase the cream via InnBeauty’s own website purchase a refill within 45 days.

“We’re seeing people come back because it’s a product that works, it’s a product they enjoy using, and it’s a product they can afford,” said Shane, who met Metzger during her time as a product developer at P&G Beauty-owned Tula Skincare, where Metzger served as vice president of marketing.

Though InnBeauty initially made its mark as a key emergent of the pandemic-era Gen Z beauty brand boom, the company has since broadened its horizons.

“We’ve grown beyond that, and it came very naturally,” said Metzger. “We never sat in a room and thought, ‘how do we rebrand?’ — we noticed that our initial customer and audience was very young, and that was intentional for us, and then we saw they started coming in with their moms and older sisters and aunts and bringing a multigenerational relationship to the brand.”

Through subtle packaging updates (“we heard a lot of more mature clients saying, ‘I’m not sure this brand is for me — the packaging is too bright,’”) and a growing focus on clinical backing, InnBeauty has leaned into this evolution.

“When you think about other top skin care brands [at Sephora] — Summer Fridays, Glow Recipe and the like — they’re more lifestyle-driven and experiential. They’ve done wonderful things with their brands, but we want to own this high-performance facial skin care space, and that’s how we’re going to continue to look at product development over the next few years.”