A revolutionary North West skincare company that harnesses the healing power of green tea to reduce scarring has clinched a major deal with Boots the chemist.
The contract with the high street retail giant comes three years after Science of Skin (SOS) was founded by two medics on a mission to help heal the world’s wounds.
It’s an exciting breakthrough for the brand founded by Dr Ardeshir Bayat, a skin biologist at the University of Manchester and leading cosmetic surgeon, Douglas McGeorge MBE of Chester.
The expanding brand is headed up by SOS CEO Emma Blackman, who runs the company from Croston in Lancashire.
International distribution deals are also growing, with SOS products now also being supplied by specialist outlets in Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Belgium, and Luxembourg.
It’s part of an overall strategy to grow the business and work is underway to bring more retail and international distributors on board in the USA, Europe, Asia, Middle East, and Australia.
The flagship Solution for Scars cream was formulated by Mr McGeorge and Dr Bayat to help reduce scarring caused by everything from chicken pox and acne to injury, surgery and even burns.
The pair met while working together as plastic surgeons and discovered a mutual passion for scientific investigation to improve wound healing. The company was established after four years of research, which identified compounds that significantly improve scarring.
The secret behind the expanding brand’s success is an active ingredient derived from green tea, which has been clinically proven to help reduce the redness and thickness of scars.
The SOS range uses all vegan ingredients and is produced at specialist beauty manufacturers Surefil in St Helens. It includes Solution for Stretch Marks, Stretch Mark Defence, and Solution for Bites as well as Solution for Scars.
Products will initially be stocked at 28 of Boots stores in Ireland.
It means Science of Skin products, previously only available on-line in the UK outside of Fenwicks of London, will now reach more customers direct.
On-line sales are also growing after SOS started wholesaling to Amazon as well as its own website and selected on-line beauty retailers.
“We’re delighted to be launching with Boots,” said Emma. It’s the culmination of a lot of hard work by everyone in the team.
“It’s been wonderful to watch the brand grow over the last three years, to see it go from a product fresh out of development to at this point now where we are beginning to build a reputation as a high street name.
“Our on-line and international sales are also growing. It really feels like we are at the cusp of something exciting. It is making a difference to people with a product that actually works.”
Emma added: “It is all thanks to the vision of the Science of Skin’s founders, who are both fantastic clinicians and scientists.
“They have such an incredible passion for wound healing and in particular scarring, it is often the last thing that people think about after an injury or surgery, but can be the thing that stays with people for the longest as a reminder of what happened to them.
“The reviews we get from customers show time and time again the brilliant results the products achieve to help reduce the signs of scarring.”
SOS co-founder and Scientific Director Dr Bayat was responsible for developing the products which include the green tea extract ingredient.
A clinician scientist for the past 20 years, he gave up his clinical career as a plastic surgeon, to focus on research into wound healing and scarring.
His aim is to make a major impact on human health, using scientific research to achieve better outcomes for patients.
He is an elected board member of the charitable international organisation, the Wound Healing Foundation and runs programmes both in the UK and Africa dedicated to providing solutions for global issues associated with skin scarring.
Using cutting-edge experimental tools to gain a deeper insight into the molecular basis of scar formation and tissue fibrosis, he has utilised this knowledge to develop new diagnostic and predictive tests to evaluate skin healing, as well as targeted therapies for managing scarring and tissue repair.
He said: “Science of Skin is breaking the mould when it comes to effective skincare solutions.
“Solid scientific research harnessing the very best that nature can offer, underpins all our product development – we have the scientific proof that our skincare products actually work.”
SOS co-founder and Medical Director, Mr McGeorge MBE, a graduate of the University of Manchester, practises at the Grosvenor Nuffield in Chester and the Spire Cheshire Hospital, south of Warrington. He is an award-winning plastic surgeon and one of the leading surgeons in the UK; with a wealth of surgical experience in the NHS and in the private sector.
He said: “Scarring is one of the final frontiers to optimising results following surgery.
“The quality of scar is often the difference between a good result and an unhappy patient, yet, until recently there was little surgeons could use, to make that difference.
“Solution for Scars is a breakthrough product that actually alters the inflammatory response to injury, often so detrimental to perfect healing.”
“It has long been our ambition to break into the retail market so we are very happy to be filling orders by Boots.
“We are delighted to be able to take our products direct to the public and look forward to seeing where we can go next.”
Mr McGeorge started the Plastic Surgery Unit at the Countess of Chester Hospital.
Although based full time in the private sector he continues to teach aesthetic surgery. Senior trainees in the Manchester and Mersey regions spend time in his practice as a mandatory part of their training, before taking up consultant appointments.
Solution for Scars is available online by visiting www.scienceofskin.com/solutionforscars and is priced at £18.99 for 30ml.
