How Subjective Skin Is Rewiring the Skincare Industry

“One size fits all is not the future. It’s more your skincare issue should be tackled with products that your skin needs. That should be the focus.” 

-Astha Kanth, founder of Subjective Skin

Photo courtesy of Subjective Skin

Astha Kanth and Lydia Lukyanov are redefining what it means to be businesswomen.

When I was first contacted by co-founder, Lydia Lukyanov via an email with the headline “Rewiring Consumerism” my attention was immediately grasped. I was curious as to what story could be behind this rather bold headline and as I read on, I was not disappointed. Through a descriptive email and well-thought-out slide show, I learned about her and founder Astha Kanth’s emerging marketplace, Subjective Skin, a first-of-its-kind marketplace that is ready to rewire the way we shop for skincare products and form our skincare routines. 

To give a bit of background on the company and its founders, Lydia Lukyanov and Astha Kanth met in high school when Lukyanov was attending high school in France. While after high school Lukyanov ended up in Canada, the two reconnected some years later and discovered that they shared a connection over the fact that though they were both living in different countries, after high school they both went to school for business and both found themselves working in the industry of skincare. Another similarity they both shared? The fact that after these experiences working in skincare they were both floored to learn just how overproduced and priced so many products were. They couldn’t believe that just two similar products with different labels could cost $40 under one label, then $200 under the other. They both knew this was unjust and after some talking, they both agreed this system needed a change, one that wasn’t just looking to benefit big companies sales, but rather benefit the health of the consumer’s skin, as well as rewire our own consumeristic habits- and it just so happened it would be them that would embark on this change. Thus, Subjective Skin was born.

So, how does it work? How can a marketplace really do all this? Well, everyone’s shopped for skincare before, right. We’ve all had the experience of entering a glossy store with overpoweringly bright lights, one too many testers with rings of crust around the bottle, and salespeople asking you if you’re “finding everything alright” until they talk you into buying a $60 cream you’re not even sure you really needed but after a while, it just felt like you were in too deep to just walk away empty-handed (if you are anything like me shopping for skincare products can be ridden with anxiety).

Well, shopping on Subjective Skin is the exact opposite of this typical experience, it’s meant to take out the stress of choosing between high name brands versus generic ones, or deciding which influencer ad you trust the most because, in reality, you’re still rather unsure which products are actually the best fit for you yourself. This is because for starters, with Subjective Skin you cannot access the shop’s website without taking a quiz that asks you questions about your skin and lifestyle which helps you determine which products to shop for based on your skin’s needs. It isn’t until then, after taking the quiz, are you able to access the website and begin shopping a selection of products that are specifically geared to your skin type based on the information you gave. Here’s an example:

Screenshot of the skin quiz on Subjective Skin that needs to be taken in order to access the website

After taking the quiz which determines the state of your skin as well as factors in aspects of your lifestyle which could affect it (time spent in the sun, caffeine consumption, etc) you are brought to your personalized version of the website which only suggests products which would benefit your unique skin type. But here’s where the real intriguing part comes in; when you’re shopping on Subjective Skin all the subjective information you typically view is taken out of the shopping experience, and one of those pieces of information are the brands of the products, thus leaving you to make all your decisions based off of completely objective information.

Screenshot of the Subjective Skin’s unique online store

Products are given generic names such as Serum 1, Serum 2, Cleanser 1, Cleanser 2, etc. and you are left to shop off of their objective information such as price, reviews, the founder’s story, and of course- the ingredients. It is not until you actually receive your products do you know of the brand’s name, making the shopping experience no longer one based on analytics, big names, and flashy ads, but one based on your skin’s actual needs and the information which truly matters. Another benefit of Subjective Skin is that the products which are suggested to you are also local to your region. They partner with sustainable, vegan, up-and-coming brands that are local to the consumer, meaning you are buying products that are better for your skin because they are made for the climate you’re in, and you are also supporting small businesses within your community. The site also offers a personal account page, which not only lists the products you ordered, as well as the information you entered on your skin, but also has a timer that tells you just how long the product you purchased is good for, and when it is set to expire, keeping breakouts due to using expired products at bay.

Subjective Skin is a first-of-its-kind marketplace that is about to change the way the skincare industry runs forever. This (women-owned!) business’s goals aren’t to sell you anything you don’t need or that isn’t actually good for your skin. They will not try and push certain products through any celebrity or influencer support, but rather are trying to help small businesses throughout several countries better connect their products with their locals. They truly do want to provide a newer, easier shopping experience for their customers, one in which they can actually find the best products for their skin and form routines that will follow them throughout their lifetimes. Shopping on Subjective Skin is nothing like any of the horror story beauty supply and drugstore experiences we have all come to know, it is a new and unique experience that is about to set the standard for how we shop for our skin, what we look for in a product, and is, as Lydia Lukyanov first described to me when she introduced me to Subjective Skin- “rewiring consumerism”, and all of this they plan on doing one new beauty routine at a time. 

Photo courtesy of Subjective Skin

The Subjective Skin online marketplace launched on July 9th, 2021, and will currently be accessible to the US and Europe, with plans to launch in Canada later this summer. You can access the website on subjectiveskin.com, as well as follow them on Instagram and Facebook.