The sub-Reddit SkincareAddiction is not hyperbolically named. The folks over there are truly dedicated to every possible thing you can slather on your face. I lurk there, and while I am maybe not an addict, my heart starts beating faster and I get clammy palms when I see the phrase "stable concentrated vitamin C." (Classic denial.) So it's with great interest that I’ve been watching a beauty company called Deciem, which has been popping up frequently on Reddit.
Deciem is a Toronto-based company founded in 2013 by a serial beauty entrepreneur named Brandon Truaxe. The company name is a metaphor of sorts. According to a company representative, "The name comes from decima, which means 'ten' in Latin. Brandon called his craziness Deciem since everyone was always telling him not to do ten things at once, and he wanted to do exactly that. The name is to reflect this message and so it will stay the same even when we have more than ten brands."
The fact that there are now ten brands is just lucky alignment; there were only two at launch. The brands include skin care, hair care, a men's grooming line, and supplements, each with a unique personality profile – color cosmetics are in the works. (More on the brands shortly.)
According to Cosmetics Mag, Truaxe and a partner started a luxury skincare line in 2006 called Euoko, whose best seller cost $525. After selling that brand, he started another beauty company called Indeed Labs, which he left in 2012. He started Deciem while working under a two-year facial anti-aging product non-compete agreement with Indeed Labs, launching with anti-aging hand products under the name Hand Chemistry and an oral supplement brand called Fountain. Hand Chemistry soon became a best seller at Boots in the UK, partly because people were using it on their faces, which is certainly one way to circumvent a non-compete.
"I think the beauty industry is a scam."
By all accounts, Truaxe is kooky, almost like a Willy Wonka of face cream. He says things like this gem from an interview last year in the Globe and Mail: "I think the [beauty] industry is a scam. That’s why I decided not to hire anyone who has ever worked in beauty before. There’s no point in hiring people experienced in scams." In a Q-and-A with Get the Gloss, he shared,"I start work naked in my bed and end it the same way every day. In between, either be unnoticeable or make a statement. In between is really bad. It's like buying flat black Diesel jeans." This is not something that, say, Leonard Lauder would ever share in an interview.
This is all part of the marketing narrative, which positions the company as an outsider in the industry, as "the abnormal beauty company." The website is a riot of color, self-deprecation, and long ingredient descriptions. I respond to it very strongly. The marketing is as compelling as Glossier’s, but for a neurotic skin care obsessive who cares about the difference between an AHA and a BHA rather than the perennial cool girl who maybe uses some serum once a month when she feels hormonal.
The packaging is heavy on dropper bottles featuring graphic labels with vaguely sci-fi sounding names, like NIOD. It’s all very apothecary-lab-sample-esque. The products are generally not scented, so each has its own unique chemical-y smell. Don’t let this turn you off, though, because some of the most beloved and effective cult skin care products, like Biologique Recherche’s P50 and Skinceuticals’ CE Ferulic smell downright disgusting. The overall effect is, "I’m scientific. Trust me."
The NIOD collection. Photo: Deciem
Despite this focus on the clinical, it's all definitely done with a wink, and taken to an almost ludicrous extreme. Colorful bottles and labels show up across some brands that really evoke the Wonka aesthetic, and these contrast nicely with the faux-serious dropper bottles. But nowhere is the branding sillier than in the men's Ab Crew line. Imagine Axe meeting the WWE and you have an idea of what the products look like.
Deciem is trying to capture a breadth of consumers, from skincare newbies to those willing to spend $200 for a copper serum, which is ambitious. Its multitude of brands, and all the processes, from manufacturing to marketing, are self-contained and done in-house. "As a start-up, no single brand and concept can justify significant investment in having in-house laboratory, creative, manufacturing, technology, distribution, sales, and marketing resources," Truaxe said in an email. "However, when you work on a few brands, they can each afford their timeshare of our resources. Furthermore, our team is always very excited and energized because of fresh ideas, brands and products. It's very difficult to find and retain incredible talent – and money isn't the way to do it. Evolving passion in what you do is the only way."
Deciem sells all of its brands on its website, at select retailers all over the world, and at three brick-and-mortar stores in Toronto. Stores are also slated to open in Melbourne, Sydney, and Seoul. UK and US stores are in the works. The UK has enthusiastically embraced the company, and it’s become fairly mainstream there after the success of Hand Chemistry and recognition by large magazines like Cosmopolitan UK. (Truaxe told the Globe and Mail, "The British media lick the floor when Deciem has something new.") He says its direct retail business is the company’s biggest focus now. "It has continued to grow more than ten times year-on-year," he said.
"It's very difficult to find and retain incredible talent – and money isn't the way to do it."
This growth is causing some corresponding growing pains. There have been anecdotal reports on Reddit about shipping delays and one confusing email blast asking customers to send pictures of their credit cards for verification.
I myself ordered several products, and then realized about ten days later that I'd never received a shipment confirmation; no one responded to email queries. When I finally called, I was put on hold and then disconnected. When I called the same toll-free number again, I somehow ended up speaking to someone at one of the Toronto stores, who told me that phone number was shared by both customer service and the stores. She was lovely in only the way Canadians are and finally connected me to the correct person. She was able to get my order out of limbo, and it arrived two days later. Clearly some infrastructure still needs to be built.
Various Deciem brands (see below for specifics) are carried at CVS, Urban Outfitters, Joyus, Shen Beauty, Anthropologie, and Free People here in the US. While these brands have been flying under the radar here, the company’s profile is likely to skyrocket thanks to this month’s launch of its latest brand, The Ordinary.
The Ordinary is a line of basic skin care, featuring one or two active ingredients, at prices that even make drugstore skin care brands look expensive. On August 31, the company sent out a newsletter to subscribers announcing the Ordinary, and a frenzy ensued. (Typical Reddit comment: "I told myself I'd slow down and start patch testing my products more. Anyway I just bought 4 of them I can't wait to put them on all at once.")
A sell-out since launch, The Ordinary Vitamin C Suspension costs a mere $5.80. This range has caused much excitement online because of the high-concentration, low-frill, low price formula. Picking and choosing individual ingredients without the unnecessary, fancy botanicals that so many brands like to add into skincare is heady for a bunch of people who analyze every ingredient religiously. It's also great for a skincare newbie, because the product descriptions very directly say, "[Insert ingredient name] is for [insert skin issue]."
The Ordinary collection. Photo: Deciem
Marketing has all been done by word-of-mouth so far. "We sold over 50,000 units in just a couple of weeks since launching The Ordinary and have been unable to stay on track as it is, so marketing will have to be an after thought once we settle down a bit with this initial rush," Truaxe said.
Apparently this is all working for Deciem. People, myself included, seem to mix and match products from the various Deciem brands in high-low regimens. "Our average margin percentage on The Ordinary is far higher than, say, NIOD's Flavanone Mud, which has our lowest margin to make it sensibly priced. For example, very high purity Niacinamide costs under $10 per kilogram and so the cost of all materials in Niacinamide 10% + Zinc 1% is under one dollar," explains Truaxe. "Most of the cost actually goes into compounding, testing, and retail costs/margins. We haven't cut any margin percentage and The Ordinary is a sustainable model."
The Ten Brands of Deciem
Want to throw some cash at his business model? Here is a quickie overview of all brands in the Deciem portfolio and which ones are available at retailers here in the US (Deciem also ships to the US if you order directly from its site):
THE ORDINARY
This is stripped down, bare bones skin care that’s all about individual ingredients for specific results, like alpha arbutin for dark spots and a 100% rose hip seed oil. Also, the line is really, really cheap. Nothing is over $15 and most are under $10. Niacinimide and Retinoid have been best sellers.
NIOD
This is the brand for true skin care ingredient nerds. It does not talk down to you. It expects you to remember complex abbreviations of product names, like some twisted DNA sequence. (A typical AM regimen is described as this: LVCE, CAIS, MMHC, FECC, HV. NIOD itself stands for Non Invasive Options in Dermal Science.) Last year, Truaxe himself took to the comments section of the blog of UK-based aesthetician Caroline Hirons to answer questions about the high level regimen. Prices range from $28 for a cleansing balm to $200 for a copper amino acid serum, so it’s definitely a financial commitment. You can find the brand in the US at Urban Outfitters flagship stores, Forty Five Ten in Dallas, Shen Beauty in Brooklyn, B-glowing, and Joyus.
HYLAMIADE
This range of skin care is meant for the person who wants no-nonsense combination formulas with a decent price point. It features a series of serum "boosters" that you can buy for specific problems, like pores or plumping, some anti-aging products, and "finisher" products, which feature things like blur creams and mattifying lotions meant to be used as a last step. Prices range from $18 to $33. You can find the line in the US at CVS and Urban Outfitters.
HAND CHEMISTRY
This is the line that started it all. As the name suggests, the range is meant to be used on your hands, but it’s since expanded to some body products, including a very intriguing retinol dry body oil. Prices range from $9 for a basic hand cream to $28 for a hyaluronic acid hand and body lotion. You can find the brand in the US at CVS, Target, and Urban Outfitters.
FOUNTAIN
This is a line of ingestible dietary supplements featuring ingredients like hyaluronic acid and zinc and claim to do things like make your skin glow or give you stamina. These kinds of supplements are hugely popular lately, particularly in Asia, but you should know that they are untested by the FDA and largely unsupported by studies. (You could also say that about most skin care, too, but just throwing it out there. Read what the NIH has to say about supplements. ) Prices range from $24 to $68. You can find the brand in the US at Anthropologie, Free People, Net-a-Porter, Urban Outfitters, and Ulta.
HIF
This hair care line is beautifully packaged in color-coded metal tubes. There are 15 different cleansing conditioner formulas that claim to support a variety of hair types and issues such as volume, color treated hair, hydration, and anti-aging. They range from $21 to $33. You can find the brand in the US at Urban Outfitters, Folica, and Joyus.
WHITE RX
So, yes, this product line has a problematic name, but it’s dedicated to dark spots and discoloration – it’s definitely not purporting to turn you "white." (You can read about the dicey history of calling products "whitening" here.) There are currently three products in the line, including a multi-active ingredient serum, and a primer that color corrects, with a supplement coming soon. Prices range from $30 to $43.
AB CREW
The logo for this brand is a stylized abdominal six-pack and is basically oozing testosterone. Welcome to Deciem’s man brand, which features protein supplements, grooming products, and bath/body products with names like Ab-Carving Gel that purports to target fat deposits below the skin. It's basically the equivalent of a cellulite cream for women, with just as questionable science. This product is actually disappointing to me from a clinical-proof perspective, but I'm not trying to get swole and whittle my body fat down to 3%, so I won't be buying it. Prices range from $18 for a pre-shave oil to $70 for supplement powder.
INHIBITIF
As the fake word suggests, this line is meant to help inhibit hair growth after waxing or shaving. It features a body serum, a face serum, something called Intimate (*nods knowingly*), and a deodorant. Prices range from $7 to $30.
GROW GORGEOUS
This is a line of hair care meant to increase hair density and growth via a range of scalp serums, and address issues like split ends. It also features cleansing conditioners. Prices range from $18 to $50.