A leader in facial and whole-body rejuvenation, Dr. Debbie Palmer created her skincare brand Replere to be suitable for all complexions. Our exclusive interview delves into her background, her products, and more.
You have quite an impressive background. Tell us about yourself.
I am a board-certified dermatologist with more than 17 years of experience and the Medical Director and Co-Founder of Dermatology Associates of New York, in Harrison. I specialize in medical dermatology, cosmetic dermatology, and laser surgery and have been recognized as a Castle Connolly Top Doctor.
What was the motivation to start your own skincare line?
Looking back, I think my patients were my motivation to start Replere. Many patients were asking me for prescription-strength products that were natural. They liked the science and testing behind brands found in doctors’ offices, but they didn’t want the chemicals. Like my patients, I also believed in a healthy lifestyle and knew how important it was to limit chemical exposure on the skin. Prior to medical school, I majored in chemistry in graduate school. I knew that I had the training to formulate a better option for my patients.
What sets Replere apart from other brands? Who is your target customer?
Replere is set apart from other brands for multiple reasons. It is formulated with over 70% antioxidants, with a patented laboratory process, making it one of the most potent lines on the market. The potency and effectiveness of the line have been scientifically proven with both antioxidant testing and a double blind, randomized, clinical study. This testing and the clinical results of the line were so significant that they were published in the prestigious medical journal, “Journal of Drugs in Dermatology” (JDD).
Replere is also the first skincare line that targets the five major free radicals that damage and age the skin: peroxyl, hydroxyl, singlet oxygen, peroxynitrite, and superoxide anion. It is a complete antioxidant solution. If the skin accumulates damage through five free radical pathways, why would we only target one of these pathways? Wouldn’t we want to have a more holistic solution? Replere comes in airless packaging. This allows the products to maintain their potency and their purity. Antioxidants lose their potency with air exposure, they oxidize. Think of an apple after you cut it. If you leave it out for a few hours, it will turn brown. This is an example of how the antioxidants are oxidized and as a result, lose their effectiveness. With daily contact, products can also become contaminated. The airless packaging helps to maintain both potency and purity of the combined ingredients.
Each airless pump is perfectly measured to provide the dosage or amount of product that the person needs. It takes the guesswork out of the application process. It is because of these things that Replere is set apart from other brands.
Who is your target customer?
The Replere target customer is teens and up. Many of my teen patients tell me they have never tried a more effective face wash and skin tonic for clogged pores. Many of the teens also enjoy the Day Lotion because it is anti-inflammatory and helps even out redness from old breakouts. For the same reason, teens enjoy the Beauty Shooters because they help to calm inner inflammation that contributes to breakouts. More mature patients enjoy the line because they are trying to even out skin tone and diminish the appearance of pores, fine lines and wrinkles. Some also like it for evening brown spots or hyperpigmentation. The line has a wide range of customers.
You are one of only several hundred dermatologists trained in osteopathic medicine. Please share how this expertise has been incorporated into your brand.
As an osteopathic physician, I was trained to evaluate the patient holistically. I believe in this approach in medicine and practice it daily with my patients, but I also carry the philosophy into my daily personal life and my skin care line. I know that beauty needs to be maintained from both the outside and the inside and I have incorporated this into the line with both topical and oral products (healthy inside and outside) that holistically neutralize the five free radicals that can damage and age the skin, and into the website and social media through information and posts with health tips on skin, diet, exercise, sleep, healthy relationships, spiritual happiness and stress reduction. These topics were also incorporated into my writings in Mindful Beauty, which has garnered seven book awards. Unlike others, Replere is an all-natural, complete beauty system.
Working in the wellness industry for so many years do you have any top beauty tips you could share?
One tip that I talk about daily, which most people don’t know about is that along with UVA and UVB, we receive solar damage or aging to our skin from visible light from the sun. UVA and UVB make up about 8% of total solar radiation but visible light makes up around 40%. Sunscreen protects us from UVA and UVB rays, but it does not protect us from visible light. To protect against visible light, you can add an antioxidant layer under your sunscreen. My favorite to use for this is Replere Night Creme.
You wrote a book titled Mindful Beauty. Could you briefly tell us about it and why holistic habits are important?
Mindful Beauty came about because I wanted to share the information that I talk about with my patients every day. Each patient hears about the tip that pertains to their particular issue or how it relates to another issue, but I wanted a place to gather all of my tips together. That was the birth of Mindful Beauty. Wellness has to be thought of as a holistic thing. It includes physical aspects as well as mental and spiritual. In order to truly be well, we must give attention to all parts of ourselves. We cannot be truly whole without this.
Anything else we should know?
In a 12-week, double blind, randomized, controlled clinical study, participants using Replere demonstrated an improvement in firmness, clarity, hyperpigmentation, blotchy redness, fine lines and wrinkles and overall brightness of their skin. The line is both reparative and preventative, with immediate, visible results. Ingredients include Coffea arabica, the un-ripened berry of the coffee plant, along with pine bark (also known as Pycnogenol), goji and açai berries, aloe, grapeseed, pomegranate, green tea, and vitamins A, C, and E.
Visit this extraordinary line at http://www.drdebbiepalmer.com/
