Cathy Beaupain is the founder and CEO of LeCerre Skincare, a brand that’s focused on creating non-toxic products that are effective in addressing a wide range of pigmentation issues and other imperfections. The brand’s message is all about helping people to feel as confident as possible in their natural skin without any second thoughts about the safety or ethical manufacturing of the products they use.
Cathy was kind enough to answer some questions about LeCerre and its skincare products:
What inspired the creation of the LeCerre brand?
I had been working non-stop for 10 years, balancing full-time work and three kids. My body was going through changes where I started getting adult acne and dark patches on my upper lip. Perhaps these changes were brought on by hormones, as much as natural aging and stress. As an executive in the skin care industry, I had access to over 600 different clinical skin care brands, yet I was not able to find anything that would work for me. I had the willingness to spend lots of money and tried everything that was available from expensive 7-step skin care regimen to state-of-the-art treatment plans performed by top dermatologists that included compounded topical creams of hydroquinone and laser treatments. These worked temporarily but the dark patches would come back even darker within 3 months. This experience made me wonder if there exist a better solution for someone with skin similar to mine – a tan skin tone that scars easily.
Most solutions to address hyperpigmentation use hydroquinone, kojic acid, and Vitamin C. Unfortunately, for anyone with a dark skin complexion, these ingredients are harsh and can increase sun sensitivities, thereby causing more discoloration and for hydroquinone specifically, cause ochronosis. So, I set out to research an alternative way to improve the appearance of hyperpigmentation on skin of color, because it happens to be is the trickiest to treat.
How did you take LeCerre from concept to reality?
My personal journey in managing my skin ignited my desire to dig deeper into the science of skin diversity and my return to my roots as a trained biochemist from UCLA. By the end of 2017, I left my job as President of Dermstore.com where I managed the sales of over 600 different clinical, professional skin care brands. Through my research, I developed my philosophy for restorative skincare, mixing only good-for-you and high quality skin ingredients that offer multiple benefits and started testing on myself and friends.
LeCerre’s first product, the Rapid Brightening Serum took two years of countless trials and tests in order to perfect a formula that is clean, non-toxic and effectively diminishes the appearance of hyperpigmentation. This serum works gently and can be used while pregnant or nursing.
Without giving too much away, what was your approach when developing your signature Rapid Brightening Serum?
My background in biochemistry influenced my approach to skin care. I really focus on understanding exactly how an ingredient reacts to skin. I would spend so much time pouring through many clinical studies on active ingredients and its effects using subjects with skin of color. During my research, I noticed that countries such as China, India, and South Korea were more prolific in exploring natural ingredients and conducts tests with a wider range of skin types and skin tones. Many of the ingredients that have been studied were inspired by the traditional practices and recipes in each culture. Now more than ever, we have amazing data on new ingredients that can now be utilized to help improve the skin.
What are the main skincare issues that your products help address?
The Rapid Brightening Serum is focused on reducing the appearance of hyperpigmentation in the form of dark marks, acne marks, sunspots, age brown spots and melasma. Anyone with hyperpigmentation can benefit from using the Rapid Brightening Serum as it was designed to by effective yet gentle to minimize risk of post inflammatory hyperpigmentation (PIH). Because of the sophistication in the formulation, if is especially effective for those with Fitzpatrick Skin Type III and above, who historically have not been great candidates for standard treatment using hydroquinone and laser.
How have you ensured that LeCerre remains an ethical, science-based, and ecologically conscious brand in a competitive skincare marketplace?
LeCerre Skincare is built on a mission to do good. We focus our efforts on ethical business practices throughout our supply chain, from beginning to end. For example, we require our suppliers to provide certification on how ingredients are sourced, such as vegan or organic. Additionally, our philosophy in skin care is all about simplifying – we create products that have multiple benefits packed in one bottle, allowing us to reduce the number of bottles used. For example, the Rapid Brightening Serum is a 1-step skincare routine that offers three key benefits: reducing the appearance of hyperpigmentation, hydrate that skin, and smooth and minimize pores. Compare this with other systems like Obagi Nu-Derm which has a 7-Step system. Overall, LeCerre Skincare encourages reducing our use of bottles and minimize packaging whenever possible.
How have you ensured transparency with your customers about the ingredients of your products?
Absolutely – we publish our full ingredients list on our website. We go further and create our own ingredients dictionary to help our customers understand more about the most common skincare ingredients. You can find details of the ingredients for the Rapid Brightening Serum on our website.
What are your other products useful for as part of a total skincare routine?
For a great total LeCerre Skin care routine, we recommend using a gentle cleanser and always, wear sunscreen. There are so many great cleansers and my favorite is DHC Oil Cleanser. It is great to remove dirt and physical sunscreen minerals without drying out your skin. For those who wear water-proof foundation, I recommend double cleansing and using a warm washcloth to wipe. As for sunscreen, I recommend using physical sunscreen with zinc oxide and titanium oxide.
Are there any plans for the development of new LeCerre Skincare products?
The goal of LeCerre Skincare is to offer clean, non-toxic performance skin care in as few steps as possible. The next product we are excited to introduce will address reducing the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles while plumping the skin with deep hydration. So far, our test results show 90% of testers have reported that fine lines are visibly reduced within 7 days of use. This product has been in development for over a year and will be available later in 2020.
Thank you Cathy for your time!
You can follow up with Cathy Beaupain at https://lecerre.com/
Rapid Brightening Serum can be found here: https://lecerre.com/rapid-brightening-serum/
