Issue 175
Written by Sherman
Recording by Zhu Cong
In an era where marketing budgets are too high and images are placed ahead of product efficacy, consumers often feel overwhelmed when choosing a brand. As a renowned plastic surgeon, Gregory Bays Brown has applied his scientific and medical knowledge and his research techniques to "bio-new living technologies", creating the high-tech skincare line RéVive.
RéVive has a high price comparable to Laiburne, Helena, Aquamarine mystery and other noble women's skin care products, launched in 2007 Peau Magnifique essence set, the price of up to 1500 US dollars, about nearly 10,000 yuan; the brand's most expensive Intensite Volumizing Serum (Chinese consumers call "saliva essence") priced at 30ml/5830 yuan. What exactly are these high-priced products?
01
Stand on the shoulders of the "giant"
Gregory Bays Brown was born and raised in Oldham County, northern Texas, and his mother's skincare habits sparked his childhood interest in beauty, "My mother has always been committed to skin care, and I grew up seeing a wide variety of skincare products at home. When he was in high school, Brown knew he would pursue medicine because "at that time, the most respected person in town was a doctor." ”
At first, Brown thought he would become an obstetrician, but after graduating with honors from the University of Louisville School of Medicine in Kentucky, he was involved in the Harvard Plastic Surgery Residency Program. Prior to creating the lab, Brown was a lecturer in the Department of Plastic and Restorative Surgery at the University of Louisville and subsequently as a clinical assistant professor in the university's Department of Surgery.
Prior to becoming a lecturer, he completed several surgical studies at prestigious institutions. As a fellow at the U.S. College of Surgeons, Brown has received more than $2 million in grants totaling more than $2 million to support his work in the field of bioengineering, including a $1.6 million grant from the U.S. Army.
In addition to the usual cosmetic surgery, Brown also takes time out to treat burn patients and participates in innovative research in biotechnology to create a molecule that can speed up burn healing. It was then that he learned that human growth factors, which accelerate cell growth and division, are often confused with stem cells. Growth factors were first discovered in the 1960s and first synthesized by biotechnology in the 1980s to promote wound healing.
In 1986, biochemist Stanley Cohen and Rita Levi-Montalcini were jointly awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for their pioneering work in isolating nerve growth factors and discovering epidermal growth factors. Stanley was a friend of Brown's and inspired the latter to start the RéVive brand.
02
The "plastic surgery knife" of the skincare industry
At the time, Brown teamed up with San Francisco-based biotech company Chiron to create a molecule that could improve burn healing rates, and he soon realized that this molecule could also promote cell renewal on healthy skin, as stimulating burn healing is physiologically very similar to blocking signs of aging.
Brown first added the ingredient to his mom's Elizabeth Arden "Visible Difference" cream and distributed it to family, friends, and community neighbors. The feedback shows that the ingredient can indeed be applied to healthy skin to help fight aging. In 1989, his findings were published in the New England Journal of Medicine.
In 1994, Brown received a U.S. patent to become a scientist applying "bio-new living technology" to skin care products, and successfully registered a patent in the same year. In 1996, Brown founded Bays Brown Laboratories in Louisville and served as CEO, where he began developing anti-aging product lines focused on "Bio-New Living Technologies"
In 1997, Brown and partner Bill Ritten, chairman of the biotechnology company Chiron, launched the birth of RéVive, a skin care product with "biological new living technology" as the core and meaning "rebirth", saying: "Although RéVive cannot replace plastic surgery, it can delay the need for cosmetic surgery and even reduce the scale of plastic surgery. ”
Brown's friend Burt Tansky, who was then the head of Theiman Marcus, a high-end U.S. department store, suggested commercializing RéVive. The brand's first product was a $165 moisturizer, and to follow up on the success of the first product, Dr. Brown launched a $130 moisturizing eye cream. Since the launch of the first SKU in 1997, the brand's sales have doubled every year. In April of the same year, RéVive's moisturizer was introduced to 31 Neiman Marcus stores.
Brown planned to launch more bioengineering-based products, and soon added IGF to skincare products with another growth factor, RéVive's first IGF-based production called Intensité, which was subsequently extended to an entire high-priced collection, cementing the brand's position among high-end brands.
Today, RéVive has launched products in 8 categories including face, lip and body care. Over the past 20 years, the brand has gained a large following through Saks Fifth Avenue, Barneys New York, Bergdorf Goodman, Neiman Marcus and other luxury department stores.
03
It was acquired by Shiseido
In 2008, Brown sold the company to Gurwitch Products, then owner of Laura Mercier Makeup, and market sources speculated that the deal could be worth less than twice RéVive's annual sales, or about $25 million ( about 159 million yuan ).
In 2016, Shiseido Americas, a subsidiary of Shiseido, announced that it had completed its acquisition of U.S. beauty company Gurwitch Products from Alticor. As a result of the transaction, Shiseido Americas acquired Laura Mercier and RéVive, a well-known brand group under Gurwitch.
In 2017, private equity firm Tengram Capital Partners acquired RéVive from Shiseido Americas at the end of November, and industry sources estimated RéVive's sales to be about $15 million (about 95.447 million yuan). In addition, Brown reinvested in the business and rejoined the board.
Brown's latest creation is his Renessence hair care brand, and after speaking with beauty editors from across the country, he realized that most people would rather choose wrinkles than lose their hair. That's why he launched a line of hair care that stimulates healthy new hair growth, essentially bringing the concept of RéVive to hair.
RéVive's Tmall overseas flagship store opened three years ago, and more than 40 products are currently on the shelves with prices between 520 yuan and 5250 yuan, of which the highest sales price is 30ml/2850 yuan of beauty oil.