MEET DR. JOSBERT
My name is Josbert Metselaar. Ever since I was a child, I have been fascinated by the natural world around me. I collected and extracted medicinal plants and tried to learn everything I could.
Over the years I have developed myself as a pharmacist, scientist and health product developer. Meanwhile, I specialized in lipid engineering for medical purposes, primarily designing lipid-based drug products for patients with inflammatory diseases and cancer.
Currently, I am teaching biomedical engineering and researching advanced anticancer therapeutics at a university hospital in Germany. I am also director R&D at a Dutch health product development company called Liposoma. You can find my publication track record online on Google Scholar (search term Josbert M Metselaar).
MY STORY IN SKINCARE
Let me be clear and honest about it: I had little background in skincare apart from the fundamentals I was trained in as a pharmacist. But with my expertise in lipid engineering I got asked by a company in Beverly Hills to help develop a water-free serum against aging. There, I discovered how much better waterless products can be than the conventional ‘cooky-cutter’ mostly water-based skincare.
I figured maybe the world of skincare could quite literally use a ‘shake up’. Out of curiosity, I started to design a range of products without water. For all types of skins and addressing many therapeutic needs. 100% nature-derived and science-based.
MY APPROACH TO SKINCARE FORMULATIONS
Formulating great skincare products without water is not straightforward. While a range products on the market can claim to be waterless, these often do not come with the same pleasant texture, feel and applicability as a conventional water-based cream or ointment.
Either they are running and oily, or they are solid, crumbly and tacky to the touch. I set out to twist and tweak combinations of oils and waxes while exploring special manufacturing tricks. My aim was to achieve delicate, soft semisolids that quickly penetrate the skin without leaving an oily residue. I simply wanted that nice silky or velvety after-feel. Find out if I succeeded!
NATURAL ACTIVES IN SKINCARE
Plant oils and waxes can be considered great natural health ingredients. However, many herbs are also packed with bioactive ingredients that don’t necessarily dissolve in oil.
Think about herbal extracts such as tea and coffee with strong antioxidant activity. Or anti-inflammatory chamomile and calendula extracts traditionally used to soothe and heal.
Recent research has indeed revealed that many individual substances from these extracts are very potent actives, especially when applied topically. Since humans have been using them for ages we can rest assured that they are generally safe, something that cannot easily be said about most modern synthetic drugs.
Check out this list of scientifically proven natural actives, which prominently feature in my products.
Oil-based formulations
Oils and waxes are so-called ‘ fatty acid esters ’: natural assemblies of a wide range of different organic molecules, which creates enormous diversity. Not only the type of bioactivity in the skin will highly depend on it, also the degree of absorption in the skin and the way they create a certain ‘skin feel’ is affected.
As an enthusiastic and experienced oil and lipid formulation specialist, I have developed a specific preference for three classes of ingredients, namely 1) flower waxes, 2) tropical plant butters, 3) and bioactive oils from healthy fruit seeds. I made it my personal quest to optimally and effectively combine these classes of ingredients in my products, resulting in a lasting benefit and luxury feel.
Check in my formulary the hero ingredients for more information about the waxes, butters and oils.
RETHINK - REVERSE - RESTORE
Skincare products that are solely made up of oils and waxes can be great for moisturizing, to ensure suppleness and for keeping the skin in condition. However, nature has more in store than oils and waxes alone.
A number of plant extracts contain bioactive ingredients that can bring additional benefit for many skin conditions. Unfortunately, most of these substances do not dissolve in oil. For these actives I developed so-called ‘reversed micelles’, ultrasmall droplets that keep and protect the actives in the oil formulation and promote their absorption into the skin.
I coined them “Re to the power 3” (Re3) based on the paradigm: Rethink – Reverse – Restore.
PRECISION SKINCARE
Being new to the world of skincare, one of the things that quickly surprised me was that the main brands target consumers with a one-size-fits-all approach. Then look around: you don’t even have to watch closely to observe the how different everybody’s skin actually is.
Sure, there is dry skin, oily skin and medium skin, but tan, pigmenting and thus sensitivity for UV can be wildly different. Some person’s skin is easier triggered and gets inflamed while somebody else’s is more sensitive for infection.
My formulation technology uniquely brings an element of personalization to your skincare routine. As a matter of fact, you can have me formulate specifically and precisely for you!