A Trio Of Doctors Takes FixMD To QVC

FixMD isn’t a fan of hero ingredient worship.

Launching on QVC by next month, the skincare brand from Las Vegas plastic surgeons Goesel Anson, Terry Higgins and Michael Edwards puts a panoply of antioxidants, stem cell technologies and peptides in its four debut products rather than depending on a lone miracle youth-preserving compound. Industry sources project FixMD could generate as much as $3 million during its first year on the market.

“A single ingredient can be great, but it’s only one piece of the puzzle. Our philosophy is to impact as many of the aging pathways, which include internal and external stressors, glycation, free radical formation and increased DNA mutation, as we can at one time,” says Anson. “There isn’t one eureka answer for skincare, and there never will be.”

FixMD is premiering with a purposely limited assortment that includes the $35 Detoxify Environmental Cleanser, $140 Longevity Cell Serum, $120 Fortify Matrix Moisturizer and $60 Activate Eye Cream to not overwhelm consumers with merchandise. Although the product portfolio is simple, Higgins stresses the formulas aren’t. They’re packed with 12 to 15 active ingredients with long names such as proline lysine copper, acetyl octapeptide-3 and thermus thermophillus ferment.

“The ingredients that are in there aren’t old ingredients that we just made a skincare stew with,” says Higgins. “It’s the most sophisticated stuff that we can use. We are early to the market with protection against infrared and high-energy visible light or the light that comes out of your cellphones or computers. These are things that aren’t being delivered effectively by other lines.”

FixMD is headed to QVC because its founders believe the television shopping channel is the best platform to educate skincare customers about its products’ complexity. Ameann DeJohn, CEO and founder of Ameann Beauty LLC, and a consultant to FixMD, explains, “The customers on QVC aren’t novices. They are slightly older customers who will understand the multifunctionality of the products.” Infomercials are being considered, too.

“The reason why we called it FixMD is because we, as surgeons, want to fix things. We don’t want to camouflage things,” says Higgins. “It’s a different mindset.”

Developed over the course of five years, FixMD’s products are packaged in slate blue and copper bottles chosen to communicate its advanced scientific positioning. That positioning is reinforced by the so-called FixMD triad that outlines the products’ objective to target the DNA code, skin cells and extracellular matrix for antiaging benefits, and underscores that three doctors helm the brand, a unique partnership in a skincare segment awash in physician-created brands like Perricone MD, Murad, Obagi and ZO Skin Health.

“The reason why we called it FixMD is because we, as surgeons, want to fix things. We don’t want to camouflage things. It’s a different mindset,” says Higgins. Talking about physicians turned skincare product makers, he continued, “There is big difference between a brand that’s MD-related and L’Oréal coming out with a product. It’s more personal with us. We see our patients on a daily basis, and there’s a responsibility on our part. L’Oréal is looking at the bottom line. That’s a secondary interest for most MD-related lines. The Hippocratic Oath keeps us honest. The active ingredients we have actually work.”

FixMD is working on a sunscreen and night repair product, but Higgins is careful to rein in product development. He’s adamant the brand stick to a few powerful solutions. If customers require more – a retinol cream, for example – Higgins mentions the FixMD products perform well in tandem with supplementary skincare treatments.

“We wanted to keep the system tight and easy-to-use for men and women to take out the guesswork,” he says. “You go to Sephora, and you can find literally 50 different products in one skincare line that has one hero ingredient. It’s confusing. Good luck to anybody who wants to understand what is really happening with those products.”