Founder And Oculofacial Plastic Surgeon Chaneve Jeanniton Brings Her Eye For Detail To Epi.logic’s Redesign

Three years into its business, skincare brand Epi.logic’s packaging and formulas have received makeovers.

Founder and oculofacial plastic surgeon Chaneve Jeanniton created the brand for her Brooklyn Face and Eye patients and decided to revamp it following interest from retailers. Jeanniton says, “I understood that I did something that had some weight and had some energy to it, and I was like, OK, rather than just being timid, how can I put my full vision for this out into the world?”

The rebrand brings about updated versions of Epi.logic’s $55 cleanser True Calm, $65 toner Even Balance, $96 moisturizer The Total Package and $230 bestselling serum Master Plan. Overall, it has eight products in its assortment. The updates to four remaining products—Clean Reveal, Daily Dose, Double Feature and Eye Contact—will be unveiled in the coming months. The prices of Epi.logic’s products have been increased by $7 to $20 with the renovation. Further assortment extensions are expected in 2023.

With the refresh, a few ingredients were injected into the formulas, and others were dialed back. True Calm, for example, now has polyglutamic acid, an ingredient Jeanniton describes as hyaluronic acid’s cousin, along with rosehip seed and prickly pear oil that were in its formula from the start. Epi.logic is lowering the percentage of glycolic acid in another product, glycolic acid cleanser Clean Reveal, and supplementing it with aloe, alpha hydroxy acids and polyhydroxy acids.

“As much as you caution people about how best to use a glycolic acid, people sometimes are going to lean in a little too deep,” says Jeanniton. “So, this version is going to give them that really lovely, refreshing resurfacing experience that I think we all kind of get seduced by, but in a formulation that’s not going to cause any harm.”

Epi.logic’s daytime serum Daily Dose Vitamin C + Multivitamin Defense Serum has been tweaked to complement the vitamins C and B in its formula with a vitamin D boosting peptide. Encapsulated time-released retinol in the product Double Feature, a nighttime take on serum, will be joined by a time-released retinal, lactic acid and mandelic acid to accelerate results. “All the products I’ve mentioned are meant to be multitaskers in one way or another to help my patients and, quite frankly, myself,” says Jeanniton, mentioning hyperpigmentation and dullness are her patients’ most common skin concerns.

Each product in Epi.logic’s assortment has undergone stability, microbial and safety testing. Master Plan went beyond that testing to undergo clinical instrumentation and consumer perception studies at a third-party lab. The process didn’t go as smoothly as Jeanniton anticipated due to historical inequities. She and Epi.logic head of education Samantha Mims recruited people in order to have a diverse tester population and documented their results over 45 days. Photos of them are on Epi.logic’s Instagram feed.

“I wanted to make sure that, if I’m saying that skin of color is at the forefront of my formulation efforts, that they were also at the forefront of clinical testing, and that was a challenge,” says Jeanniton. “We had to go back and forth a couple of times just to make sure that the testing population was adequately representative of the people that I want to serve.”

To improve Epi.logic’s design, Jeanniton worked with Dilan Walpola and Daniel Nelson of the agency riad &partner. She aimed to steer clear of the cold, sterile look she associates with clinical skincare products. The modernized design incorporates black, white and red, and glass bottles that allow the formulas inside to be viewed. Jeanniton says, “I wanted to create something that felt like a piece of art, something that you’re going to look forward to seeing on your vanity, something that’s going to bring you joy to come back to on a daily basis.”

Epi.logic is leaning into its luxury positioning. “People are looking for a sensorial adventure with their beauty experiences, from textures to scents. You want to go on a little bit of a self-indulgent journey with your skincare, you want to feel good when you’re using it,” says Jeanniton. “And also there’s something about skincare that includes an element of discovery. You want to have fun with it.”

The toner Even Balance’s packaging redo speaks to Epi.logic’s design approach. The refreshed product is housed in an opaque green glass container sprinkled with red dots. The formula is delivered via a dropper rather than a pump. Jeanniton says, “The idea was let’s be innovative while we’re delivering hard-working ingredients.”

Launched in 2019, Epi.logic was a response to skin issues Jeanniton’s patients were dealing with. She felt clinical skincare offerings weren’t living up to their promises to address their issues. She says, “Why hasn’t clinical skincare evolved at all? I just realized there was a large opportunity.” In the last couple of years, however, there’s been an evolution. Brands like 4.5.6 Skin, Common Heir and Plantkos have been developed with Black and brown skin in mind.

Epi.logic has shared its rebrand through social media and New York city events. Its revised products are set to roll out at distribution partners soon. The brand is available at Saks Fifth Avenue, Knockout Beauty, Farfetch, Violet Grey and SoulCycle.

Jeanniton is intent on being incredibly deliberate about signing on partners moving forward. She outlines that she has three main criteria for Epi.logic’s stockists: They must “curate thoughtfully,” support the brand’s launch with enthusiasm and feature diverse brand founders in their selections. “At our roots and at our heart, we are a small indie brand, and I just want be mindful growing Epilogic considerately,” says Jeanniton. “I don’t want to make it seem like we’re bigger than we are, so I’m just trying to be careful about the growth that we take on.”