Skinome’s Chief Innovation Officer Ulf Åkerström shares the results from the company’s latest clinical study and what he believes are the next major steps for the skincare industry.

The latest launch from the Swedish skincare brand, Azeretinal Concentrate, uses a combination of Retinol and Azelaic acid. It is intended for oily and combination skin, which often tends to get breakouts and pimples. 

– If you look at the most well-studied substances for this skin type, it’s the retinoids, Åkerström explains. It reduces sebum production, oiliness, and the risk of having breakouts, and helps the cell renewal process and skin structure. Azelaic acid helps the cell renewal process and has a balancing effect on the microbiome. When you get pimples, you often have an imbalance in bacteria that are involved in inflammation. By balancing it, you can reduce the risk. You also see that it has a calming effect on the skin. After you’ve had the pimples, you often get discoloured effects afterwards—a brown spot which can be visible after a time—and this also evens out the skin tone.

For the launch, Skinome has conducted a skin study looking at the target group – primarily women with hormonal changes. 

– During their period, they tend to get more pimples, so if you can reduce that, we will improve their skin, especially during that period. But it’s also created for, for instance, younger people with oily combination skin that tends to get breakouts. In the study, we saw super good results. We did the split-phase study where we had the placebo product together with moisturiser and cleanser on one side and the same routine but with the active ingredients in the concentrate on the other side. Then we can see a statistical difference after eight weeks of use, both between the sides and also before versus after. So, it’s a verified effect of the active ingredients in the product, with really good results.

To summarise, it’s a highly active product, but still maintains skin health, which is your main focus.

– It’s intended to balance the skin and help people to maintain a skin in balance and reduce the risk of having skin issues. But yes, it is an active product, so when using it in the study, we of course let the participants introduce it gradually. They used it every third day the first week, then every second day, and from week three, they used it every day during the night. 

– And then you mix the product in the emulsion, because we have to maintain the retinal active, since it’s very sensitive to water, oxygen, and light. So, we have it in the concentrate that keeps it stable over time, and then you activate the concentrate by mixing the product in the emulsion and applying the mix on the face. 

Swedish beauty is often described as promoting the mentioned long-term skin health, which many people state as a growing macro trend. Do you see the same?

– Yes, we clearly see a shift away from quick fixes and aggressive skincare routines towards maintaining long-term skin health, often because consumers have experienced the downsides of over-treating their skin. This is reflected not only in our own customer feedback but also in the growing scientific focus on the skin barrier, the microbiome and skin longevity. The industry is moving from a mindset of ‘more active ingredients’ towards ‘better skin function’ and supporting the skin’s natural biology.

With Skinome, you are also expanding the business, showing at Cosmoprof in Bologna. But since vast parts of your range should be stored cold in a refrigerator, it can create logistical challenges when growing the brand, no?

– It’s a fantastic journey we have had, and are looking forward to having. Our primary market and where we started is Sweden, and then we would like to offer our products to more people around primarily Europe and the world beyond. In Bologna, we met business partners, potential business partners, and talked to more people about the brand to expand further into the European market. 

– Then, from a logistics perspective, we can still sell the products around Europe. We are available throughout the whole European Union. We can ship from Sweden, but we can also have hubs around Europe when needed, when we’re growing beyond. 

– And it’s not the101. You can definitely bring the products if you’re travelling or bring it and then put it back in the fridge when you arrive at the destination. It’s still gonna be okay for two to four weeks outside of the fridge. All in all, it’s not a must when travelling to keep it refrigerated.

If you’re going to disrupt the industry, you have to disrupt certain perceptions as well. 

– Yes. And change the behaviour, both when it comes to retail, but also consumers in the end, so that they can accept the fridge storage. No one questions that you have to keep the milk in the fridge to keep it stable. In the end, we would like to see the same for skincare—if you know that you get a better product or better activity—to take that extra step, in order to get the effect or the quality.

What else do you look at now?

– I believe the next phase of skincare innovation will be driven by combining novel ingredients with smarter formulation science. It’s no longer just about identifying a new active ingredient, but understanding how to stabilise it, deliver it to the right place in the skin, and combine it with complementary ingredients to maximise efficacy while maintaining skin health. Advances in AI, molecular biology and analytical technologies are accelerating this development and enabling a much deeper understanding of how formulations interact with the skin barrier and the microbiome. At the same time, consumers are becoming increasingly informed and expect products backed by robust clinical evidence. Companies that can combine scientific innovation with proven efficacy and excellent tolerability will be well positioned in the years ahead, Åkerström shares. He adds:

– I believe the next major step for the skincare industry is not simply introducing more new ingredients, but generating stronger scientific evidence for how ingredients and formulations actually work. It will no longer be enough to demonstrate activity in vitro; ingredients should also be shown to reach their intended target in the skin, exert their intended biological effect, and ultimately demonstrate meaningful clinical benefits in well-designed human studies. Future innovation should focus on formulations that combine scientifically validated ingredients with robust clinical evidence while preserving or improving long-term skin health.