Introducing Luxury, Oxygenated Skin Care Brand Element Eight
One row down, three columns from the right sits the eighth element of the periodic table.
According to Brad Patt, who teamed with his longtime colleague Andy Carter and beauty veteran Gerard Camme to codevelop the new oxygenated skin care brand, Element Eight, “oxygen is not an ingredient — it’s a method of action.”
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Launching Nov. 3, Element Eight debuts with three creams, $250 each, focused on different ingredients (peptides, squalane and hyaluronic acid, respectively) and formulated with the brand’s proprietary Oxygen Amplified Therapy.
Through the technology, oxygen is delivered topically to the skin with the aim of penetrating at the cellular level, thus promoting radiance and elasticity by accelerating cellular metabolism and turnover.
Because of its regenerative qualities, oxygen is often used in treatment of skin grafts, wound healing, burns, spinal injuries and more, which is predominantly how Carter and Patt have been harnessing the element for years.
For the pair, who cofounded DermOQ, a subsidiary of spine implant company, TheraCell, developing oxygen-infused skin care products was a natural extension of the ways in which they were using the element in spine and orthopedic surgeries.
For Camme, formerly the president of Atelier Cologne, which was acquired by L’Oréal in 2016, the concept was an enticing next avenue for his beauty business know-how.
“Post-acquisition, I knew my days would be numbered [at Atelier Cologne], so in my mind, I was looking for the next venture,” Camme said.
Shortly after his 10-year stint with the niche French fragrance brand wound down in 2021, Camme joined Element Eight — which is a spinoff of TheraCell — as chief executive officer, with Patt sitting as chairman of the board and Carter serving as the brand’s chief technology officer, and the scientist behind the Oxygen Amplified Therapy technology.
“It’s not like we’re saying we’ve got this new wonder, extracted from the ‘gobbledygook’ tree; we’re telling a story about oxygen,” Carter said.
“There are other products that feature peptides or others of these ingredients, but we’re bottling an oxygen formula that amplifies them,” Patt added.
The O2 Peptide Cream is formulated with vitamin C, tranexamic acid and camellia oleifera in addition to peptides and Oxygen Amplified Therapy; the O2 Squalane Cream contains sodium hyaluronate, allantoin and anti-inflammatory bisabolol, while the O2 Hyaluronic Acid Cream is assisted by vitamin D5, shea butter and aloe vera for moisture retention and skin-soothing.
“Today’s educated skin care consumer shops by ingredient if they have a specific concern,” said Camme, noting that the brand aims to roll out a comprehensive facial care routine in the near future, and even enter the body care category. “We want to be disruptive, we want to make sure we’re understandable and completely transparent.”
While the founders did not comment on sales expectations for the launch, industry sources estimate the brand will do $5.5 million in sales by the end of 2023.
“Not too long in the distant future, we’d love to have our own freestanding store and laboratory of sorts, to give us the ability to showcase [the brand] experience and build treatments around our products,” Camme continued, adding that Element Eight also aims to partner with spas down the road to incorporate its products into facials.
While still relatively niche, oxygen facials have been gaining momentum as a seeming antidote for dull skin, with the offering increasingly popping up on menus of spas around the U.S. in recent years.
Although Element Eight is launching direct-to-consumer in the U.S. to start, plans for international expansion are in the pipeline, slated to take hold as early as 2024.
