Uber cerebral engineer-types don’t usually venture into the beautz biz, but that’s just what IOMA skincare founder and CEO Jean-Michel Karam, PhD did. I went to a Lycee Francais and have my French Baccalaureate so I know how tough studying anything related to the sciences is in the French education system (I switched over from a Science to an Economics major because I couldn’t handle — literally — seven-plus hours of physics, chemistry, math, and biology a day). Forget a Science Baccalaureate, Karam has more PhD and Masters degrees from prestigious Paris and Grenoble institutions than I can name! He’s also the inventor and co-inventor of more than 50 patents and the author and co-author of over 250 scientific and economic publications. Did I mention he started a company that went public in three years? Ya…so when he comes-out with a skincare range that he says is a game-charger, it’s something we should all pay attention to!

The philosophy behind IOMA is: Diagnosis, Customization, Proven Effectiveness.  The line has launched at Saks in New York and Beverly Hills where you can visit their counter and get diagnosed by one of their specialist (they are trained by IOMA in Paris), via one of the two machines pictured below. The machines scan your face using technology previously only used in medical, biomedical, and automotive industries to more accurately than any other comparable machine quantify — in seconds — UV damage, pigmentation, redness, skin texture, bacterial activity, among others areas of skin interest. It then prescribes a regimen based on the 25 products in the IOMA range which you can tailor further with the help of the IOMA specialist. The best part is, you can have your skin data saved so that you can come back in four weeks and actually see the difference the products you have been using have made on your skin. The amount of research that has gone into this range is truly astounding and even more impressively everything is made in France by IOMA (no third parties are involved in the design, machines, or skincare products).

According to my diagnosis I have slightly dehydrated skin, so I’m excited to see what four weeks of hydrating products does for me!