Muneeb Shah, DO: Behind the Scenes of Launching a Skin Care Brand

In March 2024, Muneeb Shah, DO, launched his first skin care brand, Remedy.¹ Shah, a board-certified dermatologist at Hudson Dermatology & Laser Surgery in New York and a well-known dermatology expert on social media, started with 3 products: Remedy for dark spots, Remedy for pore size, and Remedy for dry lips. The inspiration for the 3 products came from the principle of wanting to simplify patients’ routines and provide a differentiating product in the skin care market, Shah told Dermatology Times in his latest interview.

“I wanted to start a skincare brand for a long time. But if you're as involved in the skin care world as I am, you'll learn that there are already a lot of products out there. So, in order to launch a product, I felt like it really needed to be differentiated compared to what was available on the market,” said Shah.

Another key consideration in Shah’s development of Remedy was simplifying his patients’ routines. According to Shah, many patients struggle with the confusion of being told they need multiple different products to treat one skin concern, such as hyperpigmentation. Then, patients are buying multiple different skin care products that may not all work together or should not be layered, and patients are spending increasingly more money on numerous products. Remedy products are formulated with multiple different ingredients in specific concentrations that complement one another.²

“I started to really listen to my patients in the office and ask them questions about where their skin care was currently falling short. What came up time and time again was that people were buying a lot of products to solve one problem. They would hear, ‘Hey, I have dark spots and discoloration, so I need retinol.’ So, they buy retinol. They hear they need niacinamide, so they buy niacinamide.They hear they need kojic acid, so they buy kojic acid... Then they get to the point where they have so many products just to solve one product problem,” said Shah.

Shah encouraged fellow dermatologists interested in developing a skin care brand to reach for their goals, but to also be aware of their personal strength and limitations when it comes time to hire a team who can help.

In his interview with Dermatology Times, Shah addresses the inspiration behind Remedy, how he used patient feedback and clinical research during development, how to handle work-life balance, unanticipated challenges during development, and his advice for other dermatologists.

References

1. Social media's favorite dermatologist, Muneeb Shah, D.O., launches Remedy Skin Care. Global Cosmetic Industry. March 19, 2024. Accessed April 2, 2024. https://www.gcimagazine.com/brands-products/skin-care/news/22890283/social-medias-favorite-dermatologist-muneeb-shah-launches-remedy-skin-care
2. Our formulations. Remedy Skin Care. Accessed April 2, 2024. https://remedyskin.com/pages/our-formulations