Based in L.A., Dr Ben Johnson is a cosmetic physician who was one of the world’s pioneering medical aestheticians, with his own chain of medical spas and a medical-strength skincare line.
In 2007 Dr Johnson created the high potency natural active line, Osmosis Skincare. The aim was to avoid inflaming the skin with harsh treatments that would thereby increase the rate of skin aging, and instead focus on the delivery of key active ingredients deep within the skin for better results.
Here we talk to Dr Johnson, and ask him what makes his skincare approach so effective…
What made you create Osmosis? i.e. what wasn’t the skincare market already offering?
I realized that no one was achieving permanent results and set my intention to do just that. I began exploring technology and ingredients with that mindset. The skincare industry has come a long way in the last 50 years and not always for the better. Today’s most popular treatments focus on technology, experience, and immediate results, much to the detriment of our skin. Rather than interfere with the skins natural intelligence, I believe we must support the skin from the inside out. My focus is to achieve a permanent result, resulting in true age reversal.
Is it true that you got the idea for Osmosis from smoker’s patches?
Not smokers patches specifically but part of my strategy was finding a way to reach the dermis where true healing takes place and the pharmaceutical patches used for topical drug delivery led me to use pharmaceutical grade liposomes. There are many different technology ideas beyond that required to make the permanent change we desired.
Why is it more effective to deliver vitamin A to the dermal rather than epidermal level and how do results differ?
The dermis is where collagen is made so that can be the only efficacious target. Most skincare lines today use a form of epidermal vitamin A which is inflammatory, and can create temporary plumping and sloughing results which not only cause sun sensitivity, but also ages the skin at the same time. We use Liposomal Retinaldehyde in our Vitamin A serums, which is a natural form of vitamin A delivered from beta carotene. Osmosis is the only Skincare line to formulate a stabilized liposomal delivered form of Retinaldehyde, so it can reach beyond the surface allowing the skin to help remodel itself through increased nutrition, immune repair and collagen and elasticity production.
What are the key hero Osmosis ingredients for you and why?
Trioxolane, which is the key active ingredient in Rescue Epidermal Repair Serum, just patented to permanently repair age spots, pores and texture changes. We also have an internal version called Restore Elixir, which permanently repairs most cases of melasma. Another game changer is Zinc Finger Technology which is included in our DNA Serums Catalyst Plus and Catalyst AC-11, also patented, because they heal scarring, DNA, and make skin tags and AK’s (Actinic Keratosis) disappear! Liposomal Retinaldehyde, patent pending, because it is the single best collagen stimulator, which is why Osmosis Vitamin A serums are the most powerful age reversing serums available.
Why do you think Osmosis is America’s fastest growing skincare range?
We are the only ones promising permanent age reversal by targeting the source of skin conditions.
You claim to be able to reverse aging, can you tell us more about this?
Osmosis has discovered a secret that no other line knows which is how to reverse aging. As so many of us know, virtually every “anti-aging” product available only provides temporary results. That is the equivalent to “renting” your skincare results. Osmosis empowers the skin to fix itself which often leads to permanent changes in the skin. In other words, after 3 months on Osmosis, the improvements in your skin will stay even after you stop the product whereas stopping the use of any other product will put your skin right back where it started. The secret isn’t one magical ingredient, although we have several patents on ingredients no one else has, but rather it is the systematic strengthening of the skin’s immune system by targeting the source of each skin condition.
What are the most important aspects to a skincare range?
A lot of people think antioxidants are critical to successfully improving the skin. Others think retinoid acid is a must. I am here to tell you that we have been misled! While antioxidants can slow damage, they do not stimulate collagen or increase repair the way certain retinols and growth factors do. Retinoic acid is research proven to thin the dermis by 18% over one year so I would not recommend it. The truth is that Osmosis has done the research for you, we have figured out key bottlenecks in the process like increasing nutrition, stimulating collagen without inflammation, strengthening the immune system and repairing DNA. In many cases you have to address many or all of these aspects for permanent change in the skin.
What can be done about age spots and what makes Osmosis different?
Age spots are a protective response from the skin so even though they are unsightly; they actually act to cover an underlying wound in the skin. For this reason, using lighteners is not ideal because you are exposing the wound to more sun and the results will never stay because the skin will gravitate toward forming the “umbrella of melanin” every time you are in the sun. Osmosis’ secret is that we do not use a lightener, we use a patented ingredient that heals the wound. By treating the source, the skin stops overproducing melanin and the results are permanent. The key is to understand the skin and work with its processes.
