In 2019, when Ron Robinson, a cosmetic chemist, founded the skin care line BeautyStat (which shares a name with the blog he had started in 2009), he did not plan on becoming its spokesman.
“I thought I’d be just in the lab, formulating and developing,” he said recently over a cup of tea at a cafe in Midtown Manhattan. “But every time I stepped forward and actually talked and explained to consumers how ingredients work — why I formulated this — it seemed to resonate.”
Mr. Robinson, 60, has become a celebrity of sorts on TikTok and Instagram thanks to his posts and videos filled with skin care advice, which he films at his home in the Chelsea neighborhood of New York City and at the brand’s laboratory in Elmwood Park, N.J.
Along with discussing his products, he often recommends those of other companies, which seems to resonate with followers. “I mention other brands and they really appreciate that,” he said. “I’ve become this trusted resource.”
BeautyStat products range from $15 for an SPF 30 lip serum in a .35-ounce tube, offered in pink or peach tints, to $68 for a Peptide Wrinkle Relaxing Moisturizer in a 1.7-ounce jar. The line is sold only in the United States at the moment, through its website and by retailers such as Ulta Beauty and Amazon.
Its best sellers, Mr. Robinson said, are products featuring vitamin C, a popular skin care ingredient that brands include in their formulas with an eye to tackling issues such as fine lines and wrinkles. Although he declined to share sales figures, he said that, since its founding, the brand had sold more than a million of its vitamin C products.
Mr. Robinson has been formulating skin care products for 35 years. His résumé includes stints at Revlon and Avon as well as the Estée Lauder Companies, working on the La Mer and Clinique products. He also helped to formulate some of Hailey Bieber’s Rhode line; he is on the company’s advisory board and acts as what the brand calls its “cosmetic chemist in residence.” And he developed products for Yes Day, a brand aimed at children and adolescents that debuted several weeks ago.
Experts say Mr. Robinson’s experience gives BeautyStat a credibility that is important in a crowded marketplace.
“What is a standout about him is that he’s a chemist,” said Dr. Doris Day, a New York dermatologist and industry colleague who has known Mr. Robinson for several years. “He knows the science and he is completely involved.”
As for his commitment to BeautyStat, she said, “This is not a side gig for him. This is what he does, not something where he just had this idea, picked it up and said, ‘Wouldn’t this be nice to do?’ He has been devoted to skin care, skin health and all different skin tones — he has a strong purpose behind it.”
During an interview, Mr. Robinson talked about the beauty marketplace, the changes he has seen and working with Ms. Bieber. The conversation has been edited and condensed.
How has the marketplace changed since you started in the industry?
When I was coming up, the channels were pretty distinct — there wasn’t as much overlap as there is today. There was the drugstore channel, the direct sell — like Avon, which is a different model — and the department store. And I had a decade of developing products before online became a thing.
Now we’re dealing with a consumer that’s shopping everywhere — she’s exposed to everything.
With that in mind, has the way you formulate products changed?
The differences are not as distinct and clear, but again I go back to the age, the demographic, the psychographic of the consumer and, to some extent, the channel.
The channel can dictate the price point of the consumer as well — how accessible a product is from a consumer’s spending perspective.
When you started, were there many other Black cosmetic chemists?
The first 10 to 15 years, I was the only person of color. Back then, I don’t know if we saw race as much, and it didn’t enter the conversation.
Fortunately, I worked on a category of skin care where I was answering the needs of all consumers: It wasn’t a category like makeup — color cosmetics — or hair care where you really had to address a more diverse population.
That certainly helped — I was able to come to the table with ideas and suggestions that worked universally.
How did you come to work with Hailey Bieber?
Hailey saw me in the press and was looking to build out a team of experts to advise her. She tapped me and presented her concept to me.
I was blown away. It was unique, and different from BeautyStat: It was a younger consumer and I thought I could add a lot of value and she recognized that as well.
What is she like to work with?
She knows all of the trending ingredients and she would come to me: “Ron, what about this?” “What about that?” “What do you think of this ingredient?”
She’s not the type of celebrity that’s sitting back and just waiting to be dictated to — she is out there looking at and trying products.
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