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Chaz Giles, founder of Alida Labs and former head of external innovation at Estee Lauder, returns to Skin Anarchy to cut through the AI hype: where it creates real value in beauty and wellness, why midsize brands are outpacing the giants, how to get your data ready, and what AI means for executives and their careers.
Who is Chaz Giles? 
Two decades across Procter & Gamble, venture capital, and Estee Lauder, then founder of Revea and now Alida Labs. "How do you turn technology into things that consumers love and are good for business?"
Where does AI actually fit in beauty right now? 
Unevenly. "We had a custom GPT... that's why it didn't really help, because it wasn't the use case that was right." Real value lives in data, formulation, product development, and DTC analytics.
Where should a brand start with AI? 
With its existing strengths. "Think of AI as a superpower... where do you want to create a superpower?" Point it at your competitive advantage, not everything at once.
How can AI help a brand stand out in a saturated market? 
By formulating with claims in mind, mapping white space, and turning one concern like hyperpigmentation into multiple defensible mechanism claims. "It's getting more mileage out of the formulas and ingredients I have."
What is the difference between LLMs and agentic AI? 
Levels of value. "My agentic flows, I now can set up effectively AI employees and AI teams," letting a four person startup operate like a team of 40.
Why are midsize companies beating the giants at AI? 
"They are not [winning], because they cannot get out of their own way in terms of how to do that redesign." Nimble midcaps are leapfrogging larger rivals and halving time to market.
How should companies get their data ready for AI? 
Out of silos first. "There never was an award for the world's sexiest data." Consolidating scattered data unlocks synthetic testing and digital twins.
How much AI is too much? 
Never too much data, easily too much AI. "AI should be used in places that it's giving me more value than I can create with my org chart today."
How is AI changing beauty investment? 
"AI is eating software," erasing old moats. Brand and distribution matter more again, and a new crop of AI native brands is coming.
What does AI mean for executives? 
A hard mirror as the value of information trends toward zero. "It's about how to apply, how to integrate, how to lead the teams and the transformation."
How do leaders stay indispensable in an AI future? 
By leaning into what machines cannot do. "You as a leader are still uniquely positioned to take that information and translate it into valuable action."
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Contact Chaz: chaz@alidalabs.ai, LinkedIn, Instagram
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Content creator Marjan Tabibzada joins Skin Anarchy to talk about building a career with no blueprint: her start at the MAC counter, representing brown and Middle Eastern women in beauty and fashion, surviving online hate, vetting brand deals honestly, and the Times Square campaign that made a childhood dream real.
Who is Marjan Tabibzada? 
A creator who built a following representing women who rarely saw themselves online. "There's so many of us out there."
How did she get started in content creation? 
Posting on the side while at Cal State Northridge and the MAC counter. "I really felt like I was doing a bajillion different things." TikTok took off, and she chose creation over law school.
What did she learn at MAC Cosmetics? 
That inclusivity could be a foundation. "Every shade of the foundation that you can" imagine was there.
How do you build a following with no blueprint? 
Relentless trial and error. "There will be hundreds of my videos that have flopped... and you have to pick your butt back up and keep creating."
How does she keep content relatable across cultures? 
By reworking revealing trends into modest looks. "We are the brown girls where we can't really show... so let's make this a little bit more modest."
How does she handle online hate and cancel culture? 
By refusing to let it take root. "If you just allow those comments to take over, you're going to go into such a dark place that getting out is going to be very difficult."
Where is influencer marketing headed? 
Creators replacing traditional ads. "People trust the influencers, and when you relate to a content creator, it brings such a powerful take on why brands should work with you."
How does she vet brand deals? 
Authenticity first. "Would I genuinely recommend this if there wasn't a campaign attached to it?" She has refused deals that asked her to lie about results.
Does becoming an influencer make you rich? 
Not how people assume. "Just because you make content does not mean you're gonna be rich." Her first brand deal paid about a thousand dollars.
Why do content creators need a plan B? 
Platforms are not permanent. "You need a plan B." She kept her degree and built across Instagram, YouTube, Snapchat, and more.
What advice does she have for aspiring creators? 
Start before you feel ready. "I learned by doing, by making mistakes, and by staying curious." Age is just a number.
Listen to the full episode with Marjan Tabibzada on Skin Anarchy, available wherever you get your podcasts.
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Monique Rodriguez, founder and CEO of Mielle Organics, joins Skin Anarchy to trace her path from labor and delivery nurse to textured hair care leader: bootstrapping through millions in debt, protecting the brand's DNA through the P&G acquisition, surviving a viral moment, and where textured hair innovation goes next.
Who is Monique Rodriguez? 
A former labor and delivery nurse who bet on herself. "I literally built mine from the ground up by bootstrapping."
How did she build Mielle as an inclusive brand? 
By solving for a category, not a demographic. "Textured hair has no specific culture, race, ethnicity... I really wanted to be inclusive of all."
What does bootstrapping actually mean? 
"It means that you're making payroll and you're paying other people before you pay yourself." Mielle ran two to three million dollars in debt.
How do you know whether to pivot or push forward? 
Read the business honestly, not emotionally. "I knew that we were holding on to something special... it was time for me to keep pushing forward."
How did she get investors and her team to believe? 
Data and character. A Berkshire investor backed the founders for their humility and willingness to ask questions. "You can't teach that."
How do you choose the right investors? 
Separate your identity from the company. "You can't have an emotional attachment to the brand if you are wanting to take on investors... it's really the customer's brand."
How did Mielle protect its DNA through the P&G acquisition? 
By putting it in writing. "Yes, we're selling you the company, but the sole DNA of the brand shall not be touched."
How should a brand handle going viral? 
Treat it as exposure, not a foundation. "Having a viral moment can be very powerful, but it's also very temporary."
Where is textured hair care headed? 
Toward wellness and scalp care. "Textured hair will continue to be the majority," with innovation moving to a holistic, education first approach.
What advice does she have for founders building beyond a label? 
Start before you feel ready. "The biggest difference between people who dream and the people who build is that the builders take action."
Would she do anything differently? 
Nothing. "All of the mistakes and bad decisions that we made were all a part of the learning lessons."
Listen to the full episode with Monique Rodriguez of Mielle Organics on Skin Anarchy, available wherever you get your podcasts.
Shop Mielle Organics
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Ever wondered what it takes for a skincare brand to win a prestigious award? In this episode, we spotlight the 2026 Science of Skin awards, where innovation and science-backed formulations reign supreme. 
The Science of Skin Awards, hosted by Skin Anarchy, represent the gold standard in skincare innovation. With only ten brands receiving this prestigious recognition each year, the awards celebrate the intersection of cutting-edge technology and pioneering advancements in skin science.
These awards are renowned for their rigorous scientific evaluation process, which ensures that winning brands demonstrate a high standard of scientific validity. They're not just presenting novel ideas, but also proving the effectiveness of their products.
The Science of Skin Awards serve as a global beacon for consumers. By receiving this award, a brand signals that its over-the-counter products are based on sound science, offer tangible benefits, and can be trusted for their claims. 
Dr. Ekta Yadav walks through every 2026 winner and the reasoning behind each selection. e.l.f. Beauty is honored at enterprise scale for maintaining formulation discipline across Rhode, Well People, Naturium, and e.l.f. SKIN while keeping proven actives accessible. Exocellure™ Dermaceuticals earns recognition for treating exosome science as a data problem rather than a marketing one, supplying full characterization evidence including CD81 markers and solving the stability issue that has quietly undermined the category by encapsulating individual particles for room temperature shelf life. First Aid Beauty is credited with turning barrier repair into a functional category years before the market caught up, and DRMTLGY for taking formulations developed over decades for dermatologists and plastic surgeons and making them available directly to consumers.
Hydrinity reframes hyaluronic acid as a repair signal and, with Retazone, makes the case that delivery systems have to evolve alongside regenerative actives. Hypothesis Bio applies bioengineered enzymes that target Staph aureus and C. acnes selectively, translating academic microbiome research into products people can actually use at home. XOMD, founded by Dr. Steven Dayan and Dr. Sabrina Fabi, introduces moodceuticals and its patent pending OX Factor technology, opening a commercial path for psychodermatology. Musely closes the access gap through telemedicine and customized prescription therapy paired with ongoing physician oversight. Kate Somerville is recognized for the esthetician instinct behind ExfoliKate and multimodal exfoliation, and Routine Skin for coming out of peptide manufacturing rather than ingredient sourcing, which is exactly why its GHK-Cu formulas are dosed to do the repair biology the peptide is known for.
Tune in as we explain our trailblazing awarded brands!
Listen to the full 2026 Science of Skin Awards episode on the Skin Anarchy podcast, available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and wherever you get your shows. 
Shop all 2026 Science of Skin winners
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David Suzuki, founder and CEO of Bio-Therapeutic, explains frequency specific microcurrent: how it stimulates the mitochondria, why ATP decline drives aging, and what the clinical data shows.
What is Bio-Therapeutic?
A second generation, FDA registered device manufacturer founded in the 1970s by Suzuki's father, an electrical engineer who worked on Boeing missile systems before turning to the body's own electrical system. "Every function in the human body is powered by cellular energy, but the frequencies are what the commands are."
How does aging relate to mitochondria and ATP?
ATP production peaks in the mid 20s and declines, leaving damage unrepaired. Collagen, elastin, and circulation are all ATP driven. "What I really have when I look in the mirror is age... a collection of damage that I no longer have enough cellular energy to repair in real time."
What is the difference between EMS, TENS, and microcurrent?
EMS twitches muscles and above roughly 300 microamps shuts the mitochondria down. TENS controls pain without healing. Microcurrent works low. "If you're down in the more 40 to 80 microamps, that's really where the sweet zone is." A 1982 study found low microamperage can generate up to 500 times more ATP.
What does the clinical data show?
University of Washington studies found wound healing "sped up by nearly four times," plus a 14 percent collagen synthesis improvement, a 48 percent elasticity increase, and a 38 percent circulation increase over roughly 20 days.
What order should you layer microcurrent with skincare?
Cleanse, exfoliate, microcurrent, then products smallest molecule to largest. The stratum corneum is non living and non conductive. "70 to 80 percent of the products that you put on topically will get caught up in the stratum corneum and never make it to the living tissue."
How much does microcurrent improve absorption?
"Your electricity is going to help get much better absorption into the skin, maybe 50 to 60 percent more than if you were just topically applied," provided the skin is properly exfoliated first.
Why does ingredient concentration matter?
Many brands cite a study's results while dosing a fraction of the studied amount. "That is a true statement. They just left out the fact that it was a 2 percent introduction of that particular key ingredient."
What pairs well with microcurrent?
LED across blue, yellow, and red wavelengths, plus oxygen infusion, since the Krebs cycle is aerobic. "You start to spray that onto the surface of the skin... your mitochondria are chirping like little birds."
Can you use microcurrent with Botox and fillers?
Yes, with coordination and timing. "You just want to make sure that whoever your injector is, that they're aware that you're doing microcurrent." Expect a three to four week gap, longer for fillers.
How is microcurrent different from microneedling or laser?
Those work through controlled damage. Microcurrent upregulates what the body already does, and it moves muscle. "There's nothing else that does the sculpture of the face. And that's where microcurrent comes in."
Does microcurrent fatigue your muscles?
Not at proper levels. High current EMS depletes localized ATP; low level microcurrent does the opposite. "You can't really overdo it with microcurrent, but you can basically really regenerate them and make them healthy."
Is microcurrent safe for the heart?
Facial current stays localized between the probes. Federally required contraindications include "pacemaker, any sort of heart issues, thrombosis, phlebitis." Anyone with a heart condition or implant should clear it with their physician.
Listen to the full episode with David Suzuki of Bio-Therapeutic on Skin Anarchy, available wherever you get your podcasts.
Shop Bio-Therapeutic
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