We recently connected with Levi Zheng and have shared our conversation below.

Levi, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. We’d love to hear about how you went about setting up your own practice and if you have any advice for professionals who might be considering starting their own?

My battle with severe acne inspired me to delve into the world of skincare. Upon completing my degree in chemical engineering, I joined L’Oreal, fueled by the hope of realizing my dream of working in the skincare industry.

After spending a considerable amount of time in the field, I’ve noticed that many brands produce products that may not actually benefit the skin as advertised. My skincare philosophy, which extends to my approach to overall health, emphasizes prevention over reactive solutions. It’s evident that many brands are introducing products with unnecessarily high concentrations, such as 15% and 20% niacinamide serums. However, in reality, the benefits of such concentrations diminish beyond 5%, leading to heightened irritation without significantly improving effectiveness.

EqualRXN stems from the concept of “preventative skincare,” aiming to enhance and maintain skin health at its core while treating all skin types with sensitivity.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

Honestly, I was not happy working in the beauty industry. I love skincare as a consumer and wanted to try marketing, but I never had the chance and always worked in operations, which I find really boring. I am also a skincare influencer in China, so I really know the consumer’s view of things and have an interest in solving a very common skincare problem.

At that time, brands like The Ordinary just came out, and its popularity was at its peak. Many other brands then tried to follow and do the same. Brands came out with 20% niacinamide, 30% vitamin C, 1% retinol, and 30% AHA, which are all too much for what normal skin can handle.

During my own research as an educated consumer and beauty industry insider, I see that most research and efficacy about these ingredients are much less than what many brands are putting out, and sensitive skin is definitely on the rise. This is not just a problem in the skincare industry; healthcare is the same way, where drugs tend to treat a disease instead of prevent it. Prevention is less painful and less costly than treating something when a problem arises.

EqualRXN is aimed at restoring skin equilibrium. The brand name is pronounced “Equal Reaction” because we create efficacious formulations that interact perfectly with your skin to re-establish equilibrium.

For example, one of our best-selling and oldest products, Oat Milk PHA Serum, was the first of its kind to bring barrier support into exfoliation. In today’s world, where brands compete for the highest % of acids, we took a more holistic approach and created the Oat Milk PHA Serum. Containing 5% lactobionic acid, an extremely gentle, hydrating (more than glycerin) yet effective polyhydroxy acid with 2% oat milk and snow mushroom polysaccharide, this milky serum hydrates and gently exfoliates to give a more refined, even, and glowy skin complexion without harming the skin barrier.

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

There was a point where I almost quit my business. It was one of the lowest points of my life emotionally; I was depressed and found it hard to get out of bed, let alone find any motivation to work. At that time, I had a business partner, but we had very different values for the company. He wanted to find investors and scale the business quickly, whereas I, having started the company from scratch, preferred to grow slowly and steadily.

I lost about $60,000 USD through our partnership, spending money on unnecessary things such as hiring a designer, hiring full-time staff, and trying to find an office. After the breakup with my business partner, I was left with only $4000 in my bank account, which wasn’t enough for even a new purchase order to our supplier.

It was difficult for me not to connect my own self-worth to the success of something I created—my business, especially growing up in a Chinese household. So I fell into depression, feeling like a failure and unable to cope with the emotions when I continued working on it and remembered the money I had lost and the bad decisions I had made. However, it was then that I found a therapist who matched well with me, started on medication, and implemented better self-care practices. It took me about half a year to start feeling better.

EqualRXN is doing okay now. I still face many setbacks, but when I look back on the growth I’ve had, whenever I get a bit anxious about the future of EqualRXN, I remind myself of what I have accomplished since that difficult time.

Can you open up about how you managed the initial funding?

EqualRXN is self-funded, which is incredibly challenging in today’s world, especially if you aim to create a brand that appears “legitimate.” I had about $20,000 saved up and decided to launch with just one product. The cost of launching a product is approximately $10,000 to $15,000 USD, depending on the minimum order quantity.

My advice to those looking to start something on their own is to handle everything yourself in the beginning and try to save as much as possible. Outsourcing work to others will always be more expensive than doing it yourself; I fulfilled all the orders then and still handle many orders today. There are cost-saving methods to run a business, and don’t feel pressured to make everything perfect within a short amount of time.

As we’ve grown, we’ve continuously improved our products. This includes making our claims more compliant, enhancing website design and product packaging, and improving photography and even our logo. One significant mistake I made was paying for a designer to rebrand our packaging when it was perfectly fine as it was. There’s a time for improvements, especially once you have more capital to invest.

EqualRXN has expanded from one product over three years ago to six products and still growing. Most of the money I’ve earned has been reinvested back into inventory, product development, and marketing. It’s a slow process, but it’s definitely worth it in the end!

Contact Info:

• Website: www.equalrxnskin.com
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/equalrxn
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/levizheng/