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\n\t\tOpinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.\t<\/p>\n
Melisse Shaban has spent two decades watching science, biotech and consumer behavior slowly converge, and believes the beauty industry is finally ready for a new question: not how young can skin look tomorrow, but how well can it function for decades?<\/p>\n
That question sits at the center of Aramore<\/a>, the performance skincare brand Shaban leads as CEO. Built around NAD+ precursor science, Aramore is positioned as a topical delivery system designed to support cellular skin health rather than chase the traditional language of anti-aging. For Shaban, that distinction matters.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s a topical delivery system, so it falls under the category of skincare,\u201d Shaban said, \u201cbut really, what we\u2019re doing is delivering NAD+ precursors for overall cellular health and longevity, to help consumers live better in their skin every day for the long term.\u201d<\/p>\n Consumers who once thought about wellness in terms of diet, exercise and supplements now increasingly recognize cellular health as part of the conversation. NAD+, or nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide, is found in living cells and is involved in cellular energy and function. In beauty, the challenge has been turning that science into a story people can understand and daily products they can actually use.<\/p>\n \u201cNAD+ is not new to the medical or research community,\u201d Shaban said. \u201cEvery living cell requires it; it\u2019s what powers cellular renewal and maturity and turnover. The fact that these scientists were able to build a pathway to deliver a molecule down to the cellular level and have the body progressively make its own NAD+ was fascinating to me, and represented a real shift in how we think about aging and cellular performance.\u201d<\/p>\n That shift is also a business bet. The skincare market is crowded with brands promising glow, firmness, barrier repair, brightening and smoother texture. Aramore is trying to stand apart by arguing that the more interesting opportunity is not simply treating the surface, but helping the skin behave better over time.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s not an easy story to tell, but we actually age from the inside out, not the outside in,\u201d Shaban said. \u201cIf we can keep our cells performing at their peak, those signs of aging decrease. I believe that\u2019s a powerful motivator worth building a brand around.\u201d<\/p>\n Photo credit: Aramore<\/em><\/p>\n The language of longevity has become unavoidable in wellness, but Shaban is careful not to treat it as a softer rebrand of anti-aging.<\/p>\n \u201cI think the biggest misconception is that longevity is the new anti-aging, and it\u2019s not,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n \u201cAnti-aging as an aspiration is honestly a little silly, because if you\u2019re not aging, you\u2019re dead,\u201d Shaban explained. \u201cThe concept of longevity is really about how you age; how your age management takes you through the decades so you\u2019re getting the best out of yourself for as long as possible. I\u2019m in my 60s, I go to the gym four times a week, I eat well, I feel as strong as I\u2019ve ever felt. That\u2019s about effort, discipline, the right expectations from the right science, and staying curious about what\u2019s available to you.\u201d<\/p>\n That philosophy arrives at a moment when consumers are more willing to connect beauty with long-term health.<\/p>\n \u201cI see a tremendous shift in the women\u2019s health space,\u201d Shaban said. \u201cPeople are understanding that NAD+ starts depleting in your late twenties, hormones shift in your mid to late thirties, and as hormones deplete, your skin, hair, and body all change. Hormone replacement therapy is top of mind. Diet has changed dramatically, especially among women; we understand now that protein is critical to muscle health, muscle health is critical to bone health, and bone health is critical to longevity. There\u2019s a real, transformative attention being paid to how we age and how we manage that process.\u201d<\/p>\n Aramore\u2019s challenge is turning a dense scientific premise into a brand consumers can trust.<\/p>\n \u201cCredibility comes from fact, and facts aren\u2019t claims,\u201d she said. \u201cA lot of brands make claims and imply things about their products that have no real backing. True scientific credibility comes from clinical differentiation\u2014skin biopsies, cell biopsies, in vitro and in vivo studies.\u201d<\/p>\n The company\u2019s differentiation is its topical delivery system. She describes NR as the gold standard precursor in the NAD+ space, but says it cannot be delivered to the skin and ingesting it will not get it there either. NMN, another popular precursor, she said, does not reach the cellular level in isolation.<\/p>\n \u201cOur NAD+ complex was developed by a team of incredibly impressive minds in science from Harvard & MIT, and it\u2019s clinically defensible and demonstrates more NAD+ production in the basal layer of the skin cells,\u201d Shaban said.<\/p>\n That is the kind of claim that requires education, not just advertising. Shaban believes consumers are more capable of understanding the science than many brands assume, provided it is framed in human terms.<\/p>\n \u201cOn the education side, I think people actually understand the concept once you frame it simply,\u201d she said. \u201cOnce you can see the signs of aging, it\u2019s much harder to reverse them. Prevention is the real opportunity here, and I think NAD+ is going to do for cellular skin health what sun care has done for aging: shift our understanding of what\u2019s actually worth protecting against.\u201d<\/p>\n Shaban estimates that when the brand started, less than 20% of consumers understood NAD+, while today that awareness may be closer to 30% to 35% as it relates to skin. The company has also picked up visible momentum: Aramore was recently named to BeautyMatter\u2019s prestigious NEXT50 List, as well as Glossy\u2019s Best Breakthrough Wellness Startup this past December, and Shaban said the brand has begun selling at Bloomingdale\u2019s and on Ulta.com.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve watched Aramore go from an outlier business to something more mainstream, and I\u2019ve seen consumers develop real curiosity about NAD+ and want to understand its benefits,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n For Shaban, the brand\u2019s growth also reflects fatigue with overcomplicated routines. The beauty industry has trained consumers to add product after product, but she believes the future may belong to fewer, more functional steps.<\/p>\n \u201cYou can use an NAD+ precursor, a retinol, a moisturizer, and a sunscreen, and that\u2019s really all your skin needs,\u201d Shaban said. \u201cAt minimum, our NAD+ Cell Energizing Treatment is something every person over 25 should be using to get their skin cells performing at their peak.\u201d<\/p>\n Shaban sees NAD+ as part of a wider future for cellular performance, with potential relevance across skin, scalp, hair, oral care and the visible effects of major body changes, including weight loss associated with GLP-1 use.<\/p>\n \u201cOur product increases the thickness of the skin barrier by over 10%, which is extraordinary,\u201d she said. \u201cA healthy barrier keeps the good in and the bad out, and that\u2019s critical to both skin span and health span.\u201d<\/p>\n Shaban\u2019s vision for Aramore is not to chase whatever ingredient becomes fashionable next, but to simply follow the biology.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019d like to see Aramore on the forefront \u2014 in form, in function, and in formats \u2014 of finding ways to deliver cellular performance and cellular health to all living things,\u201d she said. \u201cThat\u2019s the vision. Follow where the science takes us and keep building toward that.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n Melisse Shaban has spent two decades watching science, biotech and consumer behavior slowly converge, and believes the beauty industry is finally ready for a new question: not how young can skin look tomorrow, but how well can it function for decades?<\/p>\n