Dr. Antony Nakhla set out to create a luxury skincare brand inspired by reconstructive surgeries he’d perform on patients with skin cancer.
What makes the brand high-end is its ingredients, Nakhla told the Business Journal.
“It’s this blend of 24 bioidentical ingredients that are designed to help regenerate, repair and renew skin cells,” Nakhla, founder of Newport Beach-based skincare company Eighth Day, said.
It took him six years to develop the formula for his patent-pending peptide-rich plasma, a blend of synthetic peptides, growth factors and amino acids similar to what’s found in human skin.
The company’s latest product is a primer with SPF 30, which retails for $140 and is currently sold out on its website.
Eighth Day is backed by a Series A investment from private equity firm L Catterton’s platform, Elevate Beauty, that’s dedicated to investing in early-stage beauty and wellness brands.
Beauty Philosophy
The name of the company stems from Nakhla’s philosophy that beauty transcends time.
Nakhla practices full-time as a dermatological surgeon at the OC Skin Institute in Newport Beach and specializes in Mohs surgery in which he used bioidentical ingredients to repair sun damaged skin.
“That was really a big inspiration for me to develop a skincare line that brings out the best version of my patients and also helps them avoid more drastic procedures that end up moving them away from a natural and timeless look,” Nakhla said.
Eighth Day claims the bioidentical ingredients in its products tap into the body’s natural healing mechanisms.
Its best-seller is a serum that has the highest concentration of its peptide-rich plasma technology out of all its other products.
Nakhla recently ventured into the suncare space due to the increased importance placed on sunscreen as part of the regular skincare regimen, he said.
The company’s SPF primer is formulated with pure zinc oxide and no nanoparticles to blend better into the skin without leaving a white cast like other sunblocks on the market.
C-Suite Hires
Eighth Day has been growing its executive team the past year.
In January, the company tapped Savannah Sachs to lead the company as CEO.
The experienced beauty industry veteran was the former CEO of Tula Skincare before it was acquired by Proctor & Gamble in 2022. Terms of the deal were undisclosed.Sachs also served as COO of subscription box service Birchbox, which sends subscribers samples of cosmetic products every month.
Another addition to the team was Allison Devine, who joined as chief brand officer last month.
“We’re continuing to round out the managing team and really scale the brand now,” Nakhla said.
