Bio -Tech, Beauty, EXOGLO

Understanding the science

1. Exosomes are being described as the "next frontier" in skincare. For readers
who are new to the concept, what exactly are exosomes and what role do they
play in skin communication?

Joshua: Exosomes are nanoscale messengers that cells release to instruct one another. In
skin, they carry the signals that coordinate repair, hydration and renewal.

Christopher:

I have spent the better part of two decades working with retinol, vitamin C and peptides across my career. They are all wonderful ingredients, and I am not here to argue against any of them. What we were doing with EXOGLO was something different. When we set the ingredient architecture, the question was never what else we could add. It was what a formulation looks like when signalling sits at the centre of it. Everything else in the bottle was chosen to
support that: two vitamin C derivatives at a skin-compatible pH rather than a high-strength ascorbic acid that would fight the formula, and a barrier complex of lipids and ceramides so the skin has what it needs to respond. That is why we describe it as a global treatment. One step, supporting multiple dimensions of skin quality rather than optimising a single one.

Joshua: Most actives work by supplying something or forcing a response. Retinol pushes cell turnover. Vitamin C provides antioxidant support. Peptides deliver building blocks. They are all valuable, and none of them are in competition with what we have made. EXOGLO works at a different layer — communication rather than raw material. Exosomes are the vehicle skin cells already use to talk to one another, and the formulation is built around preserving that signalling architecture intact, at a concentration and stability that survives the journey from bottle to skin. That is the harder part of the science, and it is where most of our development time went.
Practically, it means EXOGLO is not a replacement for your retinol or your vitamin C. It is the layer underneath them — supporting the environment in which those actives perform, and helping skin tolerate them better.

Christopher: The language really matters to us. We deliberately do not describe ourselves as an anti-ageing brand, because ageing is a biological process and it is inevitable. Skin longevity means something different. It means supporting skin quality at every age. The quality we are after is specific enough that we gave it a name. Luminous, vibrant, healthy-looking. That is the EXOGLO. It is about how skin looks and feels, rather than about turning back a clock.

Joshua: Longevity, in skin, is about resilience rather than a single-day result. Young skin is not just smoother — it recovers faster. It bounces back from a bad night, a long flight, a harsh winter, a strong treatment. That recovery capacity is what erodes with time, and it is what we are trying to support.

What people tend to notice first is not dramatic. It is that skin feels comfortable rather than tight by mid-afternoon. Makeup sits better. Redness after a shower or a workout settles more
quickly. Over longer periods, that consistency compounds into what people describe as skin looking "well" — more even, more luminous, less reactive.
I would rather set that expectation honestly than promise a transformation. The mirror rewards consistency, not intensity.

Christopher: We formulated to four dimensions of skin quality: Tone, Texture, Elasticity, and Barrier. That was not a marketing framework; it was genuinely the brief. Every ingredient had to earn its place against one of the four, and a few things we loved did not make the cut because they could not.
Those four also happen to be what clinics assess, and what people are looking at in the mirror even when they describe it as something else.

Joshua: In our experience, the strongest responses are in barrier function, dehydration, textural irregularity and reactive or easily-flushed skin. Skin that has been over-exfoliated, over-treated, or stressed by climate and travel tends to respond quickly, because the limiting factor there is recovery capacity.
Fine lines associated with dryness and surface texture improve as hydration and barrier quality improve. Deeper structural lines are a different problem, and I would not claim a serum solves them.
Post-inflammatory pigmentation is a partial responder — supporting a calmer, better- functioning barrier reduces the inflammatory cycle that drives new pigment, but existing pigment still needs targeted actives and, non-negotiably, daily SPF. Anyone who tells you a single product addresses every concern is selling, not explaining.

Joshua: Yes, and I would rather be conservative here.

Avoid applying to broken or open skin, or during an active flare of an inflammatory skin condition such as eczema or cystic acne - settle the flare first, under clinical guidance. Anyone with a known sensitivity to any listed ingredient should obviously avoid it, and I would recommend a patch test behind the ear or on the inner forearm for anyone with reactive skin.
Speak to your doctor before starting if you are pregnant or breastfeeding, currently under oncology or immunosuppressive care, or have a personal history of skin cancer. Not because we have evidence of a problem, but because those decisions belong with the clinician who knows your history.
EXOGLO is a cosmetic product. It supports skin — it does not treat disease, and it is not a substitute for dermatological care.

Christopher: And honestly, we would rather lose a sale than have someone use this at the wrong moment. It is one of the reasons we have been so deliberate about which clinics we partner with. Our partners are trained to have exactly this conversation, and I would much rather someone hears it there than does not hear it at all.

6. Where does EXOGLO sit best in a skincare routine? And what time of day is
best to apply?

Christopher: It is a serum, so it goes on clean skin after your toner or essence and before moisturiser. We recommend it morning and night. That is how the usage guidance is written for our clinic partners, and it is how I use it myself.
A few drops is plenty. Press it into the skin rather than rubbing, and in the morning it sits after cleansing and before SPF. If you are only going to manage it once a day, Josh will tell you to make it the evening, and he is right about why.

Joshua: Evening is where it earns its place. Skin's repair activity peaks overnight, and applying a signalling product into that window makes biological sense.
Sequence matters more than people expect. Cleanse, then apply EXOGLO to clean, slightly damp skin — before any oil, occlusive or moisturiser. Anything heavier applied first will sit as a barrier between the serum and the skin surface. Give it thirty seconds to absorb, then seal with your moisturiser.
Morning use is optional and works well for people with dry, travel-stressed or post-procedure skin — in that case it goes on after cleansing and before SPF. But if you are only going to use it once a day, use it at night.

Christopher: The short answer is yes, and it layers beautifully. We formulated it that way on purpose, because nobody is throwing out their whole routine to make room for one serum. My practical advice is quite simple. Introduce one new product at a time so you know what is doing what, and if you are using a retinol, apply on alternate evenings to allow space for each to do their work.

Joshua: It layers comfortably with hydrating and barrier-supporting ingredients
Hyaluronic acid, glycerin, niacinamide, ceramides and peptides are all natural partners, and I would consider ceramides the most complementary of that group. The pairings I would separate are the ones that significantly disrupt surface pH or barrier integrity in the same session: high-strength AHAs and BHAs, low-pH vitamin C, and prescription-strength retinoids. There is no danger in the combination — it is simply that you get less from each. Alternate nights, or apply EXOGLO on the nights in between as your recovery step.
That alternating rhythm is, in my view, the more sophisticated approach anyway. Skin needs recovery nights as much as it needs active ones.

Christopher: The lead-up matters as much as the recovery, and it is the part most people skip. EXOGLO is lovely as conditioning preparation in the weeks before a treatment. Going into an appointment with skin in good condition is always preferable, and any clinician will tell you the same.
Afterwards, the guidance belongs with the practitioner. We train our clinic partners so they are well equipped to have that conversation, but the protocol is always theirs.

Joshua: The clinician's protocol comes first, always. They know what was done to the skin and how compromised the barrier is. As a general home-care principle: do not apply anything to skin that is still open or weeping.
Wait until your practitioner clears you to resume topical products — typically somewhere between twenty-four and seventy-two hours depending on the depth and modality of the treatment. From that point, EXOGLO fits naturally into the recovery window, when the skin's own repair signalling is most active and most receptive.
In-clinic application during or immediately after a procedure is a decision for the treating practitioner, within their own protocols and jurisdiction. We support our clinic partners with guidance, but that call is theirs to make.

Christopher: The industry standard for assessing any topical product is one full cell turnover cycle, which is around 28 days. That is the minimum I would ask anyone to commit to before they form a view, and it applies to EXOGLO exactly as it applies to everything else on the shelf.
For proper rigour, particularly in a clinic setting, I would be looking at 8 to 12 weeks. That is the window where you can genuinely see what a product has done rather than what you were hoping it would do. We do hear from customers sooner than that, and those messages are lovely, but I would never build an expectation around them.
Consistency is really the whole thing. It is not the most exciting advice, but after twenty years in this industry, it is the thing I am most sure of.

Joshua: Hydration and comfort are the earliest signals — most people notice skin feels less tight within one to two weeks.
Texture, smoothness and light reflectivity follow the skin's own renewal cycle, so give it four to six weeks. That is not marketing caution, it is simply how long the epidermis takes to turn over.
Firmness and tone are the slowest and most honest metrics. Eight to twelve weeks of consistent use before you make a judgement.
My practical advice: take a photograph on day one, in the same light, at the same time of day, without makeup. Daily observation is unreliable — you are too close to it. The eight- week comparison is where the answer actually is.

Christopher Mesh, CEO & Co-Founder.

What is your earliest memory of skincare?

My mother. She worked for Clinique in London in her late teens and early twenties, where she met Estée Lauder herself, served Audrey Hepburn, and sent lipstick to Buckingham Palace for the Royal Family. My love of skincare exists because of hers. Watching her care for her skin, do her makeup, pamper herself with Chanel No.5 soap: those are among my
earliest memories. I used to play with her makeup and perfume bottles, and I can still recall the scent of everything. I think this industry is in my DNA.

What are your non-negotiables for skin and body care?
Cleanse well. Gentle exfoliation. Plenty of moisture. Lip balm. Sunscreen. And EXOGLO.

What was the catalyst for EXOGLO?
I have dreamt of this since I was sixteen. I always wanted my own skincare brand. But the real catalyst was Josh sharing some of his work on stem cells and exosomes with me. It completely blew me away, and I immediately asked how we could combine our skill sets to create something truly special. Soon after, EXOGLO was born.

How has the journey of creating EXOGLO changed your approach to skincare?
Gosh, it has simplified my approach immensely. The beauty of stem cell conditioned media and exosomes in a formula is the sheer complexity of what they bring to it. You are not relying on a single active to do a single job. I used to use countless products daily and chop and change constantly. Now I cleanse, exfoliate twice weekly, apply EXOGLO, moisturiser
and sunscreen. I have learned that real outcomes come from consistent use of products you absolutely adore. The time I have freed up every day now goes into building the brand!

What were the non-negotiables when you were creating EXOGLO?
A foundation built on efficacy. A formulation bound in synergy. Pleasure of use without compromise. And a finish on skin unlike anything I have encountered before. I could not be prouder of what we have created, and my hope is that FENN clients feel empowered at every step of their EXOGLO journey.

Listening to…
Troye Sivan's last album, "Rush"; especially. And "Tension" by Kylie Minogue.

Reading…
Countless research papers on exosomes and stem cell science, and ingredient datasheets.

Watching…
Heartstopper, The Fall of the House of Usher, and Drag Race. Always RuPaul's Drag Race.

Dr Joshua Chou, CSO and Co-Founder

What is your earliest memory of skincare?

Watching my mother apply her evening routine — the same steps, the same order, every night without exception. I understood the discipline of it long before I understood the chemistry.

What are your non-negotiables for skin and body care?

Sunscreen every day, without debate. Sleep, which is the most underrated intervention in longevity. And restraint — the willingness to leave skin alone when it needs to be left alone.

What was the catalyst for EXOGLO?
Years in regenerative medicine, watching exosome science mature in the laboratory while the skincare market ran ahead of the evidence. The gap between what was being claimed and what could actually be substantiated became impossible to ignore. We built the product we would be willing to put our own names on.

How has the journey of creating EXOGLO changed your approach to skincare?

It made me far more sceptical of ingredient lists and far more interested in formulation, stability and delivery. A remarkable ingredient that does not survive to the skin surface is a marketing asset, not a functional one.

What were the non-negotiables when you were creating EXOGLO?
Characterisation we could defend. Stability we could measure rather than assume. And no claim in our marketing that we could not stand behind in a room full of scientists.