From Gross-Out Posts To Gross Sales: How Dr. Pimple Popper Turned Social Media Fame Into A Multimillion-Dollar Skincare Brand

Blackheads, whiteheads, cysts and more, if it’s raised, oozing, sticky and stuffed, dermatologist Sandra Lee has popped it—and shown it to the world.

Since 2010, she’s been producing videos for YouTube, where she’s amassed nearly 7.5 million subscribers or popaholics poring over her extractions. On Instagram, her popping posts are popular with 4.4 million followers. In 2018, Lee’s skin explosions made their way to the television airwaves via “Dr. Pimple Popper,” an ongoing TLC program.

The year before, Lee jumped off of screens into the consumer packaged goods sector by launching SLMD Skincare, a line she says is driven by a mission to make dermatologist-approved skincare accessible. SLMD Skincare started with the Acne System, a three-step routine packaged in a four-product kit priced at $50 for a 30-day supply and $95 for a 60-day supply. Today, the brand has roughly 23 stockkeeping units priced from $12 to $95 for various skin issues, including acne, keratosis pilaris, ingrown hairs, dryness, anti-aging concerns and bumpy, textured skin.

SLMD Skincare is currently implementing a rebrand that’s added a pop (pun intended) of electric yellow to its packaging and imagery. It’s also rolling out an updated Body Smoothing System kit for keratosis pilaris, Body Seal repairing cream for eczema-prone skin and Dual Defender SPF 30 sunscreen. In 2019, SLMD Skincare entered Target, and the brand now generates over $15 million in sales annually, a quarter of which are fueled by Target, and the remainder of which come from direct-to-consumer distribution.

Beauty Independent caught up with Lee to learn about her approach to building SLMD Skincare, the best advice she’s ever received, a product stumble, and what’s next for SLMD Skincare.

How much money did it take you to launch your brand?

It’s difficult to say because I used the money I made on my YouTube channel and reinvested that into the business to grow the digital media brand. I also invested that money in the research and product development that went into launching SLMD Skincare.

We invested between $300,000 and $500,000 into the initial launch of SLMD Skincare. If I look at SLMD Skincare, it achieved payback around month seven or eight. Bootstrapping and self-funding resulted in slower growth, but the focus was to build a valuable, profitable, sustainable business in a controlled manner.

In our early days, we focused our investment on making sure our formulas were effective with the highest quality ingredients rather than fancy bells and whistles in the packaging.

Any fundraising plans?

We are in year six of the brand and have been internally funded since the beginning. We have not gone out to raise money, although we are not against it. When you bootstrap a company, you don’t have the opportunities and risks to take to accelerate your growth. So, we’ve had to make some careful, deliberate choices in our direction, and while growth may come at a slower pace, we are building a valuable and efficient organization.

If we did get a big cash infusion, I would invest in product innovation and inventory, and accelerate the creation of a world-class team of marketers and creatives.

Who is the brand’s target customer?

Our target customers come from two different angles. First, our worldwide Dr. Pimple Popper audience is interested in skin and dermatology. That audience is 75% women between the ages of 18 and 45 and pretty diverse demographically and psychographically.

Then, we have the customer who we can help the most. It’s mostly women ages 18 to 34 who are digitally native and have common skin needs to treat or manage like face and body acne, eczema, keratosis pilaris and anti-aging.

We like to say that our target consumer is “Jane.” She is an everyday woman living her life, going to school, working, going to the gym, enjoying her weekends and spending time with family.

The key focus is on the digitally native and connected consumer—people spending a lot of time on social media and YouTube. This is where we have our roots. Our strength lies in connecting with consumers and building relationships with them.

How have you thought about distribution?

We have been very selective in our channels of distribution. SLMD is primarily a DTC brand. However, we realize the importance of having an omnichannel presence and strategy, and we know that people sometimes need to re-up their cleanser or Acne System and don’t want to wait for it to be shipped to them.

As a small brand with a small team, we knew that retail is different and quite daunting, so our initial strategy was to find one retailer and do it right. That means servicing them adequately and being a good partner. When we thought about our mission to democratize dermatology and get effective skincare and dermatological education and advice out to the masses, Target was the only retailer that made sense for us.

We launched in Target in 2019 and are now in over 1,600 stores nationwide. Now that SLMD Skincare is more established, we are open to discussing expanding our retail presence, but we also take great care in making sure anyone that buys SLMD Skincare on our website or at Target gets a great brand experience and sees actual results, which will always take priority over expansion opportunities.

How important is e-commerce to SLMD?

Our roots are in the digital world, so our e-commerce business is critical to us. It is an opportunity to introduce our brand to people and educate them on dermatological subjects and skin conditions. It’s also a place to collect feedback and have genuine dialogues with our consumers and Dr. Pimple Popper fans. Of course, it is our cash register and the primary way to deliver a fantastic brand experience.

Although I am an avid and active Amazon customer, we have yet to offer our products on Amazon. I appreciate the amount of traffic they bring, the confidence consumers have in their marketplace and their amazing shipping and return policies. My team frequently talks about how to leverage Amazon best.

I think using Amazon for discovery is challenging in the skincare space because it is so crowded. If you search for an acne treatment or cleanser, you will literally get thousands of results, and the biggest brands always rise to the top. It’s hard for smaller, independent brands to compete for discovery in the skincare space there.

Who’s your mentor? And what’s the best advice they’ve given you?

My father, also a dermatologist, is one of my mentors. He has given me so much advice. Interestingly, much of it has been formative in me being the dermatologist I am. One important nugget he taught me is, “Happiness is contagious,” which is true in work and life.

When I see my patients exude joyful enthusiasm, it is infectious and brightens the rest of my day. And the same can be said when I approach my patients with happiness, positivity, kindness and warmth. I want to think they leave my office with a little more spring in their step, and what’s better than spreading love and happiness into the world?

For other entrepreneurs, what recommendations do you have on how to pull through the tough times?

It’s the typical answer: Fail a lot and learn from those failures, be persistent, be innovative, and don’t take no for an answer. While all of these are true, kindness is one thing that drives the people at our company and me. Be kind to everyone—your coworkers, vendors, audience and customers—even and especially during the rough times. That comes across in everything you do. People sense when it’s genuine.

Has SLMD Skincare had a product that failed?

As a brand, we’ve had some product failures. For example, there was a product called Supercortisone+, an amazing, effective topical cream for rashes and bug bites with hydrocortisone. Unfortunately, it got backlash from a community online that had adverse reactions to that specific ingredient, mainly from using it at a prescription-strength level. No reactions were from the product we formulated, none of them had even tried it.

We ended up backing off our marketing efforts on the product because there was so much negativity in the digital world about this product. I respect the opinions and sympathize with the experiences these people had. Still, if I could do that over again, I would spend more time explaining the product, its benefits and why it differs from other products. Perhaps I could have brought that community over to our side because I think that product could have helped many people.

What key functions do you outsource versus keeping in-house?

We still function like a startup company with a small, relatively young team composed of amazing young, ambitious men and women who wear multiple hats. We rely on external firms for accounting, public relations and web development.

Our key marketing functions remain in-house, including social media, creative and product development. Keeping marketing in-house gives us more control over our brand and how to build relationships with our consumers.

How often do you take a vacation?

I don’t take vacations as much as I would like, but we try to get away as a family once or twice a year when my kids have their breaks. Do I completely unplug? If you ask my husband, he will emphatically tell you, “NO.”

What brands and products other than your own would we find in your medicine cabinet?

You will find makeup wipes and a gentle cleanser like Cetaphil, which I sometimes alternate with my Salicylic Acid Cleanser. I have very dry skin, so there are always lotions and Vaseline lying around. Of course, as a dermatologist, I have hydrocortisone, an antibacterial like Neosporin and an antifungal cream for whatever may pop up on my skin or my kids’ skin.

What have you found works for you and SLMD Skincare on social media?

Skincare is a crowded space on social media. We ensure everything we do is as authentic, authoritative and educational as possible, which separates us from other skincare companies. At the end of the day, it’s me, my team of dermatologists and the SLMD team trying to get helpful information and effective products out there, which fuels us.

What’s on your desk that’s precious to you?

I should be embarrassed to say this, but my phone. If I forgot my wallet or phone and can only go back and get one, it would be my phone, case closed. It’s how I built all this—my social media, YouTube, skincare line and television show. My phone contains some of my dearest memories, passwords, secrets and my grossest “pops!”

How do you make sure you embody your brand when you’re out in public?

It’s easy when you use the products. I don’t struggle with chronic acne anymore, but I am a daily user of our cleansers, sunscreens, and body and face lotions. Other than that, I try to be myself and be a positive, kind person and focus my efforts on showing this window into my world of dermatology and helping people where I can with products, solutions and education.

What’s next for your brand?

We are still working on getting our products into the hands of more people because I believe we have some of the better, more comprehensive and more effective solutions for acne, KP and dry skin. I want to continue developing new products for existing conditions and branch out into addressing new and different conditions people want to fix, but need to know how. I also want to continue to get our products into venues where people want to buy them, whether that means expanding into more physical or online retail.