Douglas Cooper is well aware of the power of TikTok virality.

As co-founder and COO of Wonderskin, he watched his brand’s Wonder Blading Lip Stain, which swipes on as pearlescent bright blue coating and reveals one of 16 shades after being wiped off of lips, rack up over 100 million views and hit 4,000 to 5,000 orders with every 10 million views.

Now, Cooper has partnered with Lloyd Nelson, president and CEO of LED Technologies, a light therapy company that’s consulted on the development of at-home LED devices for Dr. Dennis Gross, L’Oréal and Estée Lauder, to create the new brand Light Activated Beauty or L.A.B. launching today with $24.50 Acne Light Therapy Patch as its hero product and potential TikTok star. The reusable patch combines blue and red light therapies to combat acne-causing bacteria and inflammation. 

Unlike popular hydrocolloid pimple patches that absorb the fluid in pimples, Acne Light Therapy Patch is essentially a mini skincare device with light-emitting diodes or LEDs designed to shrink zits. Each light-up patch provides 30 3-minute treatments without the need for batteries or charging. L.A.B. also sells $16.50 Acne Drying Compound, a spot treatment meant to be applied post-Acne Light Therapy Patch treatments to unclog pores, exfoliate dead skin, reduce redness and absorb excess oil. 

Similar to Wonder Blading Lip Stain, Acne Light Therapy Patch has a “scroll-stopping” visual effect. It emanates a bright pink light that appears to be floating on the face. The goal is to “attract a lot of people’s attention,” says Cooper. “When you’re able to do that, you’re able to spend money on media efficiently, and you’re able to build a big following, drive revenue and get yourself ready for a successful retail launch.”

Out of the gate, L.A.B. will be available in direct-to-consumer distribution with a focus on affiliate sales and via TikTok Shop, Instagram Shop and Amazon. Cooper says the brand’s distribution will be constructed to amass a database of consumers and capitalize on social media exposure to drive sales volume across its channels.

L.A.B. is owned by the company Ionic Beam LLC. Along with his role at L.A.B., Cooper is the president of the company IP Brands. According to a 2016 story by the publication Happi, IP Brands has “generated more than $1 billion in cosmetic retail sales through its exclusive ingredients, patented complexes and product innovations.” It’s registered for the trademark for L.A.B. Light Activated Beauty. Wonderskin is owned by DCB Lab, an incubator, advisory and acquirer that purchased it in 2021. 

On online platforms, particularly Amazon, Nelson says, “The challenge for us is educating the consumer that you need to look for real devices that are legit that have medicinal studies behind them, that have protocols, that have scientific data to show that what they do and how they build their devices and deliver their performance.” With Acne Light Therapy Patch, he adds, “You’re going to get results because it is a very effective tool.” 

L.A.B.’s debut acne product is intended to resonate with TikTok’s largely gen Z users, but the brand is working on products to address dark spots, wrinkles and hair loss that can widen the age of its audience. “As we move to these other categories, specifically like wrinkles, obviously the patch modality will be much larger than what we have today because you’re not treating spot wrinkles, you’re treating areas that are being affected by wrinkles,” says Nelson. “So, there’ll be different size and different shapes for different parts of the face and so forth.”

For every product in its pipeline, L.A.B. is concocting topical product corollaries. Its forthcoming dark spot patch will be coupled with a product packed with green tea and a skin-brightening vitamin C product. The brand will introduce a hair oil to use in connection with its hair growth device. Cooper says, “What we’re trying to develop is a brand that is looking to solve multiple skincare issues through this unique combination of light therapy and topicals.” 

Although sales of skincare devices seem to have ebbed a bit following a pandemic bump, the market is forecast to surge going forward. In the United States, Future Market Insights projects skincare device sales will advance at a compound annual growth rate of 15.6% to go from $23.8 billion this year to nearly $101.5 billion in 2033. The firm estimates sales of skincare devices advanced at a CAGR of nearly 11% from 2017 to 2022.

Compared to other LED skincare devices, L.A.B.’s acne patch is more accessibly priced. For example, Spa Sciences red and blue light acne treatment devices are priced at almost $40 on Target’s website. The limited lifespan of L.A.B.’s acne patch solves the lack of replenishment problem that’s a constant challenge for skincare device brands. The topical products can tackle the replenishment problem, too, if people are convinced they’re essential to pair with L.A.B.’s light therapy devices. 

Spa Sciences