Michael Danielov is building a high-tech skin care business with his Bionova brand, one jar at a time.
The brand is based on the research done by Danielov dating back to the Seventies in the former Soviet Union, when he studied the human body’s ability to cope with severe trauma. Out of this grew his system of using tiny, or nano, quantities of natural bioactive ingredients to help the body repair itself, particularly in cases of skin disorder.
Bionova Inc., founded in 1997, markets an N1 custom-made line. It hinges on personal profiles describing individual skin conditions. These profiles focus on nine separate body parts, such as a forehead or hand, and the different conditions of each, because each bodily region has a different molecular makeup and growth tendencies, he said.
According to the company, there is the possibility to create 144 products for women and 144 for men. Prices, which range from $150 to $300 a jar, are calculated based on the answers to the questions, because the needs dictate the ingredient combination.
Bionova also markets a premixed, or Impact, line and three other ranges: Bio 1 Act, Bionova Sort and Bionova Spa.
The products are merchandised on the company Web site, but since 2004, the bricks-and-mortar distribution has consisted of Barneys New York. It is now sold in the Los Angeles and New York flagships after the line was consolidated out of the 18th Street Co-op store in New York.
Last weekend, the Bionova counter was moved to a more productive location adjacent to the Apothecary section on the main floor of the New York flagship. Bettina O’Neill, cosmetics and fragrance buyer, seems bullish on the brand, which she noted has been tracking consistent growth. “The product sells amazingly,” she said, adding, “The product makes the skin do what it is supposed to do.” The only negative factor, she said, is the organic smell. “We tell people it’s like vitamins or natural substances found in the body.”
O’Neill said that Barneys is focusing on the better-selling custom line and editing down the Impact ready-to-use range. Executives would not divulge numbers, but industry sources estimate Bionova’s sales at between $500,000 and $1 million retail.
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Danielov noted that the company is talking to another major retailer about distribution and is about to enter the British market via QVC U.K., which will air Oct. 29. Bionova has created a special 10-product line for QVC, called Bnscience, and the custom line will be marketed in a link between the QVC and Bionova Web sites.