Science of Biomimetic Skincare Design

Skincare designed around how skin works.

Skin does a great deal on its own. It holds moisture, renews its outer layers, and helps protect us from the world around us. We think skincare should begin by understanding that work and building formulas that support it.

That’s the idea behind biomimetic design: learning from the way biology works and applying it to what we make. For skincare, the starting point is the skin itself.

Skin’s structure is part of how it works

At the outermost layer of skin, flattened cells sit within a network of lipids, or fats. Think of the cells as bricks and the lipids between them as mortar. Together, they form a barrier that slows water loss and limits what passes through from outside.

Those lipids include ceramides, cholesterol, and fatty acids, arranged in closely packed layers. Their organization is central to the barrier’s function. When that structure is disrupted, moisture escapes more easily, and skin can become dry and uncomfortable.

Skin’s ability to hold moisture depends on both its materials and the way they fit together. A formula designed to support that function needs to consider both.

What it means to formulate biomimetically

Biomimetic formulation takes a biological structure or function as a model for design. In barrier-focused skincare, that means studying the lipids skin uses, how they’re arranged, and how they help retain moisture, then using that understanding to build the formula.

Material selection is the first step. Lipids found in skin can be chosen for their roles in the barrier. Other materials may be selected for properties that serve a similar function. Their proportions and the structure they form together are also part of the design.

The goal is to support the work skin already does. Replenishing barrier lipids and helping slow moisture loss are practical ways to do that. Biomimetic design connects the intended benefit to the biology behind it.

The whole formula has to make sense

An ingredient’s name tells you only part of the story. A lipid chosen to support the barrier still needs to work within the formula that carries it. Its amount, the materials around it, and the way they’re combined all influence the finished composition.

The same thinking applies to active ingredients. Choosing an active is one decision. Choosing its form, concentration, and the environment in which it’s delivered are part of that same formulation problem. An active and its base need to be considered together.

This is why we think in terms of complete formulas. Barrier support, intended benefits, stability, and texture belong in the same design process. Each ingredient has a job, and its place in the formula depends on how it contributes to the whole.

Why we start with skin

Barrier support has a practical purpose: helping skin hold onto moisture. That matters to how skin feels every day, including when a formula is also intended to address other concerns. We want those benefits to be designed together, with skin comfort and compatibility considered from the start.

We think this is a better basis for formulation because it asks more of each decision. An ingredient needs to contribute to the intended benefit, work within the formula, and suit its use on skin. Its concentration alone doesn’t tell us whether it meets those requirements.

That gives us a clear reason for what goes into a formula and how it’s combined. For us, compatibility is part of performance.

How Māteriā formulates

Māteriā formulates from the skin outward. We consider composition, the materials and their proportions, directly alongside the way those materials are combined. Both are guided by the function the formula is intended to serve.

Our approach, Computational Biomimetics™, brings computational tools to formulation questions grounded in skin biology. These tools can help organize research and explore relationships among ingredients and process choices. People guide the inquiry and make the formulation decisions.

The principle behind that work is simple: understand how skin works, then design with that understanding. Biology is the blueprint.