A beauty industry icon and leader in cosmedical skincare, Sydney-based Maria Enna-Cocciolone has influenced how we think about skin health. This entrepreneur’s success lies in innovation, resilience, a passion for excellence, and a buffet of skincare to correct and preserve our complexions. Editor Trudi Brewer shares her skin philosophy and formula innovations.

Today’s skincare market is cluttered; it’s also tricky to navigate when looking for solution-based products that deliver on their promises. Maria Enna-Cocciolone, founder of O COSMEDICS, has cut the clutter and delivered active skincare targeting skin longevity. Using the principles of corneotherapy and biomimetic technology, Cocciolone has over 35 years in the beauty industry and was the first Australian woman to create professional skincare brands, coining the word ‘Cosmedics’, a blend of cosmetic and medical aspects, aligned to professional skin therapists. Read on to learn more.

How did you decide on a career in the beauty industry?

It chose me; my Italian parents thought my aspirations were medicine or law. But after a career day at a law firm, which was pretty boring, I went to a career market, and the first thing I saw was a huge booth for beauty therapy. I didn't know what it was, but when the principal took me through the curriculum, I realised it was much more than skin. It's science, chemistry, physiology, and nutrition.
It was love at first sight. So, after convincing my dad that a beauty therapist (that term is not in the Italian vocabulary; it was not a masseuse in Kings Cross), I became an esthetician - and never looked back.

You set out to create the first 'cosmedical' skincare category, a play on the word 'cosmetic.' Why did you do this?

When I started formulating skincare, I assumed the industry worked with active ingredients in their functional dose. But that was not so. After questioning the clinical studies, I was determined to create a brand that people could buy, our beauty therapists could recommend, that delivered on its promise of physical, visible results. So, I knew I couldn't be recognised as a cosmetic, like the skincare I grew up with, which was skincare that smelled good and felt good, but was essentially hope in a jar.
I wanted to create cosmeceuticals containing the functional dose of active ingredients, so I trademarked cosmedical, combining cosmetic and medical aspects that delivered results.

How does your brand reflect Biomimetics and Corneotherapy?

Corneotherapy emphasises that our formulations are sophisticated enough to support and preserve the skin without aggravating it. Biomimetic is where the active ingredients are (bio meaning life) and mimetic (to mimic life), so the skin recognises those active ingredients as its own to prevent irritation. So, where we can, we align as much as we can with these skin principles.

How quickly are science and technology changing the skincare market?

Beauty is fast-paced. But the active ingredients I want to use and the delivery systems take time to be available. So, when I look at new skincare products for our brands, they need to make good business sense (for our skin therapists to recommend and sell) and good skin sense. Many new products look good, smell good, make extraordinary marketing claims, and go viral. But that doesn't cut it for our brands. Our skincare must be active, work with the skin to preserve and correct it, and offer visible results.

What ingredients are you most excited by?

The delivery of ingredients. Once, skincare ingredients used to free-float on top of the skin. Then, as technology changed, they absorbed into the top layer (or epidermis of the skin). Today, delivery technology is like drones targeting specific cells to stimulate particular actions. For example, these drone-like delivery systems enter the skin and find the fibroblasts responsible for collagen synthesis.
While there is a lot of noise around ingredients, there is also a lot of confusion. A good example is three years ago; I was looking for exosomes (tiny vesicles that act as messengers to the skin cells to support active ingredients), but no one knew what I was talking about. These messengers are not confused with liposomes (a skincare delivery system). Fast-forward to this year, and this technology has blown up. But it has taken that long for them to be recognised and available. So now they are available, it's not how I will use them within the three skincare brands we make; it's where I will use them best, balanced by consumer need.

With ingredients changing so quickly, has skin changed that much?

Although the skin hasn't changed, the active ingredients we access and the science behind them constantly change. We also have a better understanding of skin. I am most excited about the science behind perimenopause and menopause and how that affects the skin. All of a sudden, the world is noticing that the skin is disadvantaged when women go through these hormonal stages.
It is now widely recognised that estrogen receptors are all over our bodies. While estheticians can't treat the internal process of hormonal changes, we can treat what we see topically in the skin.

What's the beauty tip you find yourself sharing all the time?

Other than the health and skin benefits of daily sunscreen, daily cleansing. If you are not prepared to use a good cleanser, forget the rest, and don't waste your money on serums because they are not getting into the skin. I can't understand why people don't cleanse. An artist would not start painting on a dirty canvas. Cleansing significantly affects how your skin looks and responds to active skincare.
If the skin's surface is dirty and the pores are blocked with makeup and grime, no active ingredients will penetrate to absorb past that. Also, you only need to cleanse at night, remove that makeup, and then use micellar water to wake up the skin in the morning. The other tip is to use vitamin A. It's like the orchestra's conductor; it will support all the active ingredients.
Skin harmony is not impossible unless you use a derivative of vitamin A in your skincare routine.

What frustrates you about skin fads and trends?

Ingredient transparency and clarity on fads or trends that don't work. Ask questions to understand better what is in the skincare you are buying and using. The active ingredients and the percentages of those ingredients. Trends like glass skin. No skin looks like glass, unless you cover it in oil. Or the latest beef tallow, rendered cow fat. Beef tallow should be in a frying pan, not on your face. While I never want to bag other brands or products, we must ask questions and visit a trained esthetician; their advice is invaluable.

What are you most proud of?

Everything. I get so emotional when I think of my journey. I didn't set out to do this. I am a woman who sees opportunity and seizes it. But with every product we make, I am true to skin science. To have created three brands that skin experts endorse and believe in, and the credibility they give your brand, makes me so proud. After all, what we do stands for skin confidence and helps people to put their best foot forward.

O COSMEDICS

“It’s the big guns of skin longevity. ”

— Maria Enna-Cocciolone

Congratulations on 15 years of O COSMEDICS, your first skincare collection. How would you describe it in a few words?

It's the big guns of skin longevity. It works with the skin to preserve and correct it.

How does your trademarked V8 Peptide Complex® work in the skin?

It's been in O COSMEDICS since the brand's conception. It's an antioxidant complex of active ingredients that works on the skin's integrity, softening lines and wrinkles—almost like a topical muscle relaxant. The formula boosts all the other active ingredients' efficacy to give visible results.
It's the magic herbs and spices of sorts in our formulations. Only I and the chemist know the secret recipe of the V8 Peptide Complex®.

We are fans of the O COSMEDICS Mineral Pro Tinted SPF 30+ sunscreen. What's in it?

We chose a physical sunscreen over a chemical sunblock because chemical sunscreens absorb the sun's rays, while a physical SPF reflects them. It's a water-based sunscreen with 20 per cent zinc oxide. It's a great SPF and a beautiful primer for the skin. There is also an oil-based Mineral Pro SPF 50, too. The water-based SPF is perfect for summer, and the more nourishing oil-based SPF is ideal for winter.

Just a taste of the O Cosmedics skincare collection

O COSMEDICS Gentle Antioxidant Cleanser, $87. O COSMEDICS Mineral Pro SPF 50 Tinted, $92. O COSMEDICS Smart Serum, $299. O COSMEDICS Hydra Plus Sleep-In Mask, $89.

NEUROCOSMEDICS by GINGER&ME

“Is our heart, skin, and body brand. But it’s also science-based, serious skincare. ”

— Maria Enna-Cocciolone

Who was NEUROCOSMEDICS by GINGER&ME designed for?

We started with body care (GINGER&ME), and then launched facial care (NEUROCOSMEDICS BY GINGER&ME). With a mindset of the words happy, grateful, and brave. It reflects the skin, mind, body, and heart. We created a brand to appeal to the sensory connections, a mindful skincare collection that encourages you to take time out for self-care. Ultimately, it was designed to elevate the daily chore of skincare into a ritual of self-care, which is an expression of self-love, but it's also made with functional, active ingredients. For example, when you apply a mask, there is a meditation practice that supports the notion: You have got this: You are enough. It's a practice you can enjoy while the mask is on your skin. It's really like a big hug for the skin, a softer but still targeted approach, which, let's face it, looking after your skin is only one part of being happy and healthy.
It's a very precious brand.

The Hydra-Glow Eye Masks are so clever; how did you develop the idea, and how do they work for the skin?

They are a targeted mask to give tired eyes a revitalising break. They are designed to contour the under-eye area and infuse it with an ultra-refreshing gel containing niacinamide (B3), vegan collagen, and antioxidant-rich botanicals to reduce puffiness, brighten dark circles, and boost hydration. ⁠They can stay on for up to 20 minutes, then you soak the gel pads in warm water until they dissolve, which is eco-friendly.⁠

Just a taste of the NEUROCOSMEDICS BY GINGER&ME collection

GINGER&ME Tension Release Balm, $85. NEUROCOSMEDICS by GINGER&ME Super Vitamin C, $119. GINGER&ME 3-IN-1 Lip Balm, Grateful, $29. NEUROCOSMEDICS by GINGER&ME Hydra-Glow Eye Masks 30 Pairs, $75.

INSKIN.Co

“ Each formulation was carefully created to deliver tangible results, embodying our mantra: simple, but not basic. ”

— Maria Enna-Cocciolone

Who was INSKIN.Co designed for?

The idea was to have something for everybody. I also haven't done anything with botanical ingredients because they didn't have clinical evidence to support them. Then, all of a sudden, bakuchiol (a plant-derived alternative to vitamin A extracted from the Babchi plant) and tremella mushroom extract started showing clinical evidence; for example, bakuchiol was retinol-like and offered results, and you could use it if you were pregnant or breastfeeding. It was a more responsible way to give the skin a retinol-like response. But by the time the brand launched, we had found ourselves in this economically challenging time. So that’s why it’s attainable, which allows more people to use cosmedical targeted skincare with ingredients in their effective clinical dose.

The INSKIN.CO Daily Sheet Masks are genius; how did you develop this innovation?

It's a takeoff of K-Beauty, and whether we like it or not, it has a huge influence. I prefer a cream mask to a sheet mask, but people love sheet masks. So we wanted to create a mask you could use every day. There are 30 in a pack for sustainability, so you are not using single packaging. For those using them every day, it has transformed their complexion. Because their skin is so hydrated, the glow you get from them is fantastic.