I didn’t begin with a brand idea.
I began with a problem I couldn’t make sense of — and couldn’t let go.
My sister has extremely sensitive skin and reacted to products that were supposed to be gentle. Watching that happen was frustrating, confusing, and honestly unsettling. The explanations didn’t feel complete. The solutions felt recycled. Everything sounded reassuring — but nothing really worked.
I needed to understand why.
At the time, I was already working full-time as a chemical engineer. I wasn’t satisfied with surface-level answers, and I kept pulling on the thread — reading, researching, asking better questions — until it became clear that I needed a deeper understanding of formulation itself.
So alongside my full-time job, I went back to school outside of work hours to study cosmetic chemistry.
Nights.
Weekends.
Long stretches of focused, unglamorous work.
Not because I planned to start a skincare brand — but because I couldn’t accept not knowing.
What I learned changed everything.
Over time, skin naturally produces fewer lipids — the flexible, cushioning oils that help keep the skin barrier comfortable and balanced. When those lipids decline, skin behaves differently.
Moisture escapes more easily.
Creams don’t absorb the same way.
Skin becomes drier, tighter, and often more reactive — even to products that once worked fine.
It wasn’t “bad aging.”
It was biology evolving — while skincare largely stayed the same.
Once I understood that, I couldn’t unsee it.
I began studying plant oils seriously — individually, then in combinations, adjusting ratios, sourcing, and grades. One variable at a time. Watching how skin responded.
Over time, I researched and tested more than 200 botanical ingredients.
Many were ruled out — not because they lacked benefits, but because they didn’t behave well on sensitive, evolving skin. Others worked only at certain concentrations. Some required dilution or fillers to be commercially viable. I chose not to use them.
When we began working with labs, more than one told us the same thing:
these were the most expensive formulas they had seen.
That wasn’t an accident.
I wasn’t willing to cut corners on ingredient quality.
I wasn’t willing to dilute formulas to reduce cost.
And I wasn’t willing to include anything that didn’t serve a clear purpose.
If we were going to do this, we were going to do it properly.
The process was slow.
It was expensive.
And it was deliberate.
What emerged were formulas designed not to stimulate skin — but to support it. Lipid-rich. Deeply nourishing. Able to absorb without heaviness. Built for skin that has become more sensitive and needs care that works with it, not against it.
Those formulas became Velvette.
Then something meaningful happened.
Women began writing to us — in their 40s, 50s, 60s, and beyond — saying things like:
“My skin finally feels comfortable again.”
“Everything else irritates me. This doesn’t.”
“My skin drinks this in.”
“It doesn’t get red anymore.”
“My daughter told me I’m glowing.”
Orders didn’t just arrive — they returned.
Again. And again. And again.
That’s when it became clear that the deepest transformations weren’t about turning back time. They were about feeling right again — in skin that had changed and needed different care.
Velvette was always meant to be here.
A brand that respects biology instead of fighting it.
That values restraint over stimulation.
That believes comfort isn’t a compromise — it’s the foundation of healthy, radiant skin.
We’re not here to erase time.
We’re here to support the skin you have now — with care, intention, and formulas built the long way, on purpose.
Joyce
Founder & Cosmetic Chemist, Velvette