Here comes the science bit! We chat to ESK founder Dr Ginni Mansberg to learn how evidence-based ingredients set the brand apart in the world of skin care Dr Ginni Mansberg is one of Australia’s best loved TV doctors. As a GP she specialises in women’s health with a passion for midlife in particular. As a PCOS sufferer, Ginni has always had cystic acne, and at a time when she thought she’d lose it, she just added rosacea to the list of resulting skin complaints. Plus, whenever she does a TV segment on what works in anti-ageing skin care she’s bombarded by people asking what they should use. “For people like me, the skin is so sensitive, and trying to find something that doesn’t make it worse is difficult,” she shares. “When I was trying to find things that worked, being the nerdiest of science nerds I looked for studies in medical journals. Although we’ve got good evidence for what works, I couldn’t find it anywhere on the shelves. So, it started with my own needs, but it was also the indignation that I felt women we being exploited by the beauty industry that made me want to fix it,” she explains. At the time, Dr Ginni and her husband, Daniel, were running a private label company developing skincare products for plastic surgeons and dermatologists, with around 55 brands. They already had the skills and know-how to make their new-found passion a reality and ESK Skincare began. Soon, Daniel, had quit his job to run ESK full time, and now here they both are in 2025 with a Hollywood celebrity endorsement to their name and thousands of customers that rely on them. “I still don’t really know what’s happened to me,” Dr Ginni laughs. Our beauty and wellness editor, Kelly Andrews, caught up with Dr Ginni Mansberg to find out more about just what sets ESK apart in the world of skin care and why ethics are always at the forefront of everything the brand does. ESK is based on evidence. Can you tell us a bit more about what you mean by that? Research comes in different hues. There are for-profit companies who do clinical trials for private companies, and no one wants to bite the hand that feeds, so any company sponsored trials will be positive. We have to be wary of these but that’s what the vast majority are. I like independent peer reviewed journal research papers, where there’s an editorial board of peer scientists who overview the science and gage it’s quality. All studies are published on the National Library of Medicine, which is funded by the National Institute of Health in the US that the whole world looks to. I want to know who’s paid, how many people were involved, how were they followed up and what was the system they used? There needs to be a variety of results across a number of paradigms to see that the ingredient really works. I prefer to use the top-level evidence if I can, which means the results are statistically significant. ESK would never pay for a study as I wouldn’t be able to look anyone in the eyes with the resulting tainted research, it’s worthless. We take the formulations and ingredients as they are in the peerreviewed research and use that exactly. We also provide a click-through to the study we’ve based them on. Who is ESK for? Our biggest users are mostly women aged between 35 and 70 with skin concerns – acne, psoriasis, pigmentation, ageing skin. We like to think of ourselves has having the most modern products backed by current evidence. We don’t get stuck with legacy products that we can’t change due to their got a cult following – we can and will change them if new evidence comes to light. So, rather than creating another product and telling people that they need to use eight different things we try to keep things to a minimum, meaning people aren’t spending a fortune. In our attempt to be ethical, we had an agreement that integrity would be our shining light. It’s a red line for Daniel and I and we’ve never crossed it. We made a promise that we’d exclude irritating excipients (bulking agents) and make sure the PH of our skincare would work with the skin barrier to ensure calmness. So, our range is well tolerated by the vast majority of people, even those with highly sensitive skin. We wanted to make sure we bring accessibility to all skin types. People with sensitive skin have often found themselves locked out of “In our attempt to be ethical, we had an agreement that integrity would be our shining light. It’s a red line for Daniel and I and we’ve never crossed it.” 74
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