Andrea Gomez

Company: Omy Laboratoires

Sector of activity: Customizable dermocosmetics

Head office: Quebec

Number of employees: 30

Her commitment

Aligned with UN sustainable development goal 13 (climate action)

We commit to reviewing all inputs and our manufacturing process to achieve carbon neutrality in 2024. We will develop the first concept of a refillable evolutionary jar made of recyclable plastic.

“After just three years of commercialization and despite the health crisis, we have developed 18 innovative products, two of them customizable, and our sales have increased by 500%.”

– Andrea Gomez and Rachelle Séguin, Co-founders, Omy Laboratoires

Two visionaries using AI in dermocosmetics

Thousands of personalized formulas

Estimates are that over 20% of cosmetic products consumed in North America end up in the garbage. The reasons: people are dissatisfied with them or grow tired of them, and, most commonly, the products are unsuitable. Andrea Gomez and her partner Rachelle Séguin, who respectively hold a bachelor’s degree in business administration and a master’s degree in pharmaceutical science – and who worked as cosmeticians during their studies – decided to team up to do things differently.

Starting from the principle that each person has a unique skin type, they developed SkinIA, the result of a collaboration between dermatologists, chemists, and experts in artificial intelligence. This easy-to-use online analysis tool (just answer questions and submit a photo), determines the specific needs for each skin type and recommends a specially designed routine, including customizable products in cream or serum versions, selected from 8,000 possible formulas. An environmental consequence: reduced waste from eliminating the overproduction of products, because they are made on demand.

A pledge of safety and quality

With Omy Laboratoires, Andrea Gomez and her partner want to position Québec as a centre of innovation in dermocosmetics and show that we develop and manufacture safe, effective personal care products, meeting the most stringent standards for quality in the industry. Not tested on animals, their products are vegan and free of parabens, sulfates, and fragrance. They are made in the Québec City laboratory with high-performance ingredients that respect skin’s integrity and the health of the planet. The product experience doesn’t stop there: follow-ups are done with consumers to check their satisfaction and the results. Since the skin’s condition and needs change with the seasons, circumstances, and the passage of time, the SkinIA tool can be used as needed.

A reduced environmental footprint

Another short-term ambition for Omy Laboratoires is to achieve carbon neutrality in 2024. To do this, a first 100% compostable package and another that is 100% recyclable were recently launched. At the same time, the co-founders are working on a wholly-Québec-made evolutionary jar with a team of designers, experts in packaging materials, and specialists in environmental regulation. The innovation will be an individual refillable container with a pump system that eliminates contact with air and that accommodates capsules in biodegradable bioplastic that hold the personalized product. Waste is thereby reduced at the source, and the product is lighter for shipping, limiting greenhouse gas emissions.