Fig.1

A board-certified New York dermatologist looked at her clinic shelf in '22 and decided the markup on a $60 serum was a glass jar tax. She co-founded Fig 1 in June 2021 with a refillable bottle system that capped retail at $38. Dr Courtney Rubin, a Pasadena dermatologist co-founded Fig 1 with Kimmy Scotty of 8VC. The launch range was six products, all dermatologists formulated, all clinically proven, all sold in airless refillable bottles where the customer kept the housing and bought a low-cost cartridge for refills. Hero products sat between $19 and $38. Most prestige derm skincare started at $60 and reached $100 for the same active ingredients. The strategic move was the housing. Skincare brands spent 20 years selling a glass bottle as part of the price every time, even though the customer already owned the bottle from the previous purchase.