It's time you meet the two women changing the skincare game and helping you fall in love with skin minimalism
Founders Sabrina Sadeghian and Jade Beguelin have made the sexy all-in-one product you didn't know you needed. Inspired by Sabrina's love for going out and Jade's early morning hustle, the two dreamed up 4AM Skin, the luxury skincare brand that looks to simplify your skincare routine and make you a diehard skin minimalist. Launching with their iconic Rise and Rest Serum, the two have taken the media by storm with features in Vogue and W Magazine. Not to mention hosting a launch party with all of the most prominent fashion editors, models, and former bachelor contestant Matt James. So how do two girls in their 20's working a full-time job and going to med school launch the next cult beauty brand? I got the full download on this weeks Let's Talk!
Starting with an Idea
Whether you are coming in from a long night or heading out for work at 4 AM, Jade and Sabrina believe your skincare should never suffer due to lack of time. As the age of 10 step Korean skincare routines and the 'that girl' trend on Tik Tok praised elaborate perfection in skincare, the two founders felt like everyone wanting simple good skin care were left out. Tired of being told you had to have hundreds of products in your makeup cabinet, the two began to rethink how the skincare industry should operate. Looking for a solution to their problems, the idea for 4 AM skin was born.
Meet The Founders
When you think of the ideal lifestyle an entrepreneur, you may not think of a Med school student at Georgetown, and ex JP Morgan day trader turned marketing and branding expert. However, Sabrina and Jade have made their busy lifestyle work and use their individual strengths to pioneer their skincare line.
Sabrina is currently in her 3rd year at Georgetown studying dermatology. She has long shared her love for skincare through her personal Instagram account with close to 90k followers. Her ability to balance school, professional goals and social life makes her a unique asset to the 4AM team. Obsessed with the research on why skincare ingredients actually work, Sabrina made sure the Rise and Rest serum were perfect before launch.
Her Co-Founder Jade is just as impressive. With a background in startup marketing and branding, she used her experience to help launch 4AM's influencer strategy and aesthetic. Jade was originally on the traditional finance route and was even a day trade for JP Morgan before realizing that she felt overworked and unfulfilled in her career endeavors. Her risk of making a career change paid off as her skills are now a vital part of creating 4AMs NY club life meets science aesthetic.
Google and Research are your new BFF
As Sabrina recalls, she was "wildly hungover, and Jade was doing burpees on my balcony, and we decided you know what we just need to make 4am a thing". My first thought was if I were in your shoes, I wouldn't even know how to begin my idea. Sabrina stated that it all started with a good old google search of "how to start a skincare brand" and the "how much does it cost to start a skincare brand". Both of which, are not easy one size fits all plans to launch your brand.
Sabrina and Jade spent the next year researching and meeting with manufacturers, chemists, raw material suppliers, and labs to help make their dream a reality. They also joined NY startup group Halo for help in their initial business plans. From there, it was really the hard work and determination of both founders that got the ball rolling. Sabrina and Jade knew they wanted their formula for their debut routine to be absolutely perfect, so they spent the rest of 2019 through to 2021 figuring out the perfect formula with many redo's. In fact, they even began their testing on themselves before they branched it out to make sure that everyone who tried the product absolutely loved it. And let me just say as a spoiler alert to my review below, their research paid off as they may have just created my new favorite product.
Funding your Idea
As I talked more to Sabrina and Jade, I was impressed by their drive when it came to making 4AM a reality. However, we all know drive alone isn't what can turn an idea into a tangible product. Like any young entrepreneurs, the two decided to seek out investors. After multiple meetings with some of the most significant beauty and skincare conglomerates, Jade and Sabrina took the bold decision to go without an investor.
From her work with other startups, Jade knew that the pressure put on brands by investors to grow can often become unrealistic, and all of the heavy lifting was still left to the original founders. Instead, Sabrina and Jade decided to keep the company between them and sought out loans from friends and family to take the product through to launch. The founder's passion and belief in their product matched with actual results made the idea worth investing in. Through help from their network, the businesswomen took their product to launch, started influencer outreach and gifting, and created a launch party that got everyone obsessed with 4AM.
Taking Time to Pause
If their story wasn't impressive enough, the two managed to launch their business post-Covid, which turned out to be the pause they needed to take 4AM to the next level. At the time, Sabrina was in her first year of med school, and Jade was working full time remotely, so they found themselves being able to schedule calls for their brand during the day to replace what would have been the walk to class or office lunch.
With so much time for reflection on their brand, Jade and Sabrina even decided to rebrand 4AM into the high-class product that launched this July. In fact, 4AM's brand aesthetic was one of the only fights the two founders claim to have. The two found themselves stuck on a pink color that was essentially if Glossier and Acme studios were mixed. Jade and Sabrina weren't looking to be the next glossier instead, they wanted to be in a category of their own with a brand identity that would grow into a cult following. They decided to get rid of the pink color for the packaging, and now it's only displayed on their website as an accent color. This rebranding proved to be a game-changer. What was once an overdone girly aesthetic transformed into sleek and modern packaging that is sustainable and sensible.
Asking for Advice and Creating a Launch Party
When Vogue says that "only 4AM could launch in the Club," you know your launch was successful. However, when it came to creating said launch, Sabrina and Jade realized there was so much to think about for it to be successful. For example, how early do you send out the invitations? What day of the week do you host? Who will actually come? How do you get press from the event? This is where Sabrina and Jade utilized their network to help them plan and execute the event that looked like the launch party everyone was dying to be invited to.
Strategically placing their launch party mid-week, 4AM skin captured the attention of magazine editors, models, and who else but Matt James. The founders said that they couldn't recommend enough asking for help and utilizing your network.
My Review of 4am
Honestly I could sum up my entire review of 4am in 2 words: Game Changer. As someone has done Acutane twice and tried just about every skin care product, I am picky when it comes to good skincare. So when 4AM said their skincare was designed to be low maintenance for high maintenance skin I knew I had to give it a try. Within 2 days of using the Rise and Rest serum from 4AM I couldn't be more impressed. Both products are lightweight and feel like everything my skin needs in 2 pumps of product.
Rise Serum
$69
The Rise serum is designed to be an antioxidant-rich serum that primes the skin for the day ahead. As someone who is working a full time internship, creating a blog, and trying to make time for a social life I had definitely begun to see signs of fatigue in my skin but not found a great solution that was also makeup friendly. The Rise serum melts instantly into my skin and within a minute I feel like my skin tone has evened out and I overall look more awake. Plus it doesn't affect my foundations appearance or wear which encourages me to actually stick with my skincare routine.
Rest Serum
$69
Rich with vitamin B, the Rest Serum is the perfect way to end a long day. It has made my skin so much softer and made the overall texture of my skin smooth and ready for the day ahead. Just like the beloved Rise Serum, all you need is 2 pumps of product and you can be done with your entire skin care routine for the night. I honestly could not be happier with the product and will definitely keep it stocked in my apartment. Just be warned, once you try it all your friends are gonna be obsessed with getting a bottle themselves!
Xx
Lauren