Press Release: BAKEL - Behind the Brand

BAKEL -The Story

BAKEL was sparked by a simple but innovative idea, finally resulting in the creation of a true revolution in the skincare field: to formulate a range of anti-ageing skincare products that would contain only those substances that are able to bring realistic, clinically proven, benefits to the skin. Specifically, there would therefore be absolutely no preservatives, no emulsions, no colourants, no perfumes, nor would there be any derivatives of petroleum. Only active ingredients, chosen from the finest pharmaceutical-grade raw materials, would comprise the formulation. As simple as this sounds, it had never been done before!

From this approach came the unique BAKEL claim: ZERO useless substances, 100% active ingredients. Giving up all that is superfluous represents an absolute novelty, a paradigm shift that truly distances BAKEL from traditional skincare: what is applied to the skin is, in fact, only and completely the active ingredient. Nothing else.

Creating formulations in this way was the brainchild of Dr.Raffaella Gregoris, an Italian researcher specialising in skincare chemistry within the pharmacy faculty at the University of Milan. Eminently qualified, with a Master’s degree in both skincare chemistry and cosmetology from the prestigious University of Bologna, and having substantial experience from her work in a number of esteemed laboratories, Dr.Gregoris has beaten the biggest names in the international skincare industry to develop and commercialise this groundbreaking anti-ageing technology.

The story of the BAKEL company, and the development of this technology, is all due to the drive and tenacity of its Founder, Dr.Raffaella Gregoris.

The idea

 “I had the habit of organising on my work desk all the substances that were necessary to prepare a formula. I was always visually shocked by the number of containers of “useless ingredients” that were neatly arranged in front of me. These were substances that were needed only for the construction of the emulsion, but were absolutely useless for the skin. In fact they had negative effects on the skin. There was something that was not right in all of this. It did not fit in with the basic medical tenet of “First do no harm.” With this realisation, I was presented with the challenge - and the opportunity - to change the way skincare chemists formulated skincare products.”

“At this time, a laboratory client requested a formula based specifically on Vitamin E. Vitamin E itself has an important anti-wrinkle action, but it is also a strong anti-oxidant - therefore it inhibits the proliferation of bacteria and thus has the ability to act as a “self-preservative”. From here the idea started to take shape: Why not formulate a product that contained only pure vitamin E?”
The concept that was to become the platform upon which all BAKEL products would be formulated was born, and Dr.Gregoris proceeded with her BAKEL research and trial (laboratory) production.

The company

In 1998 the BAKEL company came to life. The mission took shape immediately: to research, formulate and produce skincare products, putting the quality and efficacy of the ingredients before anything else – and using only 100% active ingredients.
“In that period, whilst I could see that the market was saturated with products based on hyaluronic acid, a substance that I have always considered fundamental for skin care. I also realised that none of these products satisfied me. This was due to the variable quality and low concentration of the hyaluronic acid that was being used. So I decided to take a risk: I moved my production to a larger laboratory, giving me access to the finest raw materials in the world, as well as the most advanced technologies. Then and I came up with my supporting innovation: I would use fluids, not emulsions, in my groundbreaking formulations.”

The fear that they would not be understood was large; instead it was an immediate success, and BAKEL was swamped when it displayed its technology for the first time at COSMOPROF in Bologna in April 2008.
 

What are the side effects of the useless ingredients?

Have you ever asked yourself what exactly are the effects of the products that they apply onto your skin every day? What are the effects of preservatives, colourants, perfumes, derivatives of petroleum, emulsifiers and countless other substances that have nothing to do with caring for the skin?

Having a very sensitive skin, and being susceptible to many allergies, this was a question that Raffaella Gregoris often asked herself. Without doubt, the negative side-effects of the excipients too often exceeded the benefits of the active agents.

From this perspective, it is easy to understand the driving philosophy behind the BAKEL formulations: “ZERO useless substances, 100% active ingredients”, a principle that also inspired the minimal design of the packaging. The objective was to eliminate the superfluous and harmful substances; focus just on using active ingredients, and ensure that these are used at the maximum percentage possible.

The project takes off

By the beginning of 2000, the BAKEL skincare project had clearly taken shape. Then, in 2005, Dr.Gregoris invited Francesca Di Lenardo, an expert in marketing and communications, to partner her. Francesca had more than 15 years of professional experience with the one of the largest communication group in the world.  Her role would be to ensure that the company’s communication became an expression of the BAKEL mission: the brand would distinguish itself with a technological, refined and clean image. The industry launch at COSMOPROF 2008 confirmed it all when BAKEL attracted the attention of the most important international retailers in the world!

Unique in its genre, BAKEL is a completely feminine company and uncompromisingly “Made in Italy”.

Like anything of supreme quality, BAKEL products cannot be made in unlimited quantities. The ingredients are so specialised that they can only be purchased in batches. Now, as the BAKEL range is set to be launched around the world, the company will rely on an extremely selective international distribution network upon which to grow steadily. This is the culmination of the ten years it has spent differentiating itself – uncompromisingly searching for the finest quality of the raw materials; tirelessly researching with extreme rigour to identify those suppliers scattered all over the world could meet the BAKEL standard. Simultaneously, in collaboration with major Universities and prestigious medical clinics, the formulation of each BAKEL product was tested scientifically and independently.

BAKEL skincare products offer such vast security that they can even be used after laser treatment and plastic surgery. The safety and integrity of BAKEL is a guiding principle and the clinical results and testimonials are a natural consequence of this.

BAKEL PHILOSOPHY

The familiar dictum "First, do no harm" comes from the Hippocratic Oath, an oath many physicians take when they enter medical practice. In fact, this was the also the  starting point of the Dr.Gregoris’s BAKEL concept: to provide the skin with only ingredients that are proven to beneficial.

This implies that all the ingredients that have no “skin” benefit whatsoever, but are nevertheless used to manufacture the product, are avoided in the formula. Very often these ingredients have only a manufacturing purpose, but may ultimately be harmful to the skin. These could include preservatives, colourants, perfumes, derivatives of petroleum, PEG, PPG, surface-actives, emulsifiers etc.
Instead the BAKEL formulas are refreshingly simple; sometimes only two or three ingredients are used, all useful; but to produce them in this “simple” BAKEL must use very advanced technology. The finest quality and highest purity of the active ingredients becomes absolutely necessary.

Without compromise, BAKEL puts quality and content in front of all other priorities, and this is the most important rule: create skincare products containing only those ingredients skincare that we know are clinically proven to be 100% effective.

ADVANTAGES OF THE BAKEL CONCEPT OVER CONVENTIONAL SKINCARE

The advantages of this type of formulation are multiple:

• Better absorption of the active ingredient (the product is composed only of active ingredients).
• Better efficiency, in that everything that penetrates the skin is always ONLY an active ingredient.
• The exclusive use of the finest, pharmaceutical-grade, raw materials. In fact, to formulate BAKEL in this way, with these characteristics, it is imperative that the quality and purity of the raw materials are pharmaceutical grade and sterile.
• When using BAKEL skincare, the skin avoids having to absorb those substances that are used abundantly in other skincare products, that not only have no benefit to the skin but are also potentially harmful.
• Minimal risk of allergies, because BAKEL does not contain substances that provoke allergies - such as perfumes, alcohol, preservatives, colourants, etc. 
• The BAKEL range includes 6 fluid products, whose function is to oppose the main mechanisms responsible for ageing of the skin.  Each of the 6 products works on an ageing mechanism of the skin.  The actives used offer a medically researched and recognized anti-wrinkling activity, proven from multiple scientific studies. BAKEL technology is backed up with robust, verifiable results and thus provides maximum security during use.
• The BAKEL range is composed only of fluids (no emulsions whatsoever) and these formulas completely substitute the use of traditional formulas such as day creme, night creme, or eye creme, with clear advantages.  They can be used alone, or combined with one another, to obtain the optimum result. To fully experience the efficiency of BAKEL products we suggest that they be used for 15 days consecutively.

BAKEL products are available online at Adore Beauty