Formula · psychodermatology
Stress gets into the barrier. This is what we put against it.
Cortisol doesn’t stay in your head. It reaches the skin and breaks the barrier down (Maarouf M et al. (2019). The impact of stress on epidermal barrier function: an evidence-based review. British Journal of Dermatology 181(6):1129. “Psychological stressors upregulate the hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal axis to stimulate local and systemic stress hormone production. This ultimately leads to aberrant barrier dysfunction.” — https://doi.org/10.1111/bjd.17605), which is why stressed skin reacts to everything. So we formulate against that, not against your face.
Three families of chemistry ↓
What the formula builds
Three capacities. One ritual.
Your skin isn’t just a surface. It runs its own stress hormones, which is why it acts as an endocrine organ (Leis K et al. (2019). Endocrine systems of the skin. Postępy Dermatologii i Alergologii XXXVI(5):519. “The skin also has a hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis homolog. A corticotropin-releasing hormone is produced and reacts with its skin receptors.” — https://doi.org/10.5114/ada.2019.89502). We formulate to work with that system.
Attachment
A secure relationship with yourself.
“The first relationship is with yourself. The longest relationship you’re going to have is with yourself.”
The capacity starts in one bottle.
Resilience
The capacity to get back up.
“Resilience is when you get knocked down, how do you get back up and continue taking a bet on yourself.”
When rumination lives in the body.
Intimacy
The capacity to be close — to yourself, then others.
“Into me, you see.”
Closeness, starting with yourself.
The chemistry · ingredients
The ingredients are how the capacity gets built.
Three families, each meeting your skin’s stress system at a different point. Adaptogens can do this because the skin runs a stress axis of its own (Liu X-X et al. (2023). Bibliometric study of adaptogens in dermatology: pharmacophylogeny, phytochemistry, and pharmacological mechanisms. Drug Design, Development and Therapy 17:341. “A regulatory mechanism similar to the central HPA axis exists in the skin.” — https://doi.org/10.2147/DDDT.S395256).
Foundation + Repair· 1/3
Medicinal Botanicals
Plants didn’t ask permission to survive UV, pathogens, and oxidative stress. Your barrier inherits the chemistry.
We use the whole plant, not one isolated fraction — the supporting compounds do real work, so we don’t strip them out.
In the bottle
Helichrysum italicum, standardised as Cortinhib G™ · Secure Attachment
We keep the whole plant
Stress-Resilience Building· 2/3
Adaptogens
Your skin runs its own stress system. Adaptogens work with it, not on it.
Not one pathway — a multi-pathway, multi-target network, tuned to the skin’s own HPA axis.
In the bottle
Chaga & Agarikon · Schisandra · Rumination · Self Disclosure
Multi-pathway — works with the skin’s HPA axis
Real-Time Stress Response· 3/3
Neuroactive Complexes
Skin talks to the brain through its nerves. We meet that conversation where the cortisol–inflammation loop starts.
We modulate the stress signals at the source — where reactive, flared skin actually begins.
In the bottle
Menthol + Capsaicin · Anti-Fragility Bonding Complex™ · Rumination · Corrective Experience
Where the cortisol–inflammation loop starts
“We tend to reach for the most aggressive things — too much acid, tearing the barrier down. But it’s a healing process we’re not honoring.”
That’s the whole brief. Chronic stress already lowers the skin’s antioxidant defence and costs it barrier integrity (Pujos M et al. (2024). Impact of chronic moderate psychological stress on skin aging: exploratory clinical study and cellular functioning. Journal of Cosmetic Dermatology 24(1):e16634. “Moderately stressed subjects… had a significantly decreased antioxidant potential and impacted skin barrier integrity.” — https://doi.org/10.1111/jocd.16634) — a formula that strips it further is fighting the wrong opponent. And the skin and the nervous system have been in this together from the start: the skin talks back to the brain (Roosterman D et al. (2006). Neuronal control of skin function: the skin as a neuroimmunoendocrine organ. Physiological Reviews 86:1309. “The skin 'talks' to the brain via primary afferents thereby revealing information about the status of peripherally derived pain, pruritus, and local inflammation.” — https://doi.org/10.1152/physrev.00026.2005).
“Back when you’re forming the embryo, the skin and the nervous system come out of the same layer. The ectoderm.”
Where the chemistry lands
Four formulas. Same nervous system.
Our final production run. Every formula is $28, whatever it carried before. Full INCI on every product page, nothing held back.
Secure Attachment Comfort Serum+
$28The morning primer. Barrier repair, a calmer nervous system.
Helichrysum · Hyaluronic Acid
Secure Attachment Comfort Serum+Rumination Recovery Balm
$28Warms the overthinking out of jaw, neck, and shoulders.
Menthol + Capsaicin · Chaga & Agarikon
Rumination Recovery BalmCorrective Experience Comfort Cream
$28Face + body. The corrective minute that interrupts the pattern.
XR HydraStable Tech™ · Niacinamide
Corrective Experience Comfort CreamSelf Disclosure Intimacy Serum
$28Trains the skin to receive. Softer, more open to touch.
Schisandra · Copaiba Balsam
Self Disclosure Intimacy Serum
The three capacities need all four. Take the line together for $84, four for the price of three, ships free in the US.
The receipts.
Every claim on this page traces to one of these. Peer-reviewed papers, linked to the source, plus five years of advisor sessions on the record. Per-product testing details live on each product page.
- 1.Maarouf M et al. (2019). The impact of stress on epidermal barrier function: an evidence-based review. British Journal of Dermatology 181(6):1129.“Psychological stressors upregulate the hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal axis to stimulate local and systemic stress hormone production. This ultimately leads to aberrant barrier dysfunction.”link ↗
- 2.Choe SJ et al. (2018). Psychological stress deteriorates skin barrier function by activating the HPA axis in skin. Scientific Reports 8:6334.“Increased cortisol inhibits the differentiation of keratinocytes and decreases the expression of cytokines needed to maintain the barrier function.”link ↗
- 3.Leis K et al. (2019). Endocrine systems of the skin. Postępy Dermatologii i Alergologii XXXVI(5):519.“The skin also has a hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis homolog. A corticotropin-releasing hormone is produced and reacts with its skin receptors.”link ↗
- 4.Liu X-X et al. (2023). Bibliometric study of adaptogens in dermatology: pharmacophylogeny, phytochemistry, and pharmacological mechanisms. Drug Design, Development and Therapy 17:341.“A regulatory mechanism similar to the central HPA axis exists in the skin.”link ↗
- 5.Pujos M et al. (2024). Impact of chronic moderate psychological stress on skin aging: exploratory clinical study and cellular functioning. Journal of Cosmetic Dermatology 24(1):e16634.“Moderately stressed subjects… had a significantly decreased antioxidant potential and impacted skin barrier integrity.”link ↗
- 6.Zouboulis CC (2009). The skin as an endocrine organ. Dermato-Endocrinology 1(5):250.“From the modern dermato-endocrinologic point of view the skin is not only the recipient of signals from distant transmitters but is also an endocrine organ.”link ↗
- 7.Roosterman D et al. (2006). Neuronal control of skin function: the skin as a neuroimmunoendocrine organ. Physiological Reviews 86:1309.“The skin 'talks' to the brain via primary afferents thereby revealing information about the status of peripherally derived pain, pruritus, and local inflammation.”link ↗
- 8.Graubard R, Perez-Sanchez A, Katta R (2021). Stress and skin: an overview of mind body therapies as a treatment in dermatology. Dermatology Practical & Conceptual 11(4):e2021091.“The skin acts not only as a physical barrier to the external environment, it may outwardly express the manifestations of internal processes.”link ↗
- 9.Dreisoerner A et al. (2021). Self-soothing touch and being hugged reduce cortisol responses to stress. Comprehensive Psychoneuroendocrinology 8:100091.“Cortisol levels in both touch conditions were significantly lower in comparison to the control condition for three out of four measurement occasions following the stress test.”link ↗
Frequently asked.
- What is psychodermatology?
- The study of how skin, the nervous system, and emotion run on one wiring. It treats your skin as part of the body’s stress-response system — because it is one. It’s been a discipline since 2000.
- What do you mean by “formula”?
- A selfmade formula is two things at once: a capacity we’re building — secure attachment, resilience, intimacy — and the chemistry chosen to serve it. The ingredients are the means; the capacity is the point.
- What’s the science behind selfmade?
- Our formulas trace to peer-reviewed research and five years of sessions with named mental-health and formulation experts. The papers are listed below, each linked. Full INCI and per-product testing live on every product page.
- What is interoception?
- The body’s internal awareness — the sense of what’s happening inside you. Our rituals are built to enhance it, and research links interoception to emotional regulation and mental wellbeing.
- Do your prices change?
- The price you see is the price you pay. No codes, no countdowns. This is the final production run: every formula is $28, whatever it carried before.
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