Skin Saviour

After creating the world’s first skincare for the hypersensitive skin of cancer patients, rovectin’s founder lee sungsoo takes its ultra-healing benefits and extends them into everyday products for everyday people

- Chelsea Tang

If there’s anything that needs to be known about South Korean skincare brand Rovectin, it’s that it’s formulated from the heart. Nothing’s quite as heart-wrenching as having to bear witness to a power struggle between a loved one and cancer, as South Korean founder Lee Sungsoo had to. The radiation from his sister’s breast cancer chemotherapy treatments severely weakened her skin barrier, causing her skin to be raw, dry, itchy, and at times, painful. In the early 2000s, there was no specialised skincare that could be used to soothe hyper-sensitive skin, so the 41-year-old took it upon himself to create a line that could do just that. Here, he shares his experience in creating products for a niche yet important market.

Formulating products for cancer patients requires specialised expertise in this field. How did you get started with the process?

I started off with desk research. I read lots of studies and papers on how and why anti-cancer treatments create skin problems, and how skin cells are influenced. Then, I spoke to patient focus groups and doctors for real-life stories and concerns. I did all of this research by myself for two years, before approaching manufacturers to pitch my idea.

Were manufacturers receptive to such a novel idea?