Why Desiree Verdejo paired vitamin C with bitter roots

Think of a thin serum that sinks fast and leaves no gray film. That finish is where Desiree Verdejo started Hyper Skin, a compact line for dark spots on melanin rich skin that mixes clinical strengths with garden extracts, now on pause after funding ran out in 2026.

“Ive struggled with acne that was always followed by large dark spots.” Verdejo says it simply, the way you would describe a texture you know by heart.

Before formulas, she practiced corporate law in New York, then left to run Vivrant Beauty, a Harlem shop filled with Black owned labels, open from about 2015 to 2018. At the register she kept hearing her own worry repeated. Pimples left. Brown marks lingered. Aisles offered plenty for lines and dryness, and almost nothing that addressed hyperpigmentation on deeper skin directly.

Hyper Skin arrived in 2019, self financed, with a single serum. The aim was tight by design. The company describes itself as a clinical line rooted in diversity and joy, under the tagline Best Skincare For Dark Spots. What Second Skin noticed is Verdejo’s feel first logic. Bearberry, licorice, aloe and turmeric stand beside 15 percent vitamin C, kojic acid and vitamin E, picked to soften the look of marks while acids do the lifting.

That work has stopped for now. In August 2026 Verdejo said the online shop was shutting after twelve months without raising capital, while talks with possible partners went on. We met her in that candid pause, to talk slip, scent, vessels and what is worth holding onto.

Bearberry and licorice soften the look of spots while aloe leaf and turmeric root soothe the look of irritation, so how do you describe that balance to someone who skips hype and studies each label by touch

I walk through each part and name what it will not do. Vitamin C with vitamin E supports a brighter, more even appearance and helps with the look of outside stress. Bearberry plus licorice plus kojic acid supports the look of less visible spots. Aloe with turmeric supports ease and comfort, which counts because picking and rough scrubbing can make marks appear darker longer.

I never promise removal. Melanin is made with purpose. What steady care can support is a more level look, with regular use and sun protection each day. That is why our later Sun Drops counted so much. Ultraviolet makes spots seem darker, so a brightening habit without SPF is like planting without watering. I prefer habits people sustain. Wash softly, press on serum, shield in daytime. A mask one or two times weekly when skin seems clogged or flat.

You often return to the phrases we deserve and rooted in diversity and joy, and you have said we deserve to be spoken to directly, so what does joy feel like in a ritual made for something as tender as spots

Joy does not shrink the worry. Joy refuses to be shrunk by it. Much of this shelf talked around us, or talked in cautions. I wanted words that felt warm and plain. We deserve. We deserve to be spoken to directly and be cared for and for our concerns to be met with touchable answers To me that was never a tag. It was a fix.

In use, joy is touch and simplicity. A gel wash that leaves skin supple. A serum that slides under cream without balling. Sun Drops with zero white film that you reach for each morning. Verdejo is a Latina and Black founder and our view centered skin of color, yet the blends were built for every skin type and tone. Especially reactive skin. When a habit feels rough or weighty or ashy, people quit. Care ought to feel like care. Calm, light, doable again tomorrow. That is how spots start to look softer, not in a night, but across weeks of attention.

The Hyper Even Fade and Glow AHA Mask blends 5 percent glycolic acid with 5 percent mandelic acid and niacinamide notes in the store copy, so what does that weekly polish add beside the daily serum

Think daily as sipping water and weekly as airing soil. The serum nudges tone in a slow way. The mask helps the top layer read fresher sooner by lifting buildup that leaves skin flat and pores packed.

We picked the pair with intent. Glycolic acid is tiny and acts fast up top, which may prickle. Mandelic acid is bigger and slower, usually kinder to reactive skin. At 5 percent each, side by side, they tidy packed pores and liven dull looking skin without any scouring. You wash off, pat, and skin feels sleek and drinks serum more smoothly. That is the cadence I suggest. Not nightly. One or two times a week. Notice how your skin answers. Making something that our community tells us truly loves their skin has definitely been the most rewarding part Hearing that her marks seem muted and she reached for less base, that is the whole reason.

After loving skincare but feeling shut out of the room, I made the brand that we deserve

Desiree Verdejo

You ran Vivrant Beauty in Harlem from around 2015 to 2018, and you have said there really just was not anything out there for dark spots on melanin rich skin, so what did those years at the counter show you that law never did

Law showed me close reading. The shop showed me close heeding. Women arrived with my same history. Breakouts since teen years, or hormonal flares after birth, then those broad dark marks that hung on for months. They were not asking for old style lightening. They wanted their own tone returned, balanced and clear.

I want to see myself, I want to hold a product that answers my own concerns I spoke that line because it was true. I should not need to hunt so long through aisles so full. At Vivrant I learned my shoppers’ needs live. They handled skin softly and spent thoughtfully. They scanned panels. When a product burned or left a film or overpromised, they stayed away. I carried that into development. I sought something built for our skin at the center, never as an extra thought.

Your first formula in 2019 was the Hyper Clear Brightening Clearing Vitamin C Serum with 15 percent vitamin C, and you have described it as self funded and worn across many tones for four months, so why begin with that plant and clinical mix

That mirrored my own face. I have lived with breakouts that were always followed by large dark spots Vitamin C formed the clinical core I relied on for uneven looking tone and visible age signs. Yet at 15 percent it wants backup, above all for delicate skin and deep tones. So we framed it with care.

Bearberry holds arbutin, licorice root holds glabridin, and both have long use in glow blends aimed at the look of spots. Kojic acid, born of fermentation, sits there for the same aim. Then aloe and turmeric to ease visible redness as the serum goes to work. I loved skincare while feeling shut out of it, so I built the brand we deserved. One that is grounded in real life For me realness meant a blend both strong and mild enough for routine wear. We observed it across many complexions for four months pre launch because evenness shows up differently in varied tone and light.

Sephora Accelerate welcomed you in 2021 and the line later grew to more than 250 Sephora stores, plus a 20,000 dollar award from the 15 Percent Pledge, so how did that growth shift how you sourced and steeped those botanicals

Growth demands constancy from botanicals. A bench trial allows swift tweaks. A countrywide launch requires hue, aroma and touch stable in thousands of bottles. Our stance held firm, clean, proven clinical ingredients and potent plant based ingredients for highly results driven, safe formulas. What tightened was control.

Turmeric stains. Licorice carries a low, loamy odor. Aloe shifts with crop. We wanted the serum weightless, stackable, free of gray or chalky trace. So we kept to extracts and waters that could stay uniform, not raw home brews that vary pot to pot. Vegan and cruelty free counted for us from day one. I take pride that we held that while expanding. We are so glad to have officially arrived in 250 Sephora stores across the country I voiced that then and felt it. It let our people meet us where they already browsed.

You have said dermatologists and chemists get little training on melanin rich skin, which is your view from experience rather than an outside statistic, so how did that view guide testing and shade mindful ideas like an invisible SPF

It set who we tried formulas on and what finish we refused. When schooling centers pale skin, trials need to center deep skin. Hence we studied the serum on varied tones across months, under sun and lamps, bare and with foundation. A brightening claim fails if it only flatters light skin.

SPF exposed the gap. Many screens left a pale or ashen veil that flattened richer tones. That fails invisibility for everyone. Our Hyper Daily Invisible for All SPF 50 Sun Drops answered that, 50 mL, with a patented brightening ingredient and desert derived botanicals for a sheer, easy wear. Desert flora draws me since they keep moisture and endure glare. That logic suits a daytime shield. Protection must be worn each dawn to count. Skipped mornings let spots read darker once more. Making a formula is hosting. It should suit the guest.

In August 2026 you said Hyper Skin had paused operations after a year without securing capital and that you were talking with potential partners, so what do you want readers to feel about caring for a brand through that kind of quiet season

I want them to grasp that we made something true and this rest is true also. Paying your own way carries you a stretch. People carry you more. Yet broad retail needs funds, stock, outreach, staff. I loved skincare but never felt let in, so I built the brand we deserve. That worth stayed. The backing never arrived.

You always have to keep moving I voiced that in flush times and I voice it now. Keep going may mean keep vending, or it may mean hold the learning and bonds and benchmarks while seeking kinder ground. We are chatting with a tight group of partners on whether Hyper Skin might live on. I will never lend our name to anything that fails our people. Should we come back, the same view returns, tender toward deeper tones and delicate skin, clinic and botanic together. Should we not, the moral holds. Build for those once missed. Trial on them. Address them face to face.

If someone finds the last jars, the serum first and then the mask, how would you have them layer those two in a simple week

Keep it spare. Daytime, wash with the Gentle Brightening Cleansing Gel, tap in the vitamin C serum, then Sun Drops. Evening, wash, serum, cream if needed. Stay with it for weeks rather than days. Take a pea sized bead and let it sink a minute.

Then fold in the mask weekly. Over clean, dry skin, spread a sheer coat, rest as labeled, wash fully, add serum. If acids are fresh for you, lead with mandelic patience, a single night, then rise to twice weekly only when skin stays settled. Leave off gritty scrubs and picking. And keep that SPF daily, even under cloud. That sums the practice. Little moves, often. Roots settle over time. A more even look trails behind.

Closing note from the desk

What lingers is Verdejo’s tactile care with botanicals. She never treated them as decor. She weighed them, setting turmeric softness and licorice earth beside a solid measure of vitamin C and a long viewing period across complexions.

Hyper Skin aimed to address people with dark spots on melanin rich skin plainly, in textures gentle enough to stay with. Even at rest, that aim can be felt in the two vessels worth seeking, and in a maker who would not swap touch for reach.

Product spotlight

Hyper Even Brightening Dark Spot Vitamin C Serum, smooth to the touch, is 58 dollars for 30 ml full size and 36 dollars for 15 ml travel size. The opening blend for the look of marks and uneven tone, holding 15 percent vitamin C with vitamin E, bearberry, licorice and kojic acid, calmed by aloe and turmeric. Smooth morning and evening over clean skin ahead of cream, with SPF in daylight.

Hyper Even Fade and Glow AHA Mask, soft in the jar and on skin, is 48 dollars for 50 ml. A weekly wash off mask carrying 5 percent glycolic acid and 5 percent mandelic acid to lift the look of packed pores and flatness. Spread one or two times weekly on clean dry skin, wash off fully, add serum and cream. Rest if skin feels tender and return gently.