111 Skin Launches Cryo Line, Cryotherapy Chamber

Customers won’t need to freeze their butts off for tight skin anymore — unless they want to.

A product line is coming out that mimics the effects of cryotherapy, a treatment where people stand mostly naked in a sub-zero, nitrogen-cooled metal chamber for two to three minutes, with their head and shoulders poking out at the top, excused from the procedure. Temperatures can dip below 200 degrees, and the procedure is said to improve psoriasis, eczema, stimulate collagen and tighten skin.

The skin-care company started by London-based plastic surgeon Yannis Alexandrides, 111 Skin, is launching its Cryo line in Barneys New York for September. The products, a Cryo Energizing Body Serum and Cryo Energizing Face Serum, are designed to tighten skin and provide similar benefits to cryotherapy.

“The products we already have in the market are based on the philosophy that we need to improve the healing of the skin to improve the quality of the skin,” Alexandrides said. “In terms of philosophy, the Cryo range is a similar one. Cryotherapy is a treatment that actually can kick-start the metabolism and has a lot of beneficial effects for a wide variety of problems, from chronic pain, muscle improvement after exercise, to improved blood supply to the skin and improvements to the tone and appearance of the skin. We wanted to bring into a product a similar effect.”

On a mission to duplicate those results, 111 Skin went looking for ingredients that would increase skin tone, turn out toxins, increase collagen production and decrease pore size, Alexandrides said.

The face serum, which retails for $250, contains sesaflash, a tightening agent used to erase wrinkles, moisturize and soften skin; Neruobiox, for pore reduction and a more rejuvenated appearance; riboxyl, which energizes and promotes skin renewal; effipulp for detoxifying; allantoin for healing, and glycofilm for protecting. The $150 body product contains pepha tight for tightening, riboxyl, AA2G for brightening, allantoin, glycofilm, multifruit BSC for resurfacing and Aquaxyl, which is used as an antidehydration shield.

“From conception of the idea to time to customer, we have managed to do that in less than a year, which is very difficult to achieve,” Alexandrides said. “It’s quite a big moment for us. Cryo as a treatment has a long way to run as people realize the benefits they can reap from treatment and the products as well. We will be launching some more products in the future in the same philosophy in the Cryo range.”

The product lineup has already been released in the U.K., where it will soon be joined with Alexandrides’ own cryotherapy chamber. The project, called 111 Cryo, will launch exclusively in Harvey Nichols in London in September as part of the retailer’s revamped beauty floor.

“Harvey Nichols is going through a major face-lift itself, so as a place, it’s becoming really a very contemporary, beautiful store,” Alexandrides said.

The chamber is different than traditional nitrogen-using cryotherapy units because it uses electrical cryotherapy technology to cool the air to -90 degrees Celsius (-130 degrees Fahrenheit), and treats the full body. After a “rigorous” consultation process, customers will be able to spend up to five minutes in the chamber.

“It’s like a pilot study for us. As a doctor, I want to really be 100 percent sure it can work well. I’m convinced it works well in a medical environment, and [it should] work well in a department store environment,” Alexandrides said. “If it is successful I would love to have something similar in New York.”