Education
THE SCIENCE BEHIND CEYLON
Our products are suitable for the vast majority of skin types and these balanced formulations result in improved skin health outcomes. Collaborating with our scientific advisor, pioneering skin of color researcher Dr. Lynn McKinley-Grant, we work to ensure that our products include ingredients and structures clinically proven to address the specific skin concerns that men of color face safely and effectively.
Dr. Lynn McKinley-Grant, Scientific Advisor to Anim Labs
Dr. Lynn McKinley-Grant is a board-certified dermatologist, author, researcher, lecturer practicing dermatology at Howard University in Washington, D.C. She is an Associate Professor of Dermatology at Duke University School of Medicine and Vice Chair for Diversity and Community Engagement in the Department of Dermatology.
Dr. McKinley-Grant practiced Dermatology for over 25 years in Washington DC area. She has been listed in Washingtonian Magazine since 1992 as one of the "Top Doctors" in the area, as selected by other physicians. Dr. McKinley-Grant is the senior editor of VisualDx: Essential Dermatology in Pigmented Skin. She has authored many chapters in the textbook Dermatology for Skin of Color, Paul Kelly MD and Susan Taylor MD, 2nd edition to be published in 2015.
As an innovator in medicine, early on in her medical career, Dr. McKinley-Grant worked at the Albert Schweitzer Hospital in Gabon, Africa, she founded the Bellvue Hospital Hansen’s Disease (Leprosy) clinic in New York City and she identified the skin protein Fillaggrin while at the National Institute of Health (NIH) and was a Google Glass Explorer. Dr. McKinley-Grant continues to be passionate about new ideas that improve the quality of health care and decrease healthcare costs. In 2013, she co-founded Insight Institute, a nonprofit organization that promotes innovation, critical thinking and creative problem solving through art-based initiatives and programs, from medical training to business management.
Dr. McKinley-Grant lectures on a variety of topics, and is a medical correspondent in the media. Her areas of expertise include: External Manifestations of Internal Disease (Cutaneous Manifestations of Systemic Disease), Dermatology in skin of color, Complicated/Consult Dermatology, Mycosis Fungoides/Cutaneous T Cell Lymphoma, Sarcoidosis, and Hair Disorders.
So, what sorts of issues do men of color face when it comes to their skin?
Men of color disproportionately experience environmental pollution, which harms the skin and makes it susceptible to premature aging, discoloration, and increased sensitivity.
Many cosmetic products available on the market have been developed to utilize bleaching and whitening agents meant to lighten skin, ultimately contributing to long-term and even permanent health problems.
Certain skin issues disproportionately affect people of color. For example, people of African and Asian descent are overrepresented in Eczema diagnoses and African-Americans are more likely to experience Seborrheic Dermatitis.Men of color face many challenges including being more susceptible to scarring, inflammation, and discoloration. These particular experiences are a direct result of a range of daily activities of varying safety as well as widespread grooming norms.
Skin of color exhibits unique biological features as a result of natural processes like aging, which may require novel approaches to anti-aging treatments.
Certain popular products marketed towards men of color have ingredients known to be associated with cancer and birth defects.
Skin disorders in pigmented skin sometimes present differently and therefore require different diagnostic tools and processes to properly identify and treat.