Joonbyrd Rewrites The Unspoken Rules Of Clinical Beauty

Forbes

16-07-2025

Dr Alexis Granite, founder of clinical bodycare brand Joonbyrd Courtesy of Joonbyrd
The Zoom call that changed Dr Alexis Granite's mind happened in her living room. Granite — a well-known dermatologist with nearly two decades of experience and the exceptionally rare distinction of holding dual US/UK medical licenses — was reviewing muted, clinical packaging mockups for her soon-to-launch skincare brand when her creative agency suddenly noticed something. Behind her on the video call was a room bursting with vibrant colors — quite the opposite to what they'd been developing.
'Wait a minute, like my living room is very, very colorful,' Granite recalls of that pivotal moment. 'And I was like, 'This is it!' I don't know why I'm hiding from what I love, which is color.'
That realization became key to the eventual birth of Joonbyrd, a body-focused luxury skincare brand that challenges assumptions about what serious, clinical skincare should look like. Entering Joonbyrd's website and social accounts, and you'll be greeted with all pastel hues of the rainbow. And the brand identity is fully reflected in its product packagings: vibrant, textured, fun and simply joy-inducing — quite a stark contrast to the sterile designs adopted by most other expert-led brands in the industry.
Joonbyrd's bodycare products are potent in active ingredients and designed to induce joy Courtesy of Joonbyrd
The decision to embrace color wasn't just about aesthetic — it was deeply personal. Granite's approach to skincare has always been rooted in the joyful memories of sitting in her grandmother's bathroom, playing with 'all of her lotions and potions, their deliciously sweet smells.' This 'joyful nostalgia' that she associates with beauty became the foundation for what she terms 'Affective Wellness' — a holistic approach connecting emotional well-being with skincare.
'I've seen time and time again, day in and day out in my practice, how much skin and appearance, frankly, is tied to emotion and I truly believe that when you look good, you feel good,' Granite explains. With a six-month waiting list for her London-based practice and a patient roster she's known for years, she's witnessed firsthand how stress impacts skin conditions like acne, eczema, and rosacea, and wants to provide an element in her brand to address this factor.
Speaking about perhaps her most counterintuitive decision on focusing solely on body care rather than facial skincare, Granite answers with a simple question: 'After all, why should the face have all the fun?'
Kaleidoscope, Joonbyrd's most recently launched body serum, smells like a cherry pie topped with pink peonies Courtesy of Joonbyrd
'I was seeing more and more patients come in with body skin concerns and clocking that over time, particularly in recent years,' she notes, while also recognizing that many treatments have now moved 'below the chin.'
The market gap was apparent. On one side were products focused purely on 'sensorial pleasure' — lovely bath salts and nice-smelling moisturizers without containing much of any active ingredients. On the other were clinical body products with 'that very sterile, quite medical feel.' Granite saw an opportunity: 'Why can't you have both? I want something that moisturizes amazingly, helps with crepey skin, improves keratosis pilaris bumps on the backs of the arms, but that also smells incredible.'
After much testing and formulation, her vision materialized through Joonbyrd's proprietary ALXmd04™ technology, built on four pillars: hardworking actives typically reserved for facial skincare, microbiome support, botanical extracts, and functional enhancers including adaptogens that 'sense what your body needs.' Even the fragrance for each product is designed to evoke specific moods — the caramel latte body wash aims for playfulness, while the cashmere musk firming serum targets optimism.
Fragrance and scent plays a big part in Joonbyrd's final products Courtesy of Joonbyrd
The transition from practicing dermatologist to beauty entrepreneur was not without its challenges. 'Becoming a brand founder has been one of, if not the most challenging part of my career — the only rival being medical school,' Granite says with a laugh. Yet her medical training provided crucial preparation: 'My degree definitely set me up for the challenges that I've faced as a founder.'
The biggest hurdle wasn't formulating products that delivered results — that came naturally after her consultancy/key opinion leader role over the past decade for brands like Kiehl's, SkinCeuticals, and CeraVe. Instead (and perhaps surprising to many,) it was convincing an industry accustomed to clinical aesthetics that serious skincare could also be joyful. 'I do think it is a bit more challenging to show the consumer that we're every bit as serious as a brand that doesn't look like us,' she acknowledges.
With Joonbyrd's exclusive Sephora launch under her belt and the brand's new launches receiving rave reviews from consumers (the brand's newest Kaleidoscope, a body serum supercharged with incredible ingredients and smells like a cherry pie topped with pink peonies, is to die for), it would seem that Granite is finally shifting the unspoken rules and proving that clinical excellence and joy aren't mutually exclusive.