Clarisonic, or Pacific Bioscience Laboratories, Inc., was a company based in
Redmond, Washington that produced the Clarisonic line of skin care devices. The company was sold to
L'Oreal in 2011. In 2018, Clarisonic devices made up 14% of the skin care device market. In July 2020, L'Oréal announced it would discontinue the Clarisonic brand and products, choosing instead to focus on other core business offerings. It is speculated that the actual cause was increasing competition from cheaper alternatives as the skin care device market grew. As of September 30, 2020, the business and brand were discontinued.
Availability
During its peak days, Clarisonic products were available to spa owners, physicians and consumers, and the brand was available in over 50 countries.
Co-Founders
Clarisonic was founded by David Giuliani, Robb Akridge, Steve Meginniss, Ward Harris, and Ken Pilcher in 2000. Giuliani, Clarisonic's CEO, is the former co-founder and CEO of Optiva, which developed the
Sonicare
Sonicare is the brand name of an electric toothbrush produced by Philips.
Product and technology
The brush head vibrates at hundreds of times per second, with the latest models at 31,000 strokes per minute or 62,000 movements per minute (517&nbs ...
line of toothbrushes. Giuliani sold Optiva to
Philips
Koninklijke Philips N.V. (), commonly shortened to Philips, is a Dutch multinational conglomerate corporation that was founded in Eindhoven in 1891. Since 1997, it has been mostly headquartered in Amsterdam, though the Benelux headquarters i ...
Oral Healthcare in 2000.
Akridge was a scientist at Optiva Corporation before co-founding Clarisonic. He holds a bachelor's degree from University of Texas, a Master of Science degree in biology from
Texas State University–San Marcos
Texas State University is a public research university in San Marcos, Texas. Since its establishment in 1899, the university has grown to the second largest university in the Greater Austin metropolitan area and the fifth largest university ...
and a doctorate in microbiology from
Texas A&M University
Texas A&M University (Texas A&M, A&M, or TAMU) is a public, land-grant, research university in College Station, Texas. It was founded in 1876 and became the flagship institution of the Texas A&M University System in 1948. As of late 2021, T ...
.
Ken Pilcher is the lead inventor of Clarisonic's skin care systems. In the past, he has developed avionics for the
NASA
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil List of government space agencies, space program ...
Space Shuttle
The Space Shuttle is a retired, partially reusable low Earth orbital spacecraft system operated from 1981 to 2011 by the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) as part of the Space Shuttle program. Its official program ...
, as well as medical electronics.
Clarisonic was backed by angel groups including
Keiretsu Forum who provided the seed capital for the company
Awards and recognition
2012
*
Glamour (magazine) Best Skin Device
*
Allure (magazine)
''Allure'' is an American women's magazine focused on beauty, published monthly by Condé Nast in New York City. It was founded in 1991 by Linda Wells. Michelle Lee replaced Wells in 2015. A signature of the magazine is its annual Best of Beaut ...
Best of Beauty
References
{{L'Oreal Brands
Companies based in Redmond, Washington
Cosmetics companies of the United States
Skin care
L'Oréal brands
2011 mergers and acquisitions