You have to admit that WOWCREAM ($250 in the shop) is an audacious name and when I embarked on my test, I didn't for one second think it would live up to it. I was wrong. WOW is a really good cream that manages to be differentiated with a complex formula of clinically-proven concentrations. I was so intrigued that I figured out the time difference between Tokyo and New York to talk to WOW's Japan-based founder, Austin Nagel. I have distilled some of the highlights from our wide-ranging discussion so that you can get to know more about Austin, his mission and what makes WOWCREAM a standout.

MW: Let’s start at the beginning. How and when did you start Soft Products Japan and WOWCREAM?

AN: We all have that moment in the mirror where we think: "OMG-- my skin looks old". I had it-- I was 32, single parent, on sabbatical in Switzerland and looking weathered from my outdoor activities. I was contemplating moving to Japan, but I wasn’t sure what business I could do there. I distinctly remember one day I looked in the mirror I realized there was a big gap between the voice in my head---still sounded young and full of energy but my face, my calling card, looked older than it should. It was my AH-HA moment. I decided to focus, and make one really good skincare product.

MW: Your philosophy is to bring Japanese and Swiss standards and sensibilities to formulating? Is that a fair characterisation and what does it mean in practice?

AN: Japanese and Swiss are similar in that they appreciate and are willing to pay for quality and to support others who try hard to do the right thing-- it’s the perfect audience for me. My pursuit of quality, precision, and to do the right thing has kept me floating between Switzerland and Japan since I was 20. Switzerland is known for pristine beauty, regulation, testing and quality and their ability to mix complicated formulas.  Japan is known for concept of SHO-KU-NIN: master of your craft-- do one thing REALLY well. Swiss follow European standards which are the strictest in the world regarding ingredient transparency. Japanese require stringent testing methods for shelf life where it is very hot & humid in summer and very cold in the winter. You have to protect very well the formula in Japan.

MW: Your first product is WOW This Cream is Really Good. Tell us what you wanted to create with this?

AN: I set out to make a unisex STAR product jammed full of anti-aging actives to address anti-aging concerns: eye care, wrinkle care, antioxidant, whitening/brightening, cell longevity, exfoliation, and most importantly hydration. The key is to train your skin to produce more collagen. WOWCREAM accomplishes this by using each bio-active ingredient at full/proven concentration--it's why I can use the trademarks on the box--- very few skincare companies can do that. I keep the company small and efficient. We don’t have big offices, glorious marketing budgets - we spend money on ingredients and packaging - not marketing.

MW: Why Unisex?

AN: The time is now for Unisex skincare. Honestly the difference you're likely to find between a cream marketed to women and men, aside from the packaging, is the smell or color. We don’t use colors or dyes and the Swiss fragrance is made with natural extracts that give a unique scent to each user. Share between you and your partner.

MW: You went out of your way not to include so many harmful ingredients why a fragrance at all?

AN: Good question. The mix of plant botanicals, natural yeasts, lactic acid, peptides and bio-actives has a scent of itself. I decided it would be best to use plant extracts to harmonize. So I tasked a Swiss fragrance company to make a non-irritant, hypoallergenic fragrance that would smell unique to each person based on personal body chemistry. On some, the fragrance seems strong, other it is totally negated by their personal chemistry. On me personally, it reminds me of the Swiss fresh air. My dad has very sensitive skin: he uses it. WOW CREAM is non-irritant and hypoallergenic.

MW: Niacinamide is an interesting ingredient high up on your ingredient list, why?  

AN: Vitamin B3 (niacinamide) is an easy to research active that has a long list of benefits from suppressing melanin formation to evening skin tone to boosting cell immunity to acting as an anti-inflammatory thereby helping with redness/blotchiness to helping with moisture retention to fibroblast. Honestly good stuff.

MW: Why no SPF / UVA protection?

AN: If it was possible to include decent UVB+UVA protection AND all the actives in WOWCREAM I would have. Alas, WOWCREAM does not have an SPF and here is why. SPF refers to the amount of time you can stay in the sun before experiencing a surface burn due to UVB rays. UVA refers to the rays that do the damage deeper in the skin. Any sunscreen with decent broadspectrum (UVA+UBA) protection is a full formula in itself--meaning there isn’t much room in the formula to add other ingredients except in token amounts for label claim purposes, you'd never get the 16+ actives plus a decent sunscreen into one formula. Moral of the story: apply a good sunscreen 10-15 mins after WOWCREAM.

MW: How did you come up with the name?

AN: It was easy: the formulator in Switzerland walked up to me in his hair net and lab coat on and said "you know THIS CREAM IS REALLY GOOD, WOW we finally made it!". He told me that in his 15 years working for prestigious skincare companies, whose names we shall not mention, none had asked him to combine so many actives. It made me smile-- I knew I was doing the right thing. I just added .COM so it would be easy to find online for those who, like me, poke around a friend's bathroom wondering why his/her skin looks so good.

MW: What are your favorite skin care or anti-aging ingredients?

AN: The number one thing you can do for your skin and health is wear sunscreen with high UVA protection daily.  Remember when lifeguards and surfers used to use colored (pink, yellow, orange) sunblock on their nose and ears? That was zinc oxide at 40%-- pretty powerful sunblock-- let’s bring that back to fashion.

As for anti-aging: it's all about deep penetration of peptides (about which there’s lot’s of interesting science) using hydrating oils like Squalane, which most resembles our body's natural oil, as a vehicle for deeper penetration.

MW: The trend has been organic /natural/non-chemical? Where does WOWCREAM fit it?

AN: When people ask me if WOWCREAM is natural/non-Chemical.  My response is this: WOWCREAM is advanced skin care, not a feel good oil. It’s a blend of 16+ highly purified plant extracts and sophisticated researched proven anti-aging actives. European skincare products are highly tested down to the .0000001%--we know what is and isn’t in the formula.  The word chemical gets a bad rap. I am sure it frustrates chemists-- everything is this world is chemical. For me, it’s a matter of limiting harmful chemicals. Of course, I regret that there is phenoxyethanol (.07%) in the product and disodium EDTA (.09%) but, peptides require a stabilizer and preservative to keep them active, and without these we would be dealing with the enemy of skincare containers: bacteria. There are no animal ingredients we test on friends--not animals. The squalane is from highly purified sugarcane.

MW: What have been your main challenges so far?

AN: Product: It is really difficult to make complex products. Honestly, I see why some companies make simple products—it’s easier to stabilize and a whole lot less expensive to make and customers usually buy based on brand story not number of actives.  I thought making skincare was like mixing the perfect cake: Wrong! I was shocked when they showed me a room filled with huge multi-stage mixing machines:  two-story-tall pristine stainless steel masterpieces with assistants constantly cleaning and checking pressures. I am told they take a whole day to sanitize.

Packaging: It’s all about airless! Airless maintains product integrity. Personally I don’t buy products that come in jars, unless I can keep it in the refrigerator. WOWCREAM's bottle is different: black glass (keeps light out) with a plastic pouch inside that squeezes out like a vacuum all the product until the end.

MW: What skincare advice would you like to pass on to the Truth In Aging community?

AN: Number 1 - WEAR SUNSCREEN. Seriously people, a star is shining on you every day. There is a reson everyone says it. It’s true! 2. Simplify your routine. Buy the best quality you can based on ingredients -- not branding. 3. Eat properly. Food is fuel for cell production and energy. Skincare is repair and protection. 

MW: What's next for Soft Products Japan?

AN: I want to help kids. Confidence is so important-- childhood is when we build our self- worth. I want kids to have more opportunity to have experiences outside of what they think they are capable of: it's why SOFT PRODUCTS promotes and sponsors children's theatre and outdoor programs.  We are all shy to try new things and push ourselves, but the more we try the more we can do. Trying to put smiles on faces. My motto is: "Make good product, do good things."

MW: What has been the hardest hurdle for you to sell WOWCREAM?

AN: Honestly, the fact that we only make one product. Many retailers have said would rather we have a line of products. They ask us why we didn't put ingredients into separate products for day/night/eye/wrinkle creams--like other companies. The answer is: we aren’t like other companies-- we set out to make ONE REALLY GOOD CREAM. I can only make one star product at time. So I focused.  Word of mouth is the best compliment you can give WOWCREAM.