Customer Story
BuyerSearching by mechanism of action, targeted skin pathways, and desired skin benefits, Ewelina Aiossa discovers ingredients and suppliers for her dermocosmetic clients. Her focus is on ingredients backed by in vivo and in vitro data that substantiate claims and demonstrate efficacy.
Who
Ewelina Aiossa, founder of Topical Skin and an independent product development consultant serving dermocosmetic and medical-grade beauty clients. She brings 15 years of industry experience, including time at L'Oréal, and approaches formulation through a marketing lens, connecting ingredient science with consumer needs and brand positioning.
The Challenge
Every project starts with a marketing brief, for example an anti-aging moisturizer built around a familiar active such as retinol. Ewelina takes that brief a step further, asking which complementary ingredients could support the skin as a system. Her goal is to identify ingredients that target different pathways, each backed by data she can confidently present to a dermocosmetic audience.
Before Covalo, she relied on a small circle of trusted Supplier representatives. Their expertise was valuable but naturally focused on their own companies' portfolios. Accessing complete ingredient specifications, including color, odor, and solubility, often required requesting documents, signing NDAs, and scheduling introductory calls. Setting up an account with each Supplier simply to evaluate one ingredient added administrative work and slowed projects down.
Formulation compatibility presented another challenge. Incorporating additional actives could introduce stability issues, sometimes sending a project back to the bench for reformulation.
For her medical-grade beauty clients, evaluating an unfamiliar Supplier also requires careful due diligence. Before making contact, Ewelina reviews the available research, viewing the depth and quality of it as an indication of the Supplier's investment in understanding and substantiating its ingredient.
In practice
Ewelina opens Covalo a few times a week, depending on which projects are running. Four moments show how she uses it.
When she cannot attend a trade show, Covalo becomes her point of discovery.
Her searches often begin with a skin pathway or a benefit and leave the ingredient name open.
Ewelina starts in Personal Care with a descriptive term such as “SPF booster” and narrows the results down to a shortlist.
Before she contacts anyone, Ewelina compares two or three Suppliers of the same ingredient, such as ceramides.
Results
Ewelina reviews ingredient data, documents and certifications in one place, without creating an account with each Supplier first.
The follicular delivery system search directly supported a hair serum project.
Covalo also opens up more opportunities, making it a source of new ideas as well as a time saver.
From discovery to qualification, Covalo gives your teams the data and intelligence to move faster and decide with confidence.