《老友记》瑞秋开卖“紧肤神器”
There's something confusing about Rosemary Moran. Well, more accurately, there's something confusing about the 63-year-old's eyes. Viewed separately, each side of Moran's face tells a very different story. The skin under her left eye appropriately sags, hammocking into a bag befitting of any elderly woman. But the right side? It's taut -- with the healthy puff of a woman 20 years younger.
罗斯玛丽•莫兰身上有种让人说不清道不明的地方。说得更准确些，让人迷惑的是那双已经阅尽人间春秋63年的眼睛。如果分开看的话，莫兰的左右两半边脸似乎截然不同。左眼下边的皮肤已经松驰了，正是一个花甲老妇的眼袋。但是右半边脸的皮肤却非常紧致，看起来似乎年轻了20岁。
Moran shows off her curiously uneven look at Living Proof, the beauty company started in 2005 by Polaris Partners that's raised over $50 million in funding and boasts actress Jennifer Aniston as a spokesperson and investor. Despite its focus on aesthetics, Living Proof's headquarters is tucked amid biotech giants like Amgen (AMGN) and Biogen (BIIB) in Cambridge, Mass. The location's strategic: It's blocks away from MIT scientist Robert Langer's laboratory, where Living Proof products' technology gets its start.
莫兰在Living Proof公司向我们展示了这张令人称奇的脸。Living Proof是一家成立于2005年的护肤品公司，由北极星合伙公司（Polaris Partners）出资5000万美元建立，好莱坞女星詹妮弗•安妮斯顿是这家公司的代言人，同时也是一位投资人。虽然这家公司的重点在于美容，但它的总部却与安进（Amgen）和Biogen生物科技巨头一样，坐落在马萨诸塞州的剑桥市。Living Proof选择在剑桥落户是有道理的，它的总部和麻省理工学院（MIT）的科学家罗伯特•兰格的实验室只隔了几条街，而Living Proof的产品所用的技术正是在那里孵化的。
Neotensil, the clear adhesive that compresses the skin under Moran's right eye, is the most recent Living Proof development to come from Langer's team. It was built off of Strateris, a trademarked product developed by Dr. Betty Yu, an expert in trans-dermal drug delivery, and dermatologists Rox Anderson and Barbara Gilchrest. A wearable polymer film that mimics young skin's strength and elasticity, Strateris sits atop loose skin and reshapes it -- think of it as the facial equivalent of Spanx's tummy-shrinking undergarments. Its effects last for 16 hours, peaking three hours after application.
兰格的团队为Living Proof开发的最新产品就是用在莫兰右眼皮肤下的一种叫做Neotensil的明胶，它可以起到紧致皮肤的效果。Neotensil是以一款名叫Strateris的专利产品为基础开发的，而后者则是由透过真皮给药的专家贝蒂•于（音译）以及皮肤学家罗克斯•安德森和芭芭拉•吉尔克莱斯特共同开发的。Strateris是一种可以贴在脸部的聚合物膜，它可以模拟年轻皮肤的紧致和弹性，只要把它贴在脸上，就可以重新塑造皮肤形象——如果有些难以理解的话，不妨想象一下Spanx公司推出的可以吸收掉肚腩的塑身内衣。Strateris的效果可以持续16个小时，使用3小时后效果最佳。
The complex science behind Strateris isn't new to Living Proof. Its haircare line -- which Aniston is the face of -- is also covered in Langer's fingerprints. "A lot of what we do at MIT is fundamental work that can be applied across the board," Langer explains. One of the ingredients used in Living Proof's shampoo, the volumizing Polyalkylaminoester-1 (PBAE), was developed from a library of tens of thousands of polymers that Langer and his colleagues organized to study gene therapy. "By making new polymers, you can solve all kinds of things, whether it's cancer or gene therapy or haircare."
Strateris背后的复杂科学原理对于Living Proof来说并不新奇，因为这家公司的护发系列产品——也就是安尼斯顿代言的产品，也出自兰格的实验室。兰格说：“我们在MIT做的很多工作都是基础性的研究，它们可以被应用在方方面面。”Living Proof的洗发水中用到的一种叫做Polyalkylaminoester-1的聚氨基酯，就是兰格和他的同事在研究基因疗法的过程中从数万种聚合物中发现的。他说：“通过合成新的聚合物，人们可以解决各种各样的问题，不管是癌症、基因疗法还是头发护理。”
Langer forayed into the beauty world because of Polaris founding partner Jon Flint. Despite being dad to four daughters, Flint was never interested in hair and skincare -- until he heard about Bumble and Bumble's 2000 sale to Estée Lauder (EL) for a reported $100 million. He called a Polaris associate and asked him to gather up industry reports and buy "literally dozens" of hair and skin products. Putting the products side by side, Flint realized all the bottles' ingredients -- though formulated differently -- were pretty much identical. "This is B.S.," he said to himself -- and immediately called Langer. The duo organized a group of five scientists who had no beauty experience and asked them to come up with hair and skin products that created "results seen across the room." Langer says the challenge was easy. "The competition was so bad. There was so little innovation compared to what I'd see in the pharmaceutical industry. In a way, it's like low-hanging fruit." But a lab full of scientists doesn't automatically create a household product.
兰格之所以突然进军美容业，还要归功于北极星公司创始合作人乔恩•弗林特。弗林特虽然是四个女儿的父亲，但是从来没有对美容美发感兴趣过——直到他听说宝宝与宝宝集团（Bumble and Bumble）于2000年以据说1亿美元的价格把雅诗兰黛卖了出去，他才对这个行业上了心。于是他叫来一名副手，让他去汇总各种行业报告，而且“真的买了几十种”美容美发产品回来研究。弗林特把这些瓶瓶罐罐摆在一起研究了半天，最后发现，它们虽然配方可能不一样，但基本成分几乎完全相同。“这真是扯淡”，他对自己说。然后，他立刻给兰格打了电话。这两人立即召集起一支由五名科学家组成的团队，这些人都没有美容业的经验。接下来，弗林特要求他们开发一些美容美发产品，要求“必须站在屋子那头也能看到效果。”兰格表示，这个挑战其实很简单。“竞争太差劲了，和我在制药行业观察到的竞争程度相比，美容美发行业的创新太少了。可以说我们是在摘唾手可得的果子。”但是对于一群科学家组成的团队来说，想光靠自己生产出一款家喻户晓的产品并不容易。
Living Proof brought on Aniston in October 2012. Though it was selling a decent number of products through QVC ($10 million in its first year, says Flint) and storefronts like Sephora and Ulta, it needed some extra starpower to generate buzz. Former PepsiCo Chief Marketing Officer Jill Beraud became the company's CEO in late 2011 and helped Flint recruit the A-lister. With her longtime hairstylist Chris McMillan, Aniston tested the Living Proof shampoo for three months. The company's R&D team then took her into their lab, showing her the science behind the shampoos, a tour reminiscent of a high school chemistry class. "And that was the one subject that I was good at," Aniston laughs.
于是，Living Proof在2012年将安妮斯顿拉进了公司。当时Living Proof在QVC（全球最大的电视与网络百货零售商）上的销量已经相当不错了（据弗林特表示，光是第一年的销售额就达到1000万美元），而且它在丝芙兰、Ultra等专柜上的销量也令人满意，但这家公司还是想借明星的号召力给产品造势。百事可乐公司（PepsiCo）前营销总监吉尔•贝劳德在2011年底当上了Living Proof的CEO，帮助弗林特聘请一线明星给产品代言。通过发型师克里斯•麦克米兰的推荐，安妮斯顿试用了Living Proof的洗发水三个月。然后，Living Proof的研发团队将安妮斯顿请到他们的实验室，向她展示了这款洗发水背后的科技原理——这次访问给人的感觉有点像高中的化学课，安妮斯顿当时笑着说：“化学是我高中学得很好的一门课。”
But there was a catch. Living Proof wanted more than a spokesperson; they wanted someone who was emotionally and financially vested in the company's success. "I remember thinking, 'Is this real life?'" says Aniston. She became a co-owner of the company a little over a year ago and launched the Perfect Hair Day campaign with McMillan. Since Aniston joined, Beraud says business has doubled. (Women's Wear Daily reported that revenue's around $100 million.)
不过，这里也有一个“陷阱”。Living Proof想要的不只是一个代言人，还希望这位代言人能在经济上、情感上都全面投入，谋求这家公司的成功。安妮斯顿说：“我记得当时我不禁想道：‘真的吗？’”就这样，大概一年多以前，安妮斯顿成了公司的老板之一，并且与麦克米兰一起启动了“完美发型日”的广告活动。贝劳德表示，自从安妮斯顿加盟后，公司的业务已经翻了一番。【 《女性时装日报》（Women's Wear Daily ）称，这家公司的年收入约1亿美元左右。】
Aniston isn't worried about the risk of having a financial stake in the company. "I'm not nervous because I believe in it so much. I'm just waiting for it to happen." So much so that she assists with product decisions: She recently talked the team out of changing the shampoo's fragrance and also helped design their soon-to-open storefront in Cambridge. "[To be more than] the face of a product, you're much more invested in it and want it to be great. You want it to work. You want it to mean what it says."
对于持有Living Proof的股份可能导致的风险，安妮斯顿表示并不担心。“我并不紧张，因为我非常相信这家公司，我等待的只是成功。”安妮斯顿对公司事务参与得十分积极，甚至还帮忙做产品决策。最近在她的劝说下，研发团队换了洗发水的香味。另外，安妮斯顿还协助公司设计了Living Proof的专柜，很快就会在剑桥开张。她说：“不是简单地代言一款产品，这样就会对它进行更多的投资，希望它变得更出色。希望它有效，希望它说到做到。”
Despite her love of Living Proof's shampoo, don't expect Aniston to peddle Neotensil. As the face of skincare brand Aveeno (JNJ), the actress isn't allowed to officially promote another skincare product. But Beraud says Aniston's able to continue working with both brands because Neotensil's not competitive with Aveeno products. Neotensil only sells through Valeant's (VRX) network of physicians -- Living Proof struck a $75 million distribution deal with the pharmaceutical company in January that splits profits 60/40 -- and costs $500 for 7 weeks of use.
尽管安妮斯顿喜欢Living Proof的洗发水，但我们估计看不到安妮斯顿代言这家公司的Neotensil产品了。安妮斯顿是护肤品牌艾维诺（Aveeno）的代言人，不允许公开推广其它护肤产品。不过贝劳德表示，安妮斯顿仍然可以同时与这两家公司合作，因为Neotensil与艾维诺的产品没有竞争关系。Neotensil只通过威朗公司（Valeant）的医师网络销售。Living Proof公司今年一月与威朗公司达成了一项销售协议，双方决定对利润六四分成，消费者使用七周Neotensil的费用是500美元。
Langer says Neotensil is just the beginning for Strateris. "I'm no expert on what's going to happen next, but I can say what could happen next." The platform may be used to solve cellulite, help skin problems like psoriasis and xerosis, or house a long-lasting perfume. "There's a whole range of medical and non-medical implications where you can put different agents in this kind of Spanx-like cream," says Langer.
兰格指出，Neotensil只是在Strateris基础上开发的第一款产品。“至于未来会发生什么，我对于这个问题不是专家，但我可以说说未来有可能发生么。”这个平台可能会用来治疗脂肪团，或用来改善牛皮癣、干燥症等皮肤问题，或是可以延长香水的香味。兰格说：“大家可以把不同的药剂放在这种像塑身衣一样的面霜里，所以它在医学和非医学领域都有重大意义。”
As for Aniston's hopes for the company? "I just want women to know that there's something out there that actually works and is worth their money. And that [Living Proof] just keeps growing."
那么安妮斯顿对Living Proof公司有什么希望？“我只想让女性朋友知道，现在已经有了一些实实在在有用的东西，而且值得她们花出去的钱。另外就是希望公司继续保持增长。”
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