The practice behind glo

Eight specialists. Four years.
One protocol.

glo wasn't built by a brand team and outsourced to a co-packer. It was built by eight specialists — five Korean MDs (board-certified dermatologists and plastic surgeons in Seoul) plus one US dermatologist, alongside two PhDs in skin reverse-aging research (Seoul + US) — each with 10+ years in the field. Four years of formulation, dose calibration, and peer review.

Shop GL-01 → Read the science
8
specialists · 6 MDs + 2 PhDs
on the formulation collective
4 yrs
of clinical formulation
and dose calibration
800 K
data points indexed
from peer-reviewed literature
10
primary references
on the science page
N°01 · The story

How a practice
became a protocol.

It started in a derm clinic in Seoul, with a question every clinician asks at some point: why do my patients keep going home with five separate supplements I don't trust? Four years later, this is what came out.

2021
A clinic question, repeated.
Dr. Tae-hoon Park starts noting which oral supplements her melasma and photoaging patients had stacked together. Most regimens were three to five products — overlapping, under-dosed, or both. She drafts a one-page list of what an actual protocol would have to contain.
2022
The collective forms.
Three more Seoul-based dermatologists join the formulation review. By mid-year, two plastic surgeons and a hospital pharmacology lead are pulled in to stress-test the dose math. The group converges on four mechanisms — tone, barrier, structure, defense — as the formulation backbone.
2023
Dose calibration · 800K data points.
Dr. Michael Davis (board-certified dermatologist, NYC) and Dr. Arjun Mehta (PhD, skin reverse-aging research, US-based) join the collective to lead US clinical translation and dose calibration. The team indexes ~800,000 data points from peer-reviewed literature — bioavailability curves, dose-response, drug-herb interactions. Three billion combinatorial dose configurations are simulated; ~200 surface as worth clinical review. The MDs review and reject most.
2024
Eight actives. Locked.
After 14 formulation rounds, the protocol locks: 8 actives, 4 functional complexes, every dose printed in milligrams. Three more MDs join for patient-side validation in Seoul clinics. Manufacturing partner identified: cGMP facility in California, USA.
2025
Pre-launch QA.
Final formulation tested third-party for heavy metals, microbiology, potency. COAs reviewed by formulation collective. Pineapple flavor system selected over six iterations — the only flavor that masked sulfur from L-cysteine without added sugar. Brand work begins.
2026
glo launches in the US.
Four years from the original one-page list. A protocol that started in a Seoul clinic, now available as a single 15 ml shot — pineapple, daily, $79/month.
N°02 · The MDs

Three leads.
Five on the bench.

Eight specialists — six MDs (five Korean dermatologists and plastic surgeons in Seoul + one US dermatologist) and two PhDs in skin reverse-aging research (Seoul + US). Each carries 10+ years in the field, and each signs off on every formulation revision before it ships.

Lead researcher · PhD · Seoul · 18 yrs
Dr. Tae-hoon Park
— skin reverse-aging research lead
PhD, Skin Reverse-Aging Research Lab, Seoul. 18 yrs in research. Drafted the original protocol in 2021 with the clinical collective and has overseen every formulation revision since. Focus: melanogenesis, oxidative defense, dermal collagen kinetics.
PhDSkin reverse-agingSeoul · KR
Aesthetic surgery lead · MD · Gangnam · 14 yrs
Dr. Min-jun Lee
— post-procedural recovery, aesthetic outcomes
Board-certified plastic surgeon, Gangnam. 14 yrs in clinical practice. Brings the perspective of patients who want oral support alongside clinical procedures; chairs the dose-validation committee.
MDPlastic surgeryGangnam · KR
US lead researcher · PhD · 15 yrs
Dr. Arjun Mehta
— carotenoid kinetics, US-side translation
PhD in skin reverse-aging research, US-based. 15 yrs in research. Translates the Seoul protocol for the US market; runs the dose math against US-published literature and FDA-relevant evidence standards. Co-author of the bioavailability dossier behind the <500 Da collagen rationale.
PhDSkin reverse-agingUS
Dr. Joon-ho Kim
Dermatology · Seoul · 12 yrs
Dr. Hye-jin Choi
Dermatology · Seoul · 11 yrs
Dr. Eun-jung Lim
Plastic surgery · Gangnam · 11 yrs
Dr. Ji-young Han
Dermatology · Seoul · 10 yrs
Dr. Michael Davis
Dermatology · NYC · US · 12 yrs
N°03 · The process

How 800K data points
became eight actives.

The combinatorial space of "skin longevity actives × dose × form × interaction" is too large for ten clinicians to brute-force. So we used computational tools — but the clinicians made every call.

01
The dataset
Index the literature.
~800K data points from peer-reviewed studies indexed: dose-response, bioavailability, MW absorption, drug-herb interaction matrices.
02
The search
Simulate the combinations.
3 billion configurations run: dose × ratio × MW × absorption window × interaction. Surfaces ~200 dose-stable candidates worth clinical review.
03
The judgment
Then clinicians chose.
The 8-specialist collective — 6 MDs (5 Korean clinicians + 1 US dermatologist) and 2 PhDs (skin reverse-aging research, Seoul + US) — reviewed each candidate. Rejected most. Adjusted doses against patient-side data. Signed off on the eight actives that remained.
04
The validation
Patient-side review.
14 formulation rounds. Each tested in Seoul clinics with the MDs' own patients before final lock. Adjustments made for tolerability and absorption.
N°04 · The standard

Three rules.
No exceptions.

The formulation collective writes everything against three principles. They sound simple. They eliminate roughly 95% of the candidates that come across the bench.

01
The rule of dose
Studied dose, or nothing.
If the published trial used 250 mg, we don't print 50 mg and call it the same active. Where the literature shows a range, we dose to the evidence-supported lower bound — not below it.
02
The rule of form
Studied form, or nothing.
Reduced glutathione, not oxidized. Natural astaxanthin, not synthetic racemic. Sub-500 Da collagen, not bulk. Where a trial used a specific identifiable form, we use that form.
03
The rule of label
Every milligram printed.
No proprietary blends. No "as studied in" fine print that hides a 10× dose mismatch. Every active, every milligram, on the front of the label. The label is the receipt.
From paper to protocol

Four years.
Eight actives.

The protocol Seoul's clinical dermatology practice would write for itself — now available as a single shot, daily.

Shop GL-01 → Read the science