Eighth Day founder Dr. Antony Nakhla is betting that “science is the new luxury.”
The entrepreneur/physician is positioning his clinically driven skin care brand at the intersection of medical efficacy and high-end experience as consumer demand shifts toward preventative, results-oriented treatments.
“I come to skin care wearing several hats,” said Nakhla, a dermatologist and dermatologic surgeon with about 16 years in private practice, working across Beverly Hills and Newport Beach, Calif., and New York’s Upper East Side. His background, spanning skin cancer treatment, aesthetics and clinical research, directly informed the brand’s creation.
Nakhla built Eighth Day with a broader vision than the typical doctor-branded line. “I decided early on not to become an eponymous brand or to try to create another doctor brand, but rather create a brand that could live on and that was based on my beauty philosophy, which is very simple,” he said. “It’s that you look best when you look like yourself.”
The brand name itself reflects that mission. “Eighth Day is the idea of renewal, the notion that something new is about to begin.…It’s about unlocking your own potential, moving into the next chapter,” he said.
Nakhla saw a white space in the contrast between clinical formulations, which “worked” but lacked sensorial appeal, and the marketing-heavy luxury segment, where ingredients like caviar, 24-karat gold and diamond powder dominate storytelling but lack biological relevance.
“The body doesn’t recognize these things,” he said.
Eighth Day aims to bridge the gap with bioidentical science.
“We speak the language of skin,” Nakhla said, describing the use of molecules that mirror those naturally found in the body. “When the human body recognizes the molecules that it’s being treated with, it then does what it does best. It thrives. It’s building collagen and elastin. It’s actually healing itself.”
At the core of Eighth Day is its proprietary technology, a “Peptide-rich Plasma” complex composed of 24 bioidentical synthetic peptides, growth factors and amino acids, which has received patents in both the U.S. and South Korea.
According to Nakhla, plastic surgery volumes have remained relatively flat over the past 20 years, while minimally invasive procedures have increased about eightfold and med spas have grown roughly sixfold. Preventative treatments are also on the rise, with usage among consumers aged 25 to 35 increasing about 45 percent in recent years. “The implication here is that the customer’s evolving from this idea of correction to maintenance,” he said.
Eighth Day is targeting needs tied to trends like GLP-1 usage, which can accelerate facial fat loss. One innovation, based on the amino acid L-ornithine, “reduces skin fat loss by up to 29 percent,” Nakhla said. Another focuses on NAD-plus for “cellular renewal and DNA repair,” tapping into the growing longevity category.
“The goal isn’t to change skin, it’s to help it function at its highest potential,” he said.
Looking ahead, Nakhla sees continued momentum in science-backed luxury as consumers become more educated and results-focused. “The luxury customer is less interested in this idea of fantastical storytelling, but more so in results and in real science,” he said.