Dr. Barbara Sturm Offers Healing from the Inside Out

Dr. Barbara Sturm: photographed by Jung Kim.

Cult status in the beauty world is highly sought after and rarely achieved—unless you’re Dr. Barbara Sturm and her line of Molecular Cosmetics products. According to the doctor, who is based in Düsseldorf, Germany, the key to all the success is performance. “People use my products and then look in the mirror,” she says. “When people see results, they become very loyal to the skincare products delivering those results,” she explains.

It’s now been 17 years since Dr. Sturm launched her blood protein-based cream named MC1, which draws on a patient’s blood to create a custom-blended moisturizer. It’s based on the “Kobe [Bryant] Procedure”—a principle Dr. Sturm helped pioneer years before—which proves a patient’s blood cells can help kick-start the healing process. As her career progressed, the doctor found herself faced with one question: “What skincare routine would effectively support my treatments?” Unimpressed with luxury skincare products that were packed with toxic ingredients and skin-killing fragrance, Dr. Sturm set out to do something about it. “I decided to create my own line and worked with anti-inflammatory scientists from Harvard and the Universities of Miami and Pittsburgh on ingredient science and anti-aging cellular protection,” she says. So her line expanded, and the rest, as they say, is history.

Dr. Sturm is also a strong believer in the power of supplements. “People do not always get what they need from their diets,” she explains of her decision to create a line of skin and health-boosting supplements. “In general, there is a correlation between certain vitamins and other biologically active supplements and skin quality,” she says. “If your vitamin
A is depleted, for example, your cell regeneration will be poor, and the result will be dry, flaky skin.” These days, Dr. Sturm is continuing to make headlines for her cutting-edge skincare techniques. Most recently, she’s made waves around the world as the brains behind the “vampire facial” beloved by Kim Kardashian. “The vampire facial uses specially treated blood proteins that increase the growth factor and anti-inflammatory proteins in blood 140 times,” she says of the treatment, which is in high demand. And the results? As with the rest of her products, they’re bloody good too.