🧃 The Science of Skin Longevity - Dr. Sarina Elmariah Co-Founder of Aramore

Why skin longevity isn’t about magic creams it is about fueling your cells. How we need to rethink skincare from a problem-solution issue to focusing on cellular function.

In this series, I’m chatting with insiders across beauty, retail, wellness, and investing — the ones in the trenches. This isn’t your typical “tell me how you did it” interview. I’m asking ✨ what you wish you knew, 😬 what got messy, 👀 what people never see - hoping to provide deeper insight into what often looks seamless from the outside.

Each conversation follows a 5-question format, plus two recurring bonus questions I ask every guest. If there is someone you think would be great for this series (or you), message me 😊.

---

Longevity is having a moment. In beauty, it’s increasingly replacing “anti-aging” as the industry’s preferred lens shifting the conversation from erasing signs of age to preserving the health, function, and resilience of skin over time. More brands than ever are making skin-longevity claims, and NAD+ has emerged as one of the most talked-about ingredients in the space.

I recently connected with Dr. Sarina Elmariah board-certified dermatologist, neuroscientist, and co-founder of Aramore (a skincare brand built around NAD+) to dig into the difference between marketing and science in longevity skincare. Our conversation unpacked how NAD+ fuels cellular energy, why a systems-level approach is more powerful than chasing individual concerns, and what realistic timelines for change really look like.

For Sarina, skin longevity is about strengthening the whole system, not just targeting one flaw a reframing that challenges how many of us think about skincare and the beauty industry as a whole.

Dr. Sarina Elmariah Co-Founder of Aramore

🔴 JUICY BYTE: NAD+ and cellular energy are at the heart of Aramore. For those less familiar, can you explain how boosting NAD+ supports overall skin function and why that’s a more powerful strategy than targeting symptoms like wrinkles or pigmentation?

🔵 Sarina: When we talk about healthy skin, we have to start at the cellular level. Every cell in your body, including your skin cells, depends on NAD+ to produce the energy it needs. NAD+ fuels every cellular process, from repairing DNA to producing collagen to maintaining a strong skin barrier. The problem is, NAD+ declines naturally as we age, and that energy loss is the root cause of visible and invisible aging. Without adequate energy, cells can’t function optimally, no matter how many topical ingredients you apply.

We developed a proprietary NAD+ Complex designed to reach skin’s stem cells, which are responsible for cellular differentiation. In this way, we’re addressing the source of cellular aging, not the symptoms. Instead of chasing wrinkles or pigmentation after they appear, we’re giving skin the energy to repair, renew, and protect itself, working with your natural biology, so skin stays healthier, stronger, and more resilient over time.

🔴 JUICY BYTE: You’ve compared skin longevity to exercise it’s not about fixing one flaw but strengthening the whole system. What does that look like in practice at the cellular level, and how does that shift how we should approach skincare?

🔵 Sarina: Just like we don’t go to the gym to train one muscle in isolation, we shouldn’t approach skin with a problem/solution mindset. Skin longevity is about optimizing the health and function of the entire cellular ecosystem, knowing that when we restore overall structure and skin performance, we improve resiliency against the factors that provoke issues like hyperpigmentation, wrinkles, sagging, redness, and irritation.

At the cellular level, that means preserving energy production in the mitochondria, maintaining healthy DNA repair mechanisms, reducing chronic inflammation, and supporting structural proteins like collagen and elastin. It’s a systems biology approach—strengthen the core machinery, and everything else improves. And just like exercise, the earlier we start in life, the better the long-term benefits.

🔴 JUICY BYTE: The terms “anti-aging” and “longevity” are often used interchangeably. From your perspective, is that a helpful distinction—or just a matter of marketing semantics?

🔵 Sarina: I think there is absolutely an element of marketing at play, but I do believe that distinction is meaningful, and it influences how I approach skin care.

"Anti-aging," to me, focuses on masking the visible signs of aging for aesthetic purposes, often through superficial or short-term interventions. It’s reactive. On the other hand, focusing on "longevity" reflects an investment in optimal aging, the preservation of youthful skin function and health—it’s proactive. Anti-aging focuses on aesthetic results first without considering root cause, and longevity focuses on health first and aesthetic outcomes as a result of better cellular function. 

In medicine, we think of longevity in terms of preserving our natural cellular health, function, and integrity. Skin is no different. You can’t meaningfully extend skin longevity unless you address the root causes of cellular decline, like mitochondrial dysfunction, oxidative stress, senescence, and more.

🔴 JUICY BYTE: In a culture obsessed with quick fixes, you’ve emphasized that skin improvement takes time. What’s the realistic timeline for seeing changes when you work at the cellular level, and how should people recalibrate their expectations?

🔵 Sarina: Your skin renews itself on a cycle which involves generating new cells, allowing these to mature and make the right connections with neighboring cells. This is how you make a strong, healthy barrier. On average, that happens every 28 days when you’re young, but that rate slows with age. So even if you’re pursuing a regimen that truly improves cellular function, you won’t see the impact immediately. Think of it more like training your skin to behave in a healthier, more youthful way—not unlike building strength or endurance in your body. Like I said, it’s a lot like investing in an exercise regimen. 

Many skincare products promise immediate results. Often what you see is simply a reflection of temporarily replacing moisture in the skin. And while this is a good thing, it doesn’t fundamentally change the integrity or the function of the skin. It’s a short-term plumping effect. What you want to do is help reinforce the skin so it retains more moisture and remains firmer just by being healthier. 

Realistically, most people will see subtle changes like improvements in texture, hydration, or evenness within 4 to 6 weeks. But the more profound changes, like visible increases in firmness or reduction in deep lines, may take 12 weeks or longer. And those changes are typically cumulative. It takes time, but it also builds lasting resilience.

🔴 JUICY BYTE: You’ve spoken about how NAD+ boosters are powerful but it’s not just about having the right ingredient at the right percentage. Can you unpack why the blend, delivery system, and bioavailability matter just as much as what’s on the ingredient list and how that shapes Aramore’s formulation strategy?

🔵 Sarina: You’re exactly right. It’s not just about the right ingredient and right percentage, although that’s still key. It’s about the right ingredient being delivered in the right package at the right time. NAD+ precursors are incredibly promising for skin health, but it is simply not enough to just include them in any formula. They require a specific delivery system to be effectively taken up and put to work by your cells. You have to deliver them with the right supporting ingredients, or they simply won’t do the work. My fellow co-founder Dr. Anna Mandinova developed a proprietary complex that combines NAD+ precursors with ketones and fatty acids that enable precursors to successfully penetrate the skin to reach the epidermal cells. 

At Aramore, our strategy centers on systems biology and synergy. That means we’re not just formulating with isolated actives, we’re combining ingredients that work together to support cellular metabolism, reduce inflammation, and restore structural integrity. It’s a precision approach. We want to ensure the biology works in the real world, not just in a petri dish.

🌟🌟🌟BONUS ROUND🌟🌟🌟

🔴 JUICY BYTE: What’s a product you resisted buying... and now you can’t live without?

🔵 The Aramore Team: As you'd probably expect, the team at Aramore is very wellness-minded, but a number of folks were on the fence about adding in wearable biometric gadgets for fear of information overload. Consider us now all converts and passionate advocates for the Oura Ring. From our CEO Melisse Shaban, "It’s become my quiet accountability partner, helping me tune into my body’s rhythms, optimize my sleep, and actually listen when I need rest. Now, slipping it off feels like leaving my wellness compass behind."

🔴 JUICY BYTE: What’s a brand you’re low-key obsessed with right now — and why?

🔵 The Aramore Team: We LOVE what the team at Graza has built, elevating an everyday pantry staple into the funnest part of our kitchen counter lineup. In addition to offering outright delicious olive oils, we're huge fans of their brand identity and their eco-conscious packaging shifts. And have you tried their potato chips?! 

---

Thank you for reading along!

💡 Stay tuned for more!

- Anne