About Vellum
A clean beauty brand built on a single rule.
Vellum was founded in 2019 in a 400-square-foot lab in Echo Park by two cosmetic chemists and a board-certified derm. The rule: every product earns its place on the shelf — or it doesn't get to the shelf.
Lena Park and Marisol Kim met at a Los Angeles cosmetic chemistry conference in 2017. Lena was the lead formulator at a venture- backed indie brand; Marisol was the technical lead at a Korean dermatology lab. Over coffee they realized they had been quietly making the same complaint for years: skincare was either driven by marketing claims with no clinical backing, or quietly using clinically validated actives at sub-effective doses.
They founded Vellum in 2019 with $80,000, a 400-square-foot lab in Echo Park, and a board-certified derm advisor (Dr. Amani Brooks, who is still on staff). The rule, then and now: every formula uses active ingredients at the clinically studied dose, the percentage is printed on the front of the bottle, and every launch goes through six rounds of testing before it ships.
Today Vellum is still founder-owned. The lab is bigger — 6,200 square feet, three formulators, four lab technicians — but it is still in Echo Park. Every batch is mixed, filled, and labeled in the same building. We ship from a single warehouse in Vernon, twelve miles south. Most orders leave within four hours of being placed.
Vellum has been featured in Allure, Vogue,Harper’s Bazaar, Byrdie, and WWD. We are Leaping Bunny certified, Climate Neutral Certified, and a B-Corp candidate (final audit in Q3). Three of our products have won Allure Best of Beauty. We answer hello@vellumbeauty.co within four business hours.
Formulated in Los AngelesOur promise
Backed by science,
formulated with care.
Vellum’s lab is in Echo Park. Every formula goes through six rounds of clinical testing, two consumer in-use studies, and a board-certified derm review before it ships. Then it goes through yours.
1,800-ingredient screen. We exclude every ingredient on the EU restricted list — even where US law still allows it.
Clinically active dosages. We list the % of every active on the front of the bottle. If it’s under the studied threshold, it doesn’t go in.
Recyclable, refillable glass. Refills ship in 92% post-consumer paper. The bottle stays in your cabinet for the next ten years.
Our six standards
Six commitments we won’t bend on.
Every Vellum customer gets the same six things, on every order, regardless of cart size or product category.
Print the percentage
Active ingredient % is printed on the front of every bottle. If we can't list it, we don't include it.
Clinically active doses
Every active is dosed at the clinically studied threshold or higher. Sub-effective doses are marketing, not skincare.
Six rounds before launch
In-lab testing, two consumer in-use trials, a derm review, a sensitive-skin panel, stability testing, and a final batch audit.
60-day risk-free returns
Try it for two months. If your skin doesn't love it — empty bottle or not — we refund the full purchase.
Refillable, recyclable glass
Every Vellum bottle is post-consumer recyclable. Refills ship in 92% post-consumer paper.
Carbon-neutral shipping
Every order is carbon-offset, every facility runs on 100% renewable energy. Climate Neutral Certified since 2022.
“The rare indie brand whose product actually delivers on the packaging.”
“The Radiance Serum is the first product in my entire life that visibly evened my skin tone. I’m on bottle four. The pump is a small joy every morning.”
Jordan M.
“Sensitive, reactive, postpartum skin — Cushion Cream is the only moisturizer I’ve been able to use daily without a single flare in five months.”
Emily V.
“I have a cabinet of $200 cleansing balms and the Marble one out-performs every single one. The texture, the rinse-off, the no-residue. Cult product.”
Priya R.
As seen in
The Vellum Circle
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