Building a Skincare Management Tool aka Why I Now Deeply Respect Developers

When I first thought about building a skincare app, my thoughts went something like this, "How hard could building a basic app really be?" (Cue foreshadowing music.) After all, it’s just routines, a dash of tracking, maybe throw in a product compatibility checker, and voilà! Easy peasy…right?

Spoiler alert, my friends: It is not.

The real-real is that I'm having coding challenges, and my own naivety about how hard "building cool things" actually is.

Developer Appreciation Station 💻

Confession time. Before embarking on this skincare app adventure, I thought developers just kinda sat around...typing stuff. Oh, the arrogance.

One week into trying to build a basic feature, I realized development is basically like trying to write poetry—in a foreign language, with zero room for interpretative errors.

Take our product compatibility checker, for example. The feature was supposed to be "simple." You know, detect when someone’s trying to mix retinol and vitamin C, then slap on a warning like, "Retinol and vitamin C - DO NOT MIX!" Easy peasy, right?

Wrong.

I had to consider logic for every possible combination of routine products across AM/PM use and account for exceptions (because some formulas DO work together. Chemistry!). One teeny error in the code, and the tool could end up scaring people off perfectly good products.

Not to be dramatic, but developers might as well be wizards.

Why Skincare Apps Are Deceptively Complex

Here’s the thing about skincare routines. They’re not just "morning, evening, done." Nope. Every skincare habit is a matrix of layers, frequency, and environmental factors, not to mention the famed retinol-vs-sun duo.

Layering Products Is Chaos

Routines often look like this:

• AM products? Lightweight serums, day-friendly actives, sunscreen.

• PM products? Heavy-duty treatments, actives that need rest time, overnight creams.

There's also variation in how often things are applied. Retinol, for example, shouldn't be slapped on daily for everyone. Cue the app having to track whether users are burning their skin barrier or actually adhering to safe usage.

Correlation Versus Causation

Skincare journaling sounds cute, but handing users "meaningful feedback" is a baby beast. Did that breakout happen because of the new serum, the weather, or the three slices of pizza? The app can't know.

Still, these insights are gold. We can start tracking results that matter, like figuring out that our "bad days" always coincide with skipping moisturizer.

The Product Management Reality Check

Now, about creating a product management feature for the app. Enter my proud moment of designing our basic product screen. It’s clean, functional, with a clickable modal (dev talk incoming!) that reveals details like "rest time" and warnings.

For example:

• Retinol used in the evening? Perfect.

• Retinol mixed directly with benzoyl peroxide? Red triangle alert!! 🚨 (Don’t do it!)

Sounds straightforward, right? Except, it took forever to build. Why?

Every skincare ingredient had to be categorized, then the code tested, and re-tested. Plus, explaining coding requirements to an endlessly patient IDE was practically a full-time job. Science is hard ya'll!

What Really Matters in Skincare (And Why It’s Hard to Code)

After weeks of building, coding, and testing this app, the biggest “aha moment” wasn’t technical. It was realizing the fundamentals of skincare are:

1. Consistency.

2. Simplicity.

3. Knowing your own skin.

What’s tricky is capturing those principles in an app without bloating it with features or oversimplifying routines. It’s all about balance.

And while data tracking helps uncover patterns (e.g., "Uh, stop skipping sunscreen"), turning subjective experiences like "skin feels fresher" into useful app feedback? That’s no walk in the park.

Why We’re Building This Despite The Difficulties

Despite bruises to my ego and some late-night self-doubt, one thing is clear—we’re onto something exciting here. Building this app isn’t about creating "another skincare app." It’s about helping people demystify how products work, track habits vs results, and ultimately feel more confident about their routines.

If you’ve made it this far, congrats! You’ll love what we’re rolling out next. Better customization. Stronger product info. And yes, more insights to answer age-old questions like, "Is it safe to layer this with that?"

Until then, remember:

• Respect your developers. Always.

• Respect your skin barrier. Always.

And hey, if you’re curious about this app I’ve been sweating over, stay tuned or send me an email to get on the beta list!