Client: Cutocin — patented oxytocin-inspired skincare line founded by Dr. Nicole Hayre, MD, FAAD (McLean, VA)
Services: PR & Media Outreach
The Challenge
Cutocin is built on real dermatological research: founder Dr. Nicole Hayre, a board-certified dermatologist and MIT graduate, published a 2020 peer-reviewed study linking oxytocin levels to visibly healthier skin, then built a skincare line around a patented botanical that mimics oxytocin’s effects. That’s a genuinely new category — “neurocosmetics” — built on real science rather than another retinol or collagen cream. Translating that clinical research into a press-ready consumer story, without an existing press kit or customer testimonials to lean on, meant starting the brand’s media presence essentially from zero.
The Approach
I built a PR-only program around translating the science into a story journalists and editors would want to run:
- Brand Voice & PR Guidelines: A documented pitch strategy built around “The Love Glow” — Cutocin’s central concept that oxytocin, the body’s bonding hormone, helps protect skin from the inside out.
- PR & Media Outreach: Ongoing pitching, bylined article development (drafted and revised with Dr. Hayre’s approval), and podcast booking and vetting.
- Placement Coordination: Working alongside a partner agency to place bylines across the beauty and wellness press.
The Results
In under a year of PR work, Cutocin has built a real body of press coverage across beauty, wellness, and national media:
Key Highlights:
- A Q&A quote placement in Women’s Health, bringing Dr. Hayre’s expertise to one of the largest names in national health media.
- A bylined feature in The Beauty Box Magazine introducing “The Love Glow” concept directly to beauty readers.
- Feature placements in Beautyation and My Face Hunter — the latter picked up and syndicated by VEXX Skincare, extending its reach beyond the original placement.
- Additional coverage in Skin Inc., Authority Magazine, Haute & Her, New York Trend NYC, and Style Beauty Health.
- A live radio appearance on LA Talk Radio that went well enough for the host to ask Dr. Hayre back on the show.
- A paid product placement in Posh Lifestyle & Beauty Blog’s summer skincare shopping edit, secured through targeted HARO pitching.
The Impact
Cutocin has gone from a clinically-backed idea with no press presence to a skincare brand with real coverage across beauty, wellness, and national health media — including a Q&A placement in Women’s Health, an outlet very few new skincare lines break into this early. Consistent pitching built on genuine scientific credibility has given Cutocin the kind of earned validation that’s difficult to manufacture any other way, laying the groundwork for the brand to keep landing bigger placements as its product line grows.