‘I love to merge science and spirituality’: skincare maven Dr Barbara Sturm

German skincare specialist Dr Barbara Sturm who has forayed into India, talks merging science with spirituality, and why skincare is an inevitable investment

At the mere mention of retinoids, Dr Barbara Sturm is aghast, her crystal blue eyes wide with disappointment. During a virtual event ahead of the June 8 launch of Dr Barbara Sturm products on Nykaa, the internationally-acclaimed inflammatory doctor and skin specialist tells a virtual room of influencers and journalists that retinol is actually inflammatory and can do more harm than help. She does not beat around the bush when it comes to the urgent matter of skincare. “Hydrate, hydrate, hydrate,” she orders with a laugh, as she sits in her minimalist yet uber-modern home in Düsseldorf, Germany. The 49-year-old disruptor shot to fame as the doctor who helped save late NBA champion Kobe Bryant’s injured knee in a treatment that was known as ‘Kobe Procedure’. A deep appreciator of Ayurveda, Dr Sturm tells The Hindu Weekend in an email interview that her love for skincare and holistic beauty comes from — like most people — her mother, who was a chemist, and her grandmother, who was a pharmacist.