After studying business and economics at university in Singapore, Sabrina took her first job in tech, in a business development role. Over the years she found the frequent work travel stressed her eczema-prone skin.

Highly allergic to substances like dyes, and affected by changes in the weather, Sabrina was frustrated and wanted solutions. Seeing her two young children also battle with eczema forced her into action.

“I thought this is crazy, we have to outsmart our skincare routine. The moment I skipped a step, it acts up again.

“I decided to take the matter into my own hands.”

So in 2007, she set off on a fact-finding mission to Japan. Sabrina wanted to search one of the world’s biggest beauty markets for answers to why so many products had failed her.

“I started to talk to chemists and scientists. I went to drugstores, to beauty counters.”

The Japanese, she discovered, were passionate about ingredients. Eventually she found a lab that understood her hope of creating skincare products tailored to individual needs.

The trip to Japan gave her confidence to place a huge bet on that vision.

Her husband thought it was an “interesting idea”, Sabrina remembers, but wondered how she was going to cope with two young kids.

Still, she was determined, and they both quit their jobs and sank their life savings into the company. Sabrina says she wanted to “give it her all” or she would always wonder “what if?”