Insider Spotlight: Dr. Ingky On Sharing His Expertise In Social Media And Founding The World’s First Digital Skin Clinic

With 2.3 million likes on TikTok and 94.9k followers on Instagram, Dr. Lim Ing Kien or better known as Dr. Ingky is not your average dermatologist. This social media star is known for his creative videos in which he shared his expertise and knowledge on skincare. On top of that, Dr. Ingky is also a founder of Medii Skin Studio and SkynFyx which is touted as the world’s first digital skin clinic. Beauty Insider chats with Dr. Ingky as he shared the meaning behind his nickname and his interest in dermatology.

1. How did Medii Skin Studio and SkynFyx begin? 

Medii Skin Studio was started back in 2013 as a regular dermatology clinic. As I expanded from 1 branch to 4 branches over the span of 6 years, I realised that there is a limitation to how I can help and reach out to patients. They would have to personally consult in the clinic even though they might be staying hundreds of miles away. Hence in July 2019, while sitting down for lunch with a few friends, we concocted the idea of Skynfyx.

2. SkynFyx is the world’s first digital skin clinic, what are the inspirations behind it?

Skynfyx is to be a merge between remote consultation and personalized skin cream for my patients. This would save patients the need to travel and as well as reduce their cost of medication since we can now merge a few different medicated creams into a single bottle. Hence Skynfyx is Asia and probably the World’s First Digital Skin Clinic.

3. Can you share with our readers what sparked your interest in dermatology?

Growing up, I always struggled with acne and have spent lots of time and resources, meeting different dermatologists trying to solve my acne issue. After my acne was resolved, I discovered a love for dermatology, especially in medical school. I found that having good skin is a good confidence booster and having bad skin often leads to the feeling of shyness or even depression.

4. You’ve garnered loyal followers on social media, why did you decide to share your expertise about skincare through it? 

I’ve always wanted to help as many people as possible. I can only help 20-30 patients in my clinic per day but through social media, I can help hundreds of thousands every day!

There is also a lack of skincare knowledge in Asia. Dermatologists in Australia and the USA often share skincare tips and knowledge with their followers on social media but in Asia, it’s a taboo amongst doctors to share knowledge on social media. Hence I set out to break the taboo and stereotypes. Over the past few years, the increase of skin awareness is improving and I get hundreds of thankful messages daily from people benefitting from my skincare advice.

5. Recently you’ve launched a new product, SkynFyx 10-Minute Micro Peel. Can you explain more about it as well?

Chemical peels are an essential part of skin treatment but it is very tricky. Most home peels in the market are meant for light skinned individuals and tend to burn dark skin individuals especially those living in South East Asia. So back in 2020 during the Covid Pandemic, we received thousands of requests to create a peel for home treatment as everyone was stuck indoors. After 10 months of R&D and testing, we finally came out with the Skynfyx 10-minute Micro Peel, a safe home peel solution for Asian skin that has no downtime.

6. How do you come up with the formulation for SkynFyx and complement it with the treatments? 

A patient will firstly register at Skynfyx website regarding their concerns and answers questions regarding their skin. They then proceed to take a photo with phone cameras. The photo is then analyzed by our skin analyzer algorithm and reconfirmed by their assigned doctor. The doctor will then make a decision to choose a customized formula for the patient.

Each customized formula in Skynfyx is vigorously tested for efficiency and stability. Each individual formula is vetted out by the Australian Pharmacopoeia to make sure there are no long term side effects.

7. 5 things that people didn’t know about you?

I was a very shy person growing up. I hated crowds or speaking to people publicly until I was 20 years old.

I loved reading the encyclopedia as a teenager. I could spend hours going through the encyclopedia every day and currently, I still have tonnes of useless facts at my fingertips.

Lots of people like fancy cars or fancy watches. I actually don’t really care for them. I prefer the minimalist lifestyle approach.

My kryptonite are airline peanuts. I collect many packets of them wherever I travel and keep them as snacks. I can eat many packets of them in one seating.

The name Ingky came from a storybook when I was 7 years old about a mischievous black cat named Inky. My friends nicknamed me after the cat and the name has stuck ever since.

8.What have been your biggest career highs and your biggest career lows?

Career highs: being approached on the streets by my followers for photos. It’s fun to be appreciated for the work. Career Lows: Almost going broke in 2018 due to overexpansion (opening 2 branches in a span of 6 months).

9.What would be your ultimate dream to achieve with SkynFyx?

The aim for Skynfyx is to be listed on NASDAQ one day as a ‘unicorn’ (valuation of more than USD 1 billion).

10. Any tips on how to take care of the skin during the pandemic? 

Keep Skincare Simple: cleanse, moisturize, and sunscreen. If nothing works, talk to me on Skynfyx.com.

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