Hero Worship: Liquid Surgery Serum

Written by LAURA REGENSDORF
Illustrated by LYDIA McKEE

We often speak about word-of-mouth success, and there is arguably no better example than the German skin care brand MBR, short for Medical Beauty Research. Launched in 2000 with a trio of high-performance, pharmacy-grade formulas, the line rose to cultish prominence in the US not through celebrity faces or marketing campaigns but through top-tier aestheticians and their ultra-discerning clientele. It’s hard to choose among the fan favorites, but the Liquid Surgery Serum is the convincingly named jewel, packed with oxygenating perfluorocarbons, collagen-supportive peptides, and a Botox-like ingredient that eases microcontractions. This is investment skin care, have no doubt—but the repeat orders and see-it-to-believe-it results speak for themselves. Here’s how the star product came to rival an in-office tune-up.

THE GENESIS

When MBR’s founder, Willi Hermann Watkowiak, set out to create a skin care line, he brought along a pharmacist’s fluency in formulation with a working knowledge of healthy skin. He was in a thematically aligned place for such a project: the German spa town Bad Schlema, known for its therapeutic mineral springs. But his focus for MBR’s initial three products—an enzymatic exfoliating treatment, an elemental moisturizer, and Tissue Activator Serum—was pre- and postoperative care, with the premise that nourished, hydrated skin would help deliver a smoother recovery. The formulas were all the proof of concept that was required. Early stockists included reputable pharmacies and perfumeries, along with destination wellness spas, and soon MBR became synonymous with best-in-class skin care, every day of the year. Its reputation arrived the old-fashioned way—via personal recommendations rather than airport billboards or magazine ads—but the execution was, in classic German fashion, über-precise and forward-thinking. Watkowiak steadily expanded the line, and by the late 2000s, he returned to the idea of in-office procedures: this time, to one up them. He gave his creation a name with undeniable swagger: Liquid Surgery Serum.

THE FORMULA

As the centerpiece of the serum, Watkowiak chose an ingredient then unfamiliar in topical products: perfluorocarbons (PFCs). These chemical compounds are used in medical settings to facilitate tissue oxygenation, functioning akin to hemoglobin. Translated into an application for the skin, the PFCs continue to serve as oxygen carriers, helping to rev up cell metabolism. That’s just one piece of the bottled-up procedure, as it were. The formula also zeroes in on the collagen matrix, employing a collection of advanced peptides that spur new production while inhibiting destructive enzymes—the result being improved cushion and bounce, like a fresh fluff of the pillows. As for its comparisons to a round of Botox, that would be the Syn-Ake, a peptide modeled on the muscle-easing effects of snake venom; the tiny microcontractions that manifest as crepe-paper lines get dialed down over time. The serum is a caretaker in the present tense, too. It delivers hyaluronic acid while supporting the skin’s own production of it, and there are cocooning ceramides and shea butter, which steer the texture in a creamy, nurturing direction. In its way, it’s not so much a stand-in for a single treatment, but rather a pit crew’s coordinated assist.

THE MOMENTUM

When MBR arrived Stateside in 2015, the brand’s earliest proponents were among the most trusted voices in beauty: a group of star aestheticians mostly clustered in New York. Aida Bicaj’s namesake spa signed up to carry the line. Joanna Czech, a longtime Committee member known for her energizing slaps, was another convert. Liquid Surgery Serum landed at the top of everyone’s list—in part because, as the makeup artist Nam Vo told Allure in 2019, it was responsible for a “dewy dumpling” glow. Even so, the German brand was still a well-kept secret when it arrived last year at VIOLET GREY, drawing in new fans like the powerhouse fashion buyer Marci Hirshleifer, who found an investment serum to match her jangly stack of Cartier and Hermès bracelets. Cost is, of course, relative, when one considers the price of a bottle in relation to a dermatologist’s itemized receipt. Plus, the brand recommends Liquid Surgery Serum as a three-month course, to be cycled into a routine as a periodic skin reset. Watkowiak, who retired earlier this year, understood that it’s easier to believe the hype when it comes through a whisper network of recommendations. Still, nothing beats a before-and-after in your own mirror.