Meet Dr. Xi Huang – Science’s Iron Man
It began with over 125 years of scientific research pointing to the negative impacts of excess iron on aging.
It spurred an intense curiosity that
quickly became an obsession. And then inspired a deep sense of purpose.
Dr. Xi has devoted his career to
studying the negative impacts of too much iron in the body. Upon further study in women, Dr. Xi found that following during and post menopause and the cessation of menstruation (an additional means of removing excess iron from the body), skin faces an increased challenge for the removal of excess iron. Dr. Xi investigated how these increased iron levels contribute to the manifestation of accelerated skin aging after menopause as opposed to estrogen deficiency – commonly regarded as the main causative factor.

Research revealed that this iron overload is in fact a key driver of destructive free radicals that do great visible damage to the skin.
While Cosmetic Science has long understood this concern, until now, it has been inadequately addressed with no solution.
Dr. Xi’s dedication to ongoing research
on the impact of excess iron has resulted in a breakthrough technology for a full range of differentiated “age disrupting” cosmetic skincare products to finally address the problem.
Until now there has been no safe solution. FE:I Beauty Tech’s Patented De-Ironizing Inducer, known as DII®, is the solution.
Today, Dr. Xi’s ultimate mission is to help achieve skin’s healthiest appearance.
More About Dr. Xi
Dr. Xi’s early work—for which he earned master’s and PhD degrees in toxicology and applied pharmacology at the Université Paris VII—focused on environmental and occupational medicine in which he identified bioavailable iron in coals as a major active compound in black lung disease. It is in this work that Dr. Huang made the important discovery that calcite naturally found in certain coals, such as those from Utah and Colorado, inhibits the bioavailability of iron, resulting in lower incidence of black lung disease. This discovery of a compound able to safely inhibit the harmful effects of iron helped lead to the creation of DII® Technology.
In addition to leading FE:I Beauty Tech, Dr. Huang is an active participant in the research and innovation on communities. He has been a reviewer for more
than 80 peer-reviewed journals, including the Lancet, Proceedings of the National Academy of Science and Cancer Research. He also serves as the chief technology officer of Ex Vivo Dynamics, Inc., where he guides the development of a medical device that will improve blood transfusions
Forget birthdays. Aging is not chronological. It’s biological.
You can deny birthdays all you like, but that won’t stop them from happening. Counting them adds up to your chronological age.
While our birthdays are beyond our control and years will go by, today, advanced science suggests that skin’s biological aging can be disrupted. By improving how well it faces daily challenges. And helping intercept and inhibit free radical damage before it occurs.
It’s not science fiction. Today it is scientific fact.
Welcome to the brave new world of biological aging. Biological Age is a measure indicated by how well your cells function over time. Diet, exercise, sleep, stress, life habits and attitude all can affect our biological age. As well as the cumulative effect of exposure to sunlight and environmental factors, which trigger free radicals and oxidative stress.
Here’s a hot flash you probably haven’t heard before.
One more factor that accelerates biological aging in women is menopause. Estrogen deficiency has long been the focus of menopausal conversations, research and interventions. And estrogen dips have long been recognized as the primary cause of the menopausal symptoms, such as hot flashes and insomnia.
But that’s not the whole story.
Whereas estrogen decreases by as much as 90% (according to NIH) because of the cessation of ovarian function, it is not the only reason menopause is a time of extremes. Ovulation decline leads to an overload of the very element that makes us strong and resilient.
Iron.
And therein lies the unaddressed problem.
You see, while iron is crucial for our body’s healthy physiological functions, in excess it can be extremely damaging. Our bodies naturally eliminate excess iron through menstruation and exfoliation. With the cessation of menstruation, we lose the natural ability to eliminate excess iron through monthly blood loss.
Iron overload as a result of the cessation of menstruation after menopause is possibly the most important underrecognized determinant of visible skin aging
You’re not aging. You’re rusting.
Iron overload, when exposed to environmental factors, creates free radicals that cause oxidative stress.
Oxidative stress begets skin-aging yellowing, dullness, dinginess, dark spots and discolorations. Much like rust on metal, iron’s reaction with oxygen causes oxidative stress to the skin. (If you’ve ever seen a rusty bicycle, you know the corrosive damage the environment has on metal.)
The amount of iron that can accumulate on skin’s surface can increase by as much as 42% during the 10-year transition period from pre-menopause to post- menopause. Menopausal skin is more sensitive to environmental factors due to an overload of iron. This can lead to an increase in the appearance of wrinkles, discoloration, loss of elasticity, and other signs of aging.
Until now, skin’s best defense against this damage has been antioxidants. But, they only attempt to fight oxidative stress by neutralizing free radicals in the skin.
The radical new approach.
It’s been half a century since the Free Radical Theory first proposed that free radical reactions are the cause of the aging, damage and death of all living things.
Just to recap, free radicals are naturally-occurring, unstable extra electrons that seek out other extra electrons from healthy cells, damaging them and creating more free radicals in the process.
Over the years, skincare experts have been neutralizing skin-damaging free radicals with a laundry list of antioxidant ingredients. With only temporary success. You see, neutralizing only renders free radicals inactive…for a time. Every day, skin is repeatedly bombarded by sunlight, air pollutants and irritants from a multitude of sources. This stop-start cycle may be good enough for young skin. But as you enter perimenopause, then menopause, and post menopause, the skin is overwhelmed by the presence of free-radical unleashing iron.
It’s a vicious cycle. With little progress made. And once the damage is done, it’s an uphill battle just to get back to neutral.
Get your skin out of neutral.
Now the world’s leading authority on iron and skin, Dr. Xi Huang, has developed i-On® Age Disrupting Skincare with DII® Technology, the only cosmetic skincare today that actually helps stop the oxidative process before it starts by disrupting the formation of iron producing free radicals.