§ Claim under review · Mixed
"De-influencing you on #drmelaxin. For context, #rhode was acquired for $1BN after hitting $200M — these are enormous numbers. What's most scary is I can't tell what's real or fake anymore. All I can do is tell you what's sus. This brand? SUS. TY @monica.raviii and @james_s_welsh for making videos on this!! #skincare #deinfluencing"
Verdict
Unverified
Confidence
MediumSummary
This post correctly describes the Rhode sale. Reporting from May 2025 says e.l.f. Beauty bought Rhode in a deal valued at up to $1 billion, and that Rhode had $212 million in net sales in the year to 31 March 2025. The main point of the post, that the Korean brand Dr.Melaxin is suspicious, is not something that can be checked, because the post does not say what the brand is supposed to have done. Dr.Melaxin is a real, marketed Korean skincare brand sold through established retailers. I found no recall, no regulator safety action and no published study about its products, and I also found no confirmation of the separate claim by another creator that the brand edited its before and after photos. That allegation remains an allegation. Before and after images and creator videos are not proof in either direction, so at this point the honest answer is that the brand's advertising claims are untested in the public record rather than shown to be false.
The readings
key figures from the evidenceRhode acquisition deal value by e.l.f. Beauty
Rhode net sales, twelve months to 31 Mar 2025
Dr.Melaxin TikTok account follower count
Why this verdict
Evidence
On Rhode: e.l.f. Beauty announced on 28 May 2025 that it was acquiring Hailey Bieber's Rhode in a deal reported as valued at up to $1 billion, with CNBC and CNN describing the structure as an upfront consideration in cash and stock plus a performance-linked earnout. Reporting carrying Associated Press copy states Rhode had $212 million in net sales in the twelve months ended 31 March 2025.
On Dr.Melaxin: the brand is a real, marketed South Korean skincare line. It appears on the Korean review platform Hwahae, on Korean export retailers, and its products are transcribed into independent ingredient databases including SkinSort and SkinSAFE. Its TikTok account lists roughly 920,000 followers. The brand's own web properties market a "Peel Shot" ampoule around "Bio-Spicules," described as needle-like structures from hydrolysed sponge that create micro-channels in skin, and use the phrase "liquid microneedling." Those are the brand's statements about itself, not findings.
I found no recall notice, no regulator safety alert, no enforcement action and no peer-reviewed study about Dr.Melaxin products in this check's searching. I also found no primary evidence that any before and after image used by the brand was altered. The photoshop allegation exists as a creator video, which is an allegation rather than a verified finding.
Findings
✓ What's accurate 5
- Rhode was acquired by e.l.f. Beauty in a transaction announced on 28 May 2025 and widely reported at a headline value of $1 billion.
- Rhode's net sales were $212 million in the twelve months ended 31 March 2025, so "after hitting $200M" is a fair rounding of the reported figure.
- Dr.Melaxin is a real, commercially active South Korean skincare brand with products carried by Korean export retailers and transcribed into independent ingredient databases.
- A video by @james_s_welsh criticising Dr.Melaxin does exist, and its caption includes an allegation that the brand photoshopped before and after photos. The post's credit to that creator is accurate.
- The brand's own marketing does make strong mechanical statements about its Peel Shot product, including that spicules penetrate the skin and create micro-channels, and the phrase "liquid microneedling."
≈ What's misleading 5
- The headline proposition, that the brand is "sus," states no fact. A reader is left to infer wrongdoing from a word that cannot be checked against anything. Nothing in the post identifies what the brand is alleged to have done.
- The Rhode figures are used as framing rather than as evidence about Dr.Melaxin. One brand's sale price has no bearing on whether another brand's marketing is truthful, and placing the two together invites a connection the post never supports.
- Credits to two creator videos are offered where a reader might read them as verification. A creator alleging that images were edited is an allegation. No independent or regulatory confirmation of image alteration was found.
- The deal was reported as valued "up to" $1 billion, with part of the consideration contingent on future performance. "Was acquired for $1BN" drops that condition. This is a small simplification, not a material one, since major outlets also used the $1 billion headline.
- The brand's "liquid microneedling" and "pore erasing" language appears on its own commercial pages. Marketing wording of this kind is not evidence that the product does what it describes, in either direction.
? What's uncertain 4
- Whether any Dr.Melaxin before and after image was digitally altered. No primary comparison, forensic analysis, regulator finding or company response was located.
- Whether hydrolysed sponge spicules are present at a meaningful level in the specific viral Peel Shot variants. The publicly transcribed ingredient list I could see for the Black Rice ampoule did not surface hydrolysed sponge among its leading ingredients, and concentration data is not published.
- Whether the brand's efficacy claims hold up. No clinical trial, split-face study or systematic review of any Dr.Melaxin product was found, which means its performance claims are untested in the published record rather than disproved.
- Whether the storefronts at drmelaxinbeauty.com are operated by the Korean brand itself or by a reseller. The relationship was not established, which matters because much of the strongest marketing language sits there.
Sources
6 of 9 linked to recordsCNBC, "E.l.f. Beauty to acquire Hailey Bieber skincare brand Rhode in deal valued up to $1 billion," 28 May 2025
Associated Press copy via ClickOnDetroit, 29 May 2025
CNN Business, 28 May 2025
SkinSort INCI listing, Dr.Melaxin Peel Shot Exfoliant Black Rice Ampoule (42 ingredients, listed beginning Oryza Sativa Bran Water, Dipropylene Glycol, Water)
SkinSAFE ingredient listings for several Dr.Melaxin Peel Shot variants
Hwahae (Korean review platform) brand page; StyleKorean, YesStyle, koreanskincare.com retailer pages
TikTok, @james_s_welsh, video 7584724089491836182, alleging the brand photoshops before and after photos
drmelaxinbeauty.com and shop.drmelaxinbeauty.com marketing pages describing "Bio-Spicules" that "physically penetrate the skin," "liquid microneedling," and "pore erasing"
millennialhawk.com review page stating the brand was founded in 2021