Driven by a desire to understand what skin truly needs to stay healthy, not just cosmetically enhanced, Susan Mickan immersed herself in scientific research on skin function. After completing an organic skincare formulation diploma, she set out to strip everything back and focus on ingredients that nourish the skin, mitigate oxidation and support its regenerative functions rather than compromise them. At the heart of Vitis V is linoleic acid, an essential fatty acid fundamental to skin barrier health, repair and resilience, paired with powerful antioxidant polyphenols sourced from unfermented Australian grapeseeds. With a short shelf life and a refusal to compromise for scale, the brand stands for something increasingly rare in skincare: honesty, education and trust – values that resonate deeply with parents seeking safer, simpler choices for themselves and their families.
The Passion: What inspired you to set up your business?
It started with scepticism about commercial skincare and one simple question: If essential oils make up only 1% of a product, and fragrance is harmful to skin function, what exactly is the other 99%?
Vitis V began with months of reading scientific papers on skin function. This was during Covid and lockdowns; I wanted to understand what skin truly needs to stay healthy, not just what the cosmetics industry wants us to believe.
That research led me to linoleic acid, an essential fatty acid the skin absolutely needs for barrier structure, cell turnover, repair, sebum composition, suppleness, and hydration. In biology, essential means the body either cannot produce the nutrient at all or cannot produce enough for function – it must be supplied through diet or topical application. Without linoleic acid, the skin simply cannot function.
Linoleic acid is the predominant polyunsaturated fatty acid in our skin, and youthful skin contains a higher percentage. It is the “active” that is a non-negotiable when it comes to skin function. Linoleic acid in the skin is not passive; it is a signalling molecule directing how cells respond within the skin.
At the same time, I connected something fundamental: much of what we call “ageing” is oxidation. As a winemaker for decades, oxidation chemistry is something I understand well. In wine, we use polyphenols (tannins) to mitigate oxidation. Grapeseeds are rich in both linoleic acid and antioxidant polyphenols, including super antioxidant proanthocyanidins. The connection was immediate. Nature had already perfected the raw materials for skincare.
After 35 years in the wine industry, I knew the Australian wine sector intimately and understood how and where to source exceptional, unfermented grapeseeds and how to protect their natural integrity. I had gone back to the past (grapeseed oil was only for the use of royalty in the 14th century) and paired that with modern scientific understanding.
The Launch: How did you start out in the beginning?
Vitis V was born out of frustration.
After completing an organic skincare formulation diploma, I realised the industry’s focus was entirely on product attributes – texture, slip, scent – and the use of ingredients for marketing claims, not on what the skin needs to function optimally. I have always been sceptical of long ingredient lists and unpronounceable chemicals, in both food and personal care.
I wanted to strip everything back to the truly bio-essential – ingredients that nourish the skin, mitigate oxidation and support its regenerative functions rather than compromise them.
Once I understood the skin’s essential need for linoleic acid and the role oxidation plays in visible ageing, I realised the wine industry was throwing away a highly valuable natural resource: unfermented grapeseeds.
I could not use commercial grapeseed oil. It is a highly processed by-product extracted only after fermentation and distillation usually with the known carcinogen hexane and is heated several times up to 250°C during processing. It is subjected to processing including degumming, deodorising, bleaching and filtration.
It’s what I call a zombie oil – industrial processing strips away the valuable phytonutrients in the pursuit of long shelf life, leaving something that doesn’t resemble the original plant. Food fraud in oils is also widespread; a UC Davis study in 2020 found 82% of avocado oil on the market was either rancid or not avocado oil at all.
To conduct meaningful human trials (only ever on human friends, NEVER animals), we imported German cold-press equipment and began producing our own raw, unfermented grapeseed oil and white grapeseed extract.
Early trials on volunteers aged 32 to 72 delivered remarkable results: smoother, calmer, brighter, more even-toned and more hydrated, resilient skin. We spent 12 months perfecting the extract ratios.
That was the moment I knew: The science was sound, and nature, when protected, is extraordinarily effective.
Vitis V is built on the connection between skin biology and the regenerative power of nature. Skincare doesn’t need to be complex to be brilliant. Nature does the work; my job was to protect the phytonutrients and deliver it in a synergistic matrix that has come to be known as Vitis V Face TonIQ. Decades of winemaking experience were invaluable here. Winemaking is a science degree, and I was able to redirect the science from winemaking to skincare.
The Innovation: What was the biggest breakthrough for you?
The real breakthrough came when I knew that cosmetic formulation or chemical engineering was not going to be part of my ethos, and I started thinking like a biologist.
When we delivered linoleic acid in its unprocessed, bioavailable form, supported by multiple sources of unadulterated antioxidants, especially the super-antioxidant proanthocyanidins, skin of all types and all ages responded exactly as it’s designed to: by rebalancing, regenerating, restructuring and restoring itself.
Skincare should not be cosmetic. It should not be full of petrochemicals, preservatives, emulsifiers, synthetics and fragrance. It needs to be nutritional.
Topical linoleic acid, delivered in a synergistic matrix, is a viable and profoundly effective way of supporting true skin health and is essential for all.
Vitis V is the abbreviation of Vitis Vinifera, the Latin name for grape vines – the source of the two powerful natural ingredients in Vitis V Face TonIQ. A tonic because it is a preparation that invigorates, restores, refreshes or stimulates. It is skincare that is bio-inspired, meaning inspired by or based on biological structures or processes. One bio-essential, nutrient-rich Face TonIQ achieves more than hundreds of cosmetic ingredients.
Yin and Yang: How do you balance work and family?
At this stage of life, balance looks different. My children are adults and living vibrant, independent lives. My daughter has just launched her first book, ‘The Fuelled Up Life’, by Sammi Jaeger (proud mumma moment and unabashed endorsement). My son, ever the entrepreneur, is about to purchase his fifth business; he likes to say he knew he wanted to be an entrepreneur before he could spell entrepreneur.
I am deeply in awe of them both. Their independence and thriving give me the freedom, in this third quarter of life, to pour my energy into Vitis V. The same curiosity and drive that shaped them is what continues to shape Vitis V.
