Beaker Atelier is founded by Lizzy Skelding.

She doesn't build boring products. She builds the ones people can't stop talking about.

  • Lizzy almost went to art school for painting. Instead, she did a 180 into pre-med chemistry at Columbia University, then took that physical chemistry degree straight to the bench at a contract manufacturer.

    The unlikely pairing stuck: a decade in, she's developed an innate sense for color matching, texture formulation, and raw material chemistry that reads more like an artist's eye than a lab report. She's spent every year since arguing that form and function don't have to fight for space in a formula, and that time need not necessarily be traded for innovation.

    She's held nearly every seat at the table: co-founder and head of chemistry at Fig.1, where her formulas landed on shelves at CVS and Walmart and in FabFitFun boxes; founding chemist at Potion, where she wrote the foundational logic behind an AI built to think like a formulator.

    Her portfolio includes the oil cleanser that won Best Makeup Remover in Women's Health's 2023 Beauty Awards, became a favorite of editors at Into the Gloss, Byrdie, NewBeauty, and Nylon, and picked up fans in Claire Holt and Mila Kunis along the way—plus a shelf of other formulas that keep landing on beauty-awards shortlists and reader favorites lists.

    After years spent building other people's timelines, budgets, and brand voices into her formulas, Lizzy wanted room to build on her own terms. She stepped back to a kitchen counter, a set of pipettes next to the coffee maker, and a much sharper filter for what actually matters.

  • What started as kitchen chemistry has grown into a full-service atelier serving prestige brands.

    Lizzy isn't here to replace your team. She's here to connect the dots your in-house talent doesn't have the bandwidth (or the outside vantage point) to connect on their own.

    Every engagement runs with not just product, but brand operations is mind: fast, direct, and anchored to the formula and the P&L in equal measure.

    And she isn't a chemist who left the bench to become a consultant. She's still building—as founder of Beastie, a new breed of pet skincare, and through Matter Matters, her Substack on the raw materials behind your favorite products.

Let's Talk

The most expensive mistake a brand makes isn't a bad formula—it's the indecision and unclear product development strategy that quietly cost a launch window, a budget line, or your customers’ loyalty. Sharp strategy from the outset is what keeps that cost off your books. If that sounds familiar, the conversation is worth having now, not next quarter.