It was never the intent of Dr. Gregory Bays Brown to become the founder of RéVive, a multimillion-dollar global luxury skincare line. The Louisville surgeon was originally interested in finding a way to accelerate wound healing for his patients in the hospital burn unit.

As a young doctor in the 1980s, Brown, who is a graduate of Oldham County High School and the University of Louisville, began researching bioengineered molecules that could stimulate wound healing in a laboratory at the University of Louisville and subsequently at Emory University and Vanderbilt University.

"This was in the early days of biotechnology when we were first able to manufacture large qualities of Epidermal Growth Factor and study its effect when used topically on burns," Brown told The Courier Journal. "Through clinical studies, we were able to show that we could make burns heal faster."

The success of those clinical studies led Brown to consider other applications for Epidermal Growth Factor or EGF.

"At this point, I was back in Louisville with my own plastic surgery practice and I had the idea that maybe growth factors would stabilize or reverse the signs of aging," Brown said. "We had already shown that we could stimulate burn wound healing but in order to stabilize aging, you have to increase cell renewal."

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Would EGF, which was proven to accelerate wounds, also be effective as an anti-aging agent? To find out, Brown conducted a 60-day study using volunteers in Louisville. He added the growth factors to cream and instructed volunteers to use a placebo cream on one forearm and the growth factor cream on the other arm.

There was no actual product at this point, Brown would simply dissolve the growth factor into his mom's Elizabeth Arden brand "Visible Difference" skincare cream. As a way to market the concept, Brown gifted little jars of the concoction to his patients and friends.

"It just so happened that one of those patients was a friend of the man who ran all of the Neiman Marcus stores," said Brown. "He said if we would make the cream commercially, he would put it in his stores."

That connection turned out to be Brown's lucky break and the birth of RéVive.

"We were able to show we could stimulate cell turnover and improve the appearance of the skin," he said. "But at the time I knew nothing about cosmetics or the skincare industry. I was just a doctor geek, so the lawyers at the University of Louisville suggested I patent the concept of growth factors reversing the signs of aging."

In 1997, RéVive launched with one product, its Moisturizing Renewal Cream, which was sold exclusively with Neiman Marcus. The nightly retexturizing moisturizer quickly became a fan favorite and catapulted the brand into the luxury skincare spotlight. Three years later, Saks Fifth Avenue, Bergdorf Goodman and other high-end stores and boutiques had added the Louisville-based product to their shelves.

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"I was still practicing medicine and running this cottage industry skincare line out of my office with everyone pitching in to take orders, packing the product, and sending it out," Brown said. "RéVive was growing quickly. In fact, by the early 2000s, we were doing almost $18 million a year. That's when I decided to stop surgery and start concentrating on the skincare line full-time."

Although considered tiny in comparison to major international cosmetic brands like L'Oréal or Estée Lauder, Brown's RéVive has expanded to include 40 products and brings in close to $100 million a year.

Inspired by the research Brown conducted in Louisville, today RéVive products are formulated with Bio-Renewal Technology, which refers to skin-identical, ethically created Epidermal Growth Factor peptides.

"It's always been very important to me that we base our product on science," he said. "The science mimics skin’s renewal process to appear more youthful and to help skin recreate its structural integrity."

The Louisville-born beauty product is sold throughout the United States, Europe, China, and the Middle East with plans to expand to South America and beyond.

Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, RéVive closed its Louisville brick-and-mortar boutique which was located in the NuLu neighborhood. Nevertheless, Brown says sales remain strong thanks to an online presence at Bays Beauty Boutique, which includes consultations with a RéVive representative who has been with the company since the early days of the product launch.

"We have become a global product with our roots in Louisville," said Brown, who splits his time between a farm in Goshen, a Highlands neighborhood condo and New York City. "When I was younger and working in the burn unit, I never imagined I would be 70 years old and doing this. But it's a lot of fun and I still have a lot of things to do because 25 years have gone by quickly."

Find RéVive products at baysboutique.com.

Reach Features reporter Kirby Adams at kadams@courier-journal.com.