The doctors behind the formula

Dr. Markéta Límová &
Dr. Leah Press

Two board-certified dermatologists, one Fresno practice, and the daily cleanser they've handed to their own patients for thirty years.

The Blue Glycolic Cleanser didn't begin as a product launch. It began in a dermatology office in Fresno, California, where Dr. Markéta Límová and Dr. Leah Press practice together at Minarets Medical Group.

Dr. Press opened her Fresno practice in 1983 and founded Intelligent Skincare as its in-office skincare studio. Dr. Límová — a Clinical Professor of Dermatology at UC San Francisco — formulated the cleanser for their patients.

Dr. Markéta Límová (left) and Dr. Leah Press.
Dr. Markéta Límová, M.D., board-certified dermatologist, in her white AAD coat

Dr. Markéta Límová, M.D.

Board-certified dermatologist · Clinical Professor of Dermatology, UCSF · Formulator of the Blue Cleanser

Education
B.A., UC San Diego (1983) · M.D., UC San Francisco (1987)
Internship
Medicine, Stanford University Hospital
Residency
Dermatology, UC San Francisco · Chief Resident, 1991
Board certification
Diplomate, American Board of Dermatology since 1991 (recertified 1999, 2009, 2021) · Founding Diplomate, American Board of Wound Medicine and Surgery
Faculty
Clinical Professor of Dermatology, UC San Francisco
Research
Principal investigator on dozens of dermatology clinical trials · Peer-reviewed author

Dr. Límová earned her medical degree at UC San Francisco, interned at Stanford, and completed her dermatology residency at UCSF, where she served as Chief Resident. She has held a faculty appointment at UCSF since 1991 and is now a Clinical Professor of Dermatology.

As a resident she started the Wound and Ulcer Clinic in UCSF's dermatology department and went on to direct it — one of the first clinics to use bioengineered skin substitutes, and a training ground for students and residents. Her work has taken her to the American Academy of Dermatology's annual meetings and the World Congress of Dermatology, and into journals including the Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology and Archives of Dermatology. She has served as principal investigator on dozens of clinical trials of dermatologic therapies, today through Valley Research, and teaches dermatology to Saint Agnes Medical Center residents in her Fresno practice.

Dr. Límová's clinical trials studied prescription therapies and wound treatments. The Blue Glycolic Cleanser is a cosmetic cleanser; it was not the subject of those studies.

Dr. Leah Press, M.D., FAAD, board-certified dermatologist, in her white AAD coat

Dr. Leah Press, M.D., FAAD

Board-certified dermatologist · Founder of Intelligent Skincare

Medical school
University of Southern California School of Medicine
Internship & residency
Dermatology, Los Angeles County–USC Medical Center
Board certification
Board-certified dermatologist · Fellow, American Academy of Dermatology (FAAD)
Practice
Fresno since 1983 · Minarets Medical Group
Teaching
Teaches dermatology to Saint Agnes Medical Center residents and helps interview prospective residents
Recognition
Named one of Fresno's Top Ten Professional Women (2016)

Dr. Press earned her medical degree at the University of Southern California and completed her internship and dermatology residency at Los Angeles County–USC Medical Center. She studied ultraviolet light therapy for psoriasis at Massachusetts General Hospital and has taken part in clinical research on precancerous skin lesions and pigment changes.

In 1983 she moved to Fresno to open her own practice, which grew to span medical dermatology, skin-cancer surgery and cosmetic care — and Intelligent Skincare, the in-office skincare studio where patients first found the Blue Cleanser. She spent about twenty years teaching dermatology to young physicians, medical students and nurse practitioners at a UCSF-affiliated pediatric clinic, served on the American Academy of Dermatology's Task Force on Skin Disease in Developing Countries, and mentors high-school students from underserved backgrounds through the Doctors Academy. The practice also serves as the dermatologists for California State University, Fresno.

The formula

Why two dermatologists made a cleanser

The doctors wanted one daily cleanser they could hand to almost anyone: hard-working enough to matter, gentle enough to use twice a day, on nearly every skin type that came through the practice.

Dr. Límová formulated it — glycolic acid to lift dull surface cells, salicylic acid to help keep pores clear, and glycerin with a gentle co-surfactant to keep the clean comfortable. Patients kept asking for it. Thirty years later the formula hasn't changed, because it never needed to. The difference now is that you don't need an appointment to get it.

Meet their cleanser

This page describes the doctors' professional backgrounds, drawn from their CVs and public professional records. It is general information, not medical advice — for a skin condition, see a board-certified dermatologist.