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Sturm und Drang

All the murmurs and feels surrounding the $240 million Sturm-Puig deal.

Barbara Sturm
Sturm’s cultish MC1 “Blood Cream” was never sold in stores, but its very mythology helped fuel the supernatural rise of Barbara's brand. Photo: Darren Gerrish/WireImage
Rachel Strugatz
February 14, 2024

I first met Barbara Sturm back in 2016, at the offices of her erstwhile P.R. firm, Karla Otto, where the German skincare guru took a vial of my blood in order to extract its allegedly anti-inflammatory proteins and re-inject them into a bespoke face cream that typically cost her clients $1,400 per jar. As a journalist, I got it for free. I think I used it twice. But, at the time, it was obvious that it was a little piece of marketing magic.