Say Hello To Skincare’s Ultimate Power Couples

This week, our September Spotlight Series highlights the always awesome Hyaluronic Acid Facial Serum. Never a bad choice for your skincare routine, this hydrating treatment serum deserves all the love…

Unless you’ve been living underground for the past 10 years, you’ll have heard a lot of chat in the beauty world about hyaluronic acid. Granted, you might not know its chemical formula or the fact that it’s an anionic, nonsulfated glycosaminoglycan (what the…?) but what you will know is that it’s touted as one of the most hydrating ingredients in skincare.

However, like its other top-of-the-class friends, retinol and vitamin C, hyaluronic acid (HA) isn’t just a one-trick pony. Yes, it’s an awesome humectant but it’s so much more than a tool for drawing moisture into your skin. It’s also super important for strengthening your skin’s barrier function to fight off irritation and premature aging. Oh, and it works hard to help keep free radical damage to a minimum. So there’s that.

In our opinion, almost all skin types can benefit from a boost of HA in its life, so if you’re yet to get on board and want to treat your skin to the best hyaluronic acid serum around (minus the eye-wateringly huge pricetag), here’s what you need to know…

Say Hello To Hyaluronic Acid Facial Serum

One of our best-selling serums for all skin types, Hyaluronic Acid Facial Serum is your go-to if you want to cocoon your skin in delicious, nutritious hydration. And who doesn’t want that? After all, dehydration is one of the main triggers for accelerating premature aging, sucking the life out of your skin and highlighting fine lines and wrinkles. You see, your skin naturally contains a healthy amount of HA, but just like collagen, elastin and other important components that keep your skin in great shape, you lose a bunch of it as you age and subject your skin to the perils of the daily grind. Things like UV radiation, pollution, stress, poor sleep and smoking all work together to accelerate HA degradation and suck the moisture from your skin. And that’s why you have to do everything you can to retain what you have and replenish that which is lost.

A great solution for moisture loss is to include a butt-kicking humectant in your skincare routine. Humectants attract water from their surroundings and draw it into the epidermis where it holds it in like a sponge to moisturize the upper levels of your skin and reduce dryness, flakiness and cracking at the surface. If your environment has enough humidity, humectants will pull water vapor from here, but they may also draw it up from the underlying levels of your skin. And the best humectants in skincare? Glycerin, aloe and, of course, hyaluronic acid.

From the first use, you’ll notice how lightweight our Hyaluronic Acid Facial Serum is. That’s because combined with HA are other skin-loving ingredients, purposely included to offer you the ultimate hydrating experience without making your skin feel sticky or weighed down.

What Makes Hyaluronic Acid Facial Serum Different From The Rest

1. It Offers Triple, Yes Triple Hydration 

While our vegan, plant-derived hyaluronic acid has been crafted to hold up to 1,000 times its weight in water, we wanted more. Because when it comes to the health of your skin, we’re greedy for the best. So what did we do? We also pumped our Hyaluronic Acid Facial Serum with aloe vera and kosher vegetable glycerin for triple-whammy hydrating effects.

Be afraid, dehydration, be very afraid.

2. Botanical Essential Oils Help Seal In Moisture

Humectants are fantastic for your skin, replacing moisture loss and helping to keep your barrier functioning properly. There’s no denying that. However, the thing with humectants is that while they’re great for drawing in moisture, they’re not so hot at keeping it there.

For humectants to work to their best ability, they need to be sealed into your skin with an emollient or occlusive ingredient like some kind of butter or oil. Otherwise all that moisture can evaporate into thin air, making the whole process kinda pointless. This is why you’re always advised to apply moisturizer on top of your serum.

Thankfully, we planned ahead for this kind of vicious circle by including organic jojoba oil into our Hyaluronic Acid Facial Serum. One of the gentlest and most skin-friendly oils around, jojoba is a big favorite for locking in moisture without blocking up your pores. You see, we’re not just a pretty face.

3. We Also Harness The Powers Of Cica

Cica might not be in your everyday skincare vocabulary but this K-beauty soothing ingredient has been gaining popularity for a few years now. And it's well-deserved.

A staple in Chinese medicine for centuries to treat wounds, cica (which is often referred to as gotu kola or tiger grass) is a leafy green herb that’s packed with antioxidants, vitamins, amino acids and fatty acids which all work in harmony to firm, repair and soothe the skin. It’s probably one of the best ingredients for soothing sensitive skin, calming inflammation and reducing redness. And these often come hand in hand with dehydration. You can see where we’re going here, right?

Look out for this guy on your ingredients listings. It’s going nowhere fast.

4. Where Would We Be Without Vitamins C and E?

Vitamins C and E are just too good to ignore, so we can’t help but include them in a ton of our serums. And Hyaluronic Acid Facial Serum is no exception. Topical vitamin C, however, comes in many guises, the most common of which is l-ascorbic acid which is extremely potent and often a bit much for sensitive, dry or dehydrated skin.

This is why, instead, we use sodium ascorbyl phosphate (SAP) which is a salt form of vitamin C and way gentler on the skin. It’s the perfect partner to hyaluronic acid, upping its antioxidant prowess but without any risk of irritating the skin. Add in the soothing, emollient powers of vitamin E and you’ve got a total winner on your hands.

We think so, anyway.

How To Make Hyaluronic Acid Facial Serum Work For You

Hyaluronic acid is easily tolerated by most skin types so this serum can be used daily, even twice daily if you like. Of course, we always advise patch testing any new product first (just in case!) but this treatment is one of our gentlest formulations so it’s unlikely you’ll have any unwanted side effects. Unlikely, but not impossible.

Always apply your serum to clean skin, after cleansing and before moisturizing. Pop no more than five drops into the palm of your (clean!) hands then gently smooth it all over your face and neck. You could also try smoothing it on while your skin is still damp to maximize all that extra free moisture. Just don’t forget to moisturize to further lock it all in. And if you fancy an added boost of HA for the eye area, why not try our super hydrating Hyaluronic Acid Eye Cream?

Check them both out, right here.

The truth is, glowing skin will always be in.

Oh, the heady heights of glowing, healthy skin. Whether you prefer to use the term ‘bright,’ ‘glowy,’ ‘dewy’ or ‘radiant’: we can’t think of a single person who wouldn’t want their skin to be described by one (or all!) of these words. Why is it such an elusive and lusted-after skin condition? Because no matter your skin type or how many wrinkles you do or don’t have, nail that radiant glow and everything else pales into insignificance.

But, how to get glowing skin? Now there’s a question that has as many answers as we’ve had hot dinners.

You can start with what goes in your body, of course, taking a look at your diet and ensuring you chow down on plenty of antioxidant-rich fruit and veggies and cut back on things like booze, sugar, salt and processed carbs. This helps nix skin-damaging free radicals to ensure your skin turns over efficiently and remains healthy from the inside out, making it a great place to start.

There are also things like exercising outdoors to get your blood flowing, massaging your skin as you cleanse, getting plenty of shut-eye and faking it with highlighting makeup and shimmering face powders.

But skincare is our thing, so today we’re going to focus on that.

There are many awesome ingredients and products out there that claim to rejuvenate your skin and freshen up your complexion, but what are the true tried and tested contenders? Keep scrolling for, what we believe, are five of the best products for glowing skin.

1. The Definitive Glow-Giving Facial Serum 

Let’s get one thing straight, there’s no better skincare ingredient for boosting a radiant glow than vitamin C. Vitamin C (otherwise known as l-ascorbic acid) has been researched to death over the years and it’s been proven to offer all manner of skin-boosting benefits – glowier skin being just one of them.

So how does this powerhouse work? Well, further to its antioxidant powers, which in themselves are great for strengthening your collagen supplies and improving cell turnover, it also helps slow down melanin production. Melanin, as you know, is what gives your skin its individual color and, when you expose your skin to UV radiation, it’s also what makes you tan. However, melanin production isn’t always smooth sailing. In fact, many triggers such as unbalanced hormones and too much sun can make your melanin go all over the place, resulting in patchy skin, dark spots and hyperpigmentation. No fun. No fun at all.

We believe vitamin C should be a staple in anyone’s skincare regime, but we also understand that it’s a potent ingredient that can cause sensitivities in certain skin types. This is why we infuse all of our vitamin C products with a milder version called sodium ascorbyl phosphate.

When it comes to looking for your perfect match for brightening your skin, you could literally take your pick of our entire vitamin C range, but for a classic favorite, you can’t go wrong with Vitamin C Facial Serum. We believe it’s a winner. Over 140,000 people on Amazon agree with us. We rest our case.

2. The Moisturizer With The Most

If you’re yet to try our new Renewing Longevity Moisturizing Cream you are missing out. It doesn’t contain vitamin C – because choices – but it is powered up by another ingredient that’s already making headlines for all the right reasons: bakuchiol.

Bakuchiol is nature’s alternative to the mighty retinol. Extracted from the seeds and leaves of the babchi plant, it’s fast becoming hot property in the skincare world due to its extraordinary skin benefits (just like retinol) and lack of irritating side-effects (unlike retinol!). We mean no offense to retinol, of course, because it’s still one of, if not THE gold standard of skincare. However, it’s not for everyone and bakuchiol has undergone plenty of studies that show it’s right up there, stimulating collagen synthesis and accelerating cellular turnover in a very similar way to rid your skin of unwanted dead skin cells and help improve your radiance factor.

We have a whole collection of products that harness the powers of bakuchiol but for a great introduction to the range, try this deliciously smooth moisturizer that’s ideal for all skin persuasions, including sensitive skin.

3. The One That’s In It For The Long Game

Admittedly this one might not make your skin look immediately radiant but c’mon now, patience is everything. And in all honesty, this is unarguably the single most important product you could use for glowing skin, healthy skin, smooth skin, strong skin, the works.

So what is this too-good-to-be-true product we speak so highly off? Simple. Sunscreen. Now don’t roll your eyes at us in a ‘not that old chestnut’ fashion because we don’t bang on about sunscreen just to pee you off. We do it because we care about your skin.

The simple truth is that if you don’t protect your skin from the sun’s damaging UV rays, your collagen supplies will dwindle, elastin will get destroyed, dark spots will appear and cell turnover will decrease. This all leads to dull, lackluster, sad-looking skin. And that’s just touching the surface. 

Ensure you apply a quality, broad-spectrum sunscreen every morning without fail to make sure your skin doesn’t get caught up in all that damaging nonsense.

Try our SPF 30 Mineral Sunscreen which also comes packed with sodium ascorbyl phosphate (that supercool vitamin C derivative we spoke of earlier) on top of hydrating ingredients like squalane and cucumber, plus vegan marine collagen to help target fine lines and sagging skin.

4. The All-Important Skin Exfoliator

If your pores are filled to the brim with sebum, sunscreen, makeup and dead skin cells, your skin stands no chance of being smooth and radiant. Dead skin cells, in particular, create the perfect storm for dull skin.

One of the simplest ways to keep your skin clear from complexion-killing pore plugs is to use a chemical exfoliator like 6% AHA, BHA + PHA Liquid Exfoliant two or three times a week. Chemical exfoliation works by using certain ingredients –commonly fruit acids – to break down the glue that holds dead skin cells together. By doing so, they’re an incredible way of forcing these unwanted cells to sling their hook so that the fresher, brighter ones can make their way to the surface. And unlike physical exfoliation which uses pressure and movement (like scrubs and cleansing brushes), chemical exfoliation, when done correctly, is far less damaging and irritating.

Our fabulous 6% AHA, BHA + PHA Liquid Exfoliant combines a carefully crafted blend of three exfoliating acids along with organic reishi mushroom and hyaluronic acid to combat dehydration and help soothe and nourish the skin. Because, btw, dehydration will also kill your glowy skin vibes.

5. The Dewy Skin Spritz

Convenient and effective, our Ocean Minerals Super Toner is often glossed over in our line-up of skincare greats, but it’s a real goodie in the quest for a revamped complexion. Not only is it formulated with two key skin-brightening players – vitamin C and glycolic acid – but it also contains power-packed peptides, collagen-boosting MSM and over 90 revitalizing marine minerals. All this adds up to some serious love which helps to remove dull, dead skin cells, detox your pores and smooth the surface for a more balanced, even skin tone.

It's an awesome addition to your skincare routine and takes just seconds of your time to apply. So, why not?

Why not indeed.

Love the idea of including retinol in your skincare routine but not sure where to begin? Then try our incredible Retinol Facial Serum, the focus of this week’s September Spotlight.

Retinol, as any beauty fan knows, is one of the absolute pinnacles of skincare ingredients. With an innate ability to ‘communicate’ with your skin at a cellular level to encourage skin turnover, boost collagen production and protect your skin from environmental damage, retinol is widely seen as the gold standard. And it truly deserves every inch of praise it receives. Use it consistently and your skin will be brighter, clearer, stronger and smoother. That's a strong statement, we know, but decades of research prove it.

So, what’s the catch? Because there's always at least one, right? Otherwise we’d all be dousing our skin with vats of retinol every minute of the day. Well, while retinol helps sweep away dead skin cells, clogged pores and dull, patchy skin, simultaneously softening fine lines, wrinkles and dark spots, it can be a pesky little ingredient to master, often causing unwanted side effects like redness, dryness and irritation. The problem is it’s just too good.

Thankfully, today’s retinol treatments have been carefully formulated to minimize unwanted repercussions. By combining this powerhouse with other skin-soothing and calming ingredients, it’s no longer impossible to work a retinol serum into your skincare routine – no matter your skin type.

Take our Retinol Facial Serum, for example which is one of our best-selling and most popular treatment serums here at TruSkin.

What Is Retinol Facial Serum?

A true gem for skin that needs a little assistance looking its best (and frankly, whose doesn’t?), our Retinol Facial Serum is a veritable go-to for enhancing your skin’s youthful appearance.

It gets to work on everything from fine lines and wrinkles through to dehydration, dullness, rough texture and uneven skin tone. And if you’re thinking all this comes at a price, you couldn’t be more wrong. Retinol Facial Serum is kind to both your skin and your wallet.

So, What Makes Retinol Facial Serum Different From The Rest

1. Our retinol is at just the right concentration for results, minus irritation

We truly wanted to create a retinol serum that offered the best of both worlds – great benefits, but minimal irritation. And while we could have gone down the easy route of using a retinol derivative like retinyl palmitate to make our serum extremely gentle on the skin we knew, deep down, that this wouldn’t have offered the same awesome results. And that’s just annoying all round. Therefore, we spent a long time (like, months!) formulating our serum to contain the ideal amount of retinol (yes, pure retinol) to deliver effective results, without making it impossible to use should you have anything less than super strong, will-take-anything skin. And the reviews speak for themselves…

“I love this product. I’ve been using it for years and at 73 have few wrinkles. I use the product daily and it does not irritate my skin,” explains Kathy from New Hampshire.

Big cheers all round.

2. Still worried about sensitivities? Vitamin E to the rescue!

Vitamin E is a great addition to any facial serum, but alongside retinol it’s crucial. How so? Well, as explained, retinol can be a tad drying so you have to make sure you're replacing all that lost moisture. And vitamin E is just what the skin doctor ordered.

Vitamin E has fabulous emollient properties, meaning that it helps fill in, repair and smooth the tiny cracks in your skin that appear when it’s dry and/or dehydrated. Sealing these cracks strengthens your skin’s barrier function, thus reducing transepidermal water loss (TEWL) and helping your skin to retain vital moisture. That’s extremely important if you want your skin to stay soft, hydrated and irritation-free.

3. Retinol Facial Serum offers a three-pronged approach to hydration

While vitamin E soothes, calms and strengthens your skin’s important barrier protection, hyaluronic acid (HA), glycerin and aloe have also been included for extra hydration.

Known as humectants in the business, these ingredients work like water magnets, maximizing moisture in the air and pulling it into the skin, or even drawing it up from deeper layers of your skin to hydrate at a more surface level. And when you’re applying retinol on a regular basis, your skin is going to want and need as much surface hydration as you can give it.

HA is seen as the king of hydration but glycerin is just as good (some say it’s even better but we don’t like to play favorites!). And aloe? Well that’s a given for soothing, calming and hydrating the skin.

4. Organic green tea helps reduce redness and inflammation

Besides being the brew of choice for a bold caffeine fix, green tea makes for a fabulous skincare ingredient.

Thanks to its abundance of EGCG, green tea is a super effective antioxidant (just like vitamin e, HA and retinol), working hard to combat environmental stress. Furthermore, it’s thought to help reduce sebum production, soothe the skin and reduce inflammation. So if you’re using Retinol Facial Serum to help minimize acne breakouts, this will be music to your ears.

How To Make Retinol Facial Serum Work For You

Retinol Facial Serum should be applied to cleansed skin before moisturizing. But, to be honest, that’s a given for all types of serum. If you err on the side of sensitive, however, don’t apply Retinol Facial Serum to damp skin – dry skin is generally better for reducing irritation. Start by using it two or three times a week to allow your skin to acclimate, then slowly build up to nightly use. Oh and don’t forget to apply sunscreen EVERY morning.

The most important thing to remember when trying any new retinol serum for the first time is to patch test it on a small area of your skin first. This gives you reassurance that your skin is not going to freak out from any of the ingredients in your formulation. Our Retinol Facial Serum has been carefully curated not to cause issues for most skin types, but there’s always a small chance, so it’s better to be safe than sorry.

To patch test your serum, apply a small amount behind your ear or on the back of your wrist and leave it for 24-48 hours. Fingers crossed you won’t experience any unwanted side effects during this time, and if this is the case you’re good to apply it to your skin as directed. However, if you feel any burning, pain or discomfort then you’d be wise not to continue. Don’t worry, though, as we have just the serum for you: Rejuvenating Longevity Serum which contains nature’s kinder answer to retinol, the mighty bakuchiol. Read all about that here. 

Drinking ten cups of coffee each day might not be great for your skin, but caffeine in your skincare products? Now, that’s what we’re talking about…

Do you have a love-hate relationship with caffeine? Turns out, so does your skin. As a skincare ingredient, caffeine is filled with brightening properties and free radical-fighting promise. But consume too much of it in your daily fix of coffee and caffeine can have much less desirable effects.

Confused? Don’t be. Here’s what you need to know about caffeine and your skin.

Caffeine: The Darker Side

It’s true, we’re a nation of avid coffee drinkers. According to research, around three in four Americans drink coffee every single day. What’s more, over a third of these consume more than three cups on a daily basis.

But as great as this beloved, caffeine-powered beverage of ours is for boosting your energy levels, enhancing your mood, aiding performance and potentially lowering your risk of heart disease and stroke, caffeine has a certain dark side. Especially when it comes to the health of your skin. And, btw, tea is no innocent party here. Granted, teas might not contain quite the same levels of caffeine as brewed coffee, but it’s still there, so bear that in mind if you feel saintly because you prefer tea over coffee.

How Drinking Caffeine Affects Your Skin

1. Caffeine Dehydrates Your Skin

Just like two of our other guilty pleasures, salt and alcohol, caffeine can cause dehydration in your skin. Caffeine is a mild diuretic, you see, which means it increases urine production in your kidneys, causing you to pee more and therefore get rid of vital moisture. As you know, water is crucial to the health of your skin, helping it to stay plump, soft, supple and strong. Without it, your skin can become dull, itchy and sensitive; bags can appear around your eyes, and any fine lines and wrinkles you have will become more pronounced.

Of course, if your chosen brew is more water than coffee this can counteract the diuretic effects of the caffeine, but if you’re an espresso drinker you might want to think about the number of cups you have in a day. Studies show that roughly four cups of regular, brewed coffee is a safe amount for most healthy adults. 

2. Caffeine Interferes With Your Sleep

According to the Sleep Foundation consuming caffeine negatively affects your sleep by blocking adenosine receptors. Adenosine is an important chemical that builds up in the brain while you’re awake to make you feel tired and help promote prolonged, quality sleep when you need it. Blocking the receptors that detect adenosine means your brain, instead, will continue to release chemicals to keep you awake. The result? Cruddy sleep.

Sleep is extremely important for the health of your skin because as your brain goes into rest mode, your skin does the exact opposite. Blood flow increases to nourish it with valuable nutrients; cell turnover accelerates to bring fresh, healthy skin cells to the surface, and collagen production speeds up to keep your skin strong and supple. Lose out on this valuable skin regeneration time and you can say goodbye to fabulous-looking skin and, in turn, welcome all the signs of premature aging you did not want to invite to the party.

3. Caffeine Can Make Breakouts Worse

Of course, caffeine doesn’t cause acne. But it has the potential to make your breakouts worse by heightening stress and causing an overproduction of cortisol which stimulates your sebaceous glands to go into overdrive. The result? Excess sebum which gets blocked in your pores and, well, you know the rest.

Caffeine: The Skincare Great

Of course, drinking caffeine isn’t all bad (it contains tons of antioxidants for starters!) and if you consume it in moderation – and never before bedtime – it can have its real perks.

What’s more, for all its pros and cons in the coffee and tea world, caffeine is extremely buzzy in skincare right now (pun 100% intended).

So, what’s the deal with topical caffeine? Well, for one thing, it has a very small molecular structure which means it’s able to penetrate the top layers of the skin and really dig into where it’s needed most. Major points, right there. It’s also thought to help slow down aging, boost collagen, brighten your skin and reduce redness and puffiness. Here’s how…

How Applying Topical Caffeine Affects Your Skin

1. Caffeine Is A Powerful Antioxidant

Like berries and other botanicals, tea and coffee beans both contain antioxidants to help protect your skin from free radical damage. Free radicals are the result of exposure to light, heat, pollution or other external aggressors and they’re highly reactive, unstable atoms. Due to their instability they snatch electrons from other atoms or molecules like collagen and elastin in an attempt to stabilize themselves, causing all manner of harm in their wake. Whereas collagen and elastin become damaged when they lose electrons, antioxidants are able to donate them freely without losing their own stability. This is why they’re so important for preserving your skin and warding off the signs of premature aging – especially those caused by UV radiation.

Of course, staying out of the sun, wearing a high, broad-spectrum sunscreen and having a healthy, balanced diet are all important ways to protect your skin from the visible effects of free radical damage. But topical antioxidants in your daily routine are also a very smart move. And caffeine is right up there with the likes of vitamin C, retinol and niacinamide. 

2. Caffeine Enhances Circulation

Caffeine is consumed primarily for its energizing benefits, right? Well, when you apply it to your skin it has similar invigorating effects by tightening your blood vessels and stimulating blood flow. It’s called a vasoconstrictor if it happens to come up at your next trivia night!

So how does that benefit the skin? Well, this improves circulation to help make your skin look brighter and firmer. It can work to reduce puffiness and under eye bags, so there’s also that.

Kinda makes sense when you think about it, doesn’t it?

3. Caffeine Has Anti-Inflammatory Powers

Caffeine also contains anti-inflammatory properties which can work to help reduce facial redness and soothe irritated skin. Inflammation occurs when your skin reacts to some kind of unwanted disruption like over-exposure to the sun, an injury, infection, allergen or existing skin condition. Most skin inflammation typically goes away after a few days or weeks – but if you apply topical anti-inflammatories you may be able to speed up this process.

Why do we care so much about caffeine, you may be wondering. Ha, we actually care about most skincare ingredients – whether we use them in our formulations or not – because, when it comes to what goes on your skin, knowledge is everything. But since you asked, caffeine is also the star of our new, aptly named Caffeine Facial Serum!

This incredible, daily serum combines the energizing, brightening effects of caffeine with other skincare greats including niacinamide, EGCG, matcha green tea and ginseng. It’s basically your ticket to even-looking, tighter-looking, brighter-looking, smoother-looking, here’s-looking-at-you fabulous skin. 

Learn all about it, right here!