Just like gin and tonic, and cookies and milk, some skincare ingredients work so much better as a couple.
Navigating your way around active skincare ingredients can be a minefield. Knowing the difference between AHAs and BHAs, for example? Not easy. Being able to list the strengths (and weaknesses) of every type of retinoic acid? Ditto. It’s these active ingredients in your products, however, that make the biggest differences to your skin. How so? Well, active ingredients are the big guns of the skincare world; the ones designed to address concerns and deliver real benefits to the look, feel and health of your skin.
Most products contain a blend of both active ingredients and inactive ingredients. And the inactive ones aren’t just there to make up the numbers; they also play an important role in formulations, delivering the active ingredients exactly where they’re needed, or helping to cleanse, tone or moisturise the skin.
But we digress. Back to the active stuff…
Active ingredients can be intimidating. We get that. But understanding which ingredients deliver real results can make a world of difference to your skin. Hyaluronic acid, for example, is priceless for boosting hydration. Meanwhile vitamin C is fabulous for strengthening, protecting and brightening your skin. And this is where things get tricky because oftentimes you want your skin to benefit from all of the above. So, you invest in a bunch of serums, tinctures, essences and oils… and things don’t always go as planned.
Experimenting with powerful, active skincare ingredients might sound like a fun idea, but you’re sorely mistaken if you think that trying your hand at ingredient mixology isn’t without its risks.
The truth is, some skincare ingredients just don’t get on.
On the flipside, others work even better in pairs, helping each other along the way by soothing irritating side-effects, balancing the pros and cons or boosting each other’s efficacy.
Not sure where to start when it comes to mixing and matching your favorite active skincare ingredients? Then don’t bother. Leave it in the hands of the professionals who know exactly what they’re doing and which ingredients work in perfect harmony. Here are six highly recommended active ingredient power duos – plus where to find them in some of your TruSkin favorites…
Witch Hazel & MSM
Let’s be honest, it’s been a minute since witch hazel grabbed headlines. Which is kinda sad. Why? Because it may not have a fancy name or take a couple of attempts to pronounce, but witch hazel is a stalwart in skincare and should never be forgotten about.
Extracted from the twigs and bark of the witch hazel plant, this botanical extract is a genius for naturally cleansing, toning and healing the skin. It’s also hella good for destroying excess oils and reducing breakouts. Which is awesome. Until it’s not. The thing about witch hazel is that it can be pretty potent and may dry out your skin if it's not used properly and carefully.
Enter MSM. In case you missed the memo, MSM (methylsulfonylmethane) is a sulfur-based compound that’s often referred to as the ‘healing’ mineral thanks to its ability to fight inflammation and accelerate blood flow. This is why it works in dream-like harmony with witch hazel to strengthen the skin’s barrier function (cue less irritation) while further healing pimples and balancing the skin.
Find Them In: Ocean Minerals Super Toner
Vitamin E & Vitamin C
There’s no doubt that vitamins C and E are both powerful antioxidants alone, each working hard to neutralize the damage caused to your skin (or more specifically, collagen and elastin) by environmentally induced free radicals. However, you know the stars are aligned when such awesome and clinically-proven ingredients perform even better together.
This stress-fighting power couple works because vitamin E helps preserve vitamin C, allowing it to become more stable and thus more effective at doing its job – delivering brightening, strengthening and protecting benefits to your skin. Certain types of vitamin C can also cause mild irritation – especially if you have sensitive skin – but the soothing qualities of vitamin E work to reduce these side-effects. Combined, vitamins C and E really are a force to be reckoned with, fighting oxidative damage while preventing skin aging woes like dark spots and premature wrinkles. And all this with very few downsides like redness or irritation. Win-win.
Find Them In: Vitamin C Facial Serum
Hyaluronic Acid & Glycerin
Whoever said you can have too much of a good thing, clearly never met one of our favorite double acts, hyaluronic acid and glycerin.
Hyaluronic acid and glycerin are extremely similar in that they’re both humectants. This means their main MO is to hydrate and soften the skin by drawing water from either the air or, in dry climates when there’s little water available, deep within the skin’s surface. Hyaluronic acid loves to steal the limelight when it comes to hydrating the skin because… well, who knows? It’s very good at its job, for sure. However, studies show that glycerin is actually more effective than it’s ballsy cousin.
So, why does your skin need them both? Well, ‘need’ might be a strong word, but in large quantities, glycerin can feel a tad sticky on your skin so it can upset the texture of a skincare product if it’s packed with too much of it. Similarly, certain types of hyaluronic acid are too large to penetrate the skin meaning they’re not able to offer long-lasting hydration deeper within the layers of your skin.
By combining them both, in the correct percentages, you get the best of both worlds.
Find Them In: Hyaluronic Acid Eye Cream
Tea Tree Oil & Salicylic Acid
Was there ever a better acne-fighting superhero and trusty sidekick than tea tree oil and salicylic acid? We don’t believe so, no.
If you’re no stranger to monthly breakouts, you’ll know only too well how effective tea tree oil is for balancing excess oils, reducing inflammation and fighting bacteria. Containing antimicrobial properties, it works hard to kill acne-causing bacteria on the surface of the skin while reducing redness and calming the symptoms of pimply skin.
Salicylic acid is also up there as one of the best ways to blitz zits because it cuts through sebum and accelerates cell regeneration to stop all those dead skin cells from becoming stuck in your pores in the first place. Together, this dynamic duo has been proven to hit acne from both sides, helping to prevent your breakouts in the first instance… and treat any pimples that do manage to sneakily break through.
Find Them In: Tea Tree Super Serum +
Vitamin C & Zinc Oxide
Say another hello to vitamin C which really can do little wrong in our eyes. As a worthy antioxidant, vitamin C is incredible at reducing the damaging effects of the sun. And as you know, the sun might be glorious and essential for life, but it wreaks havoc on your skin, causing somewhere between 80 and 90 percent of all external aging. Eesh.
Of course, sunscreen is the most important product for truly protecting you from UVA and UVB radiation, and zinc oxide is one of the best ingredients for shielding your skin while causing zero harm to the environment. But you know all this. However, did you realize that by combining sunscreen with vitamin C you level up your protection even further, resisting more free radicals than SPF can do alone, and thus reducing damage on multiple levels?
That’s what we call a done deal.
Find Them In: SPF 30 Mineral Sunscreen with Vitamin C
