True Radical Honesty From Our Community

Reckon you’ll never see bright eyes and a glowing complexion again? On the contrary. Here’s how to hit the reset button on over-indulged skin.

Hangovers are bad enough. The headache. The foggy memory loss. The nausea. The maxed-out credit card. Oh the shame of it all. Plus there’s nobody to blame but yourself. Eugh, why do we do it to ourselves? You’d think we would have learnt better by now.

Ha, fat chance.

Another thing. Is it just us, or as we get older, don’t hangovers feel 3,000 times worse? And, hold on, but why does our skin look so freakin’ terrible? Surely that didn’t happen in our 20s right?

The truth is, hangovers do get worse with age because your body’s metabolism decreases allowing alcohol to hang around in your system for way longer than you’d like. Also, your liver becomes less efficient which means its less able to cope with all those toxins that alcohol throws at it. It will get there eventually but, again, it will take way longer than a 20-year-old liver. There are also other factors to take into consideration. Your body weight, whether you're taking any medication, all this adds up to longer, worse hangovers and ruddy-looking skin as a consequence.

Sigh.

How Alcohol Affects Your Skin

Alcohol affects your skin in a number of ways. Here are the biggest things you'll notice after a night (or two) on the sauce...

* Alcohol is a diuretic which means that it increases urine production, making you pee more frequently and therefore lose vital water. Cue dehydration and more visible fine lines.

* Excessive water loss also causes your body to miss out on vital vitamins, minerals and nutrients that help ‘feed’ your skin and strengthen its barrier function. Cue dullness.

* Alcohol causes your blood vessels to dilate. Cue redness and flare-ups in existing conditions like rosacea.

* Ever woken up after a boozy night out only to feel like you’ve slept for minutes, rather than hours? That’s because alcohol unbalances your sleep, causing you to wake up throughout the night. Cue dark under eye circles and puffy skin.

* Then there are all those free radicals that form and screw up your collagen and elastin. Cue accelerated skin aging.

5 Tips For Rejuvenating Morning-After Skin

No matter that we know how bad drinking excessive amounts of alcohol is for our health and our skin, we still do it. So if you find yourself experiencing some serious morning-after-the-night-before skin, here are five emergency sk-invigorating (see what we did there?) tricks to try.

1. Wake Up Your Skin

Even just stepping in the shower and letting the water fall over your body can instantly lift a hangover. But to really get your blood flowing and thus encourage oxygen and nutrients to flood to your skin, we recommend a good (but gentle) exfoliation session. Our energizing Vitamin C Gentle Face Scrub is awesome for hungover skin as it also contains brightening whizz-kid, vitamin C – c’mon, it’s right there in the name!

Offering the effects of a mini facial (but with minimal effort), exfoliation helps clear out your pores and get rid of dead, dulling skin cells from the surface of your skin. It also boosts collagen production and smooths out the skin making it better able to absorb all the other goodies you’re about to treat it with. And trust us, your skin needs all the help it can get right now.

Gently work your scrub over your entire face and neck, using circular motions to lift and smooth out the skin as you massage it all over. And if you can bear it, try a cool rinse to finish. It’ll feel pretty savage at the time but, trust us, it’ll make you feel a million times better in the long-term.

2. Calm Redness

Facial flushing and booze go hand-in-hand for many people so if that includes you and you find that your redness lingers way into the next day, keep your morning-after routine simple and calming. Avoid exfoliating acids like glycolic and salicylic, and stick with gentle cleansers, hydrating toners and treatments that contain de-stressing ingredients like ceramides, aloe, vitamin E and niacinamide.

We love treating our skin with Rose Water Refreshing Facial Toner after a particularly boozy night out. This one-ingredient-only (er, rose water) facial spritz instantly calms and hydrates the skin after cleansing, plus it feels cooling and refreshing which is perfect when, inside, you feel neither of those things!

TOP TIP: In future, try to stick with clear spirits rather than red wine or dark liquor. Clear spirits like vodka, tequila and gin contain less histamines and are less likely to aggravate the skin or cause inflammation.

3. Reduce Puffiness

Too much booze makes your body want to retain water in a bid to combat dehydration. And fluid retention is the pits for your skin, inevitably making your face – and especially the area under the eyes – look puffy and swollen. It doesn’t help that you’ve also been starved of quality sleep which raises your levels of cortisol (the ‘stress’ hormone) which alters the salt balance in your body and forces it to retain even more water. Ever woken up after a big night out with under eyes bags the size of China? Yeah, this is exactly what we’re talking about. 

To help pep up your face and reduce swelling, try a deep massage with your morning cleanse. Your hands are a powerful tool for getting blood flowing and improving lymphatic drainage so spend a few minutes working on your face to help depuff your skin.

When it comes to your eyes, place cold, used tea bags, cucumber slices or teaspoons over them and relax for 10 minutes. Anything cool will help reduce swelling by narrowing the blood vessels. Then, for an extra shot of depuffing freshness, follow with Depuffing Longevity Eye Cream.

4. Enjoy A Hit Of Multivits

Similar to how your oral multivitamins will give your body a much-needed pick-me-up, their topical cousins will also make your skin feel (and look!) a hundred times better. Vitamin C helps boost energy while vitamin E soothes and calms your skin. Then there are your Bs, D, F and K which all work together to balance the skin, neutralize damaging free radicals, protect your collagen supplies and strengthen the barrier function.

Our Multivitamin Facial Serum is a great post-party treatment because not only does it contain all of the above but it’s chock full of minerals and electrolytes for a complete, healthier-looking skin overhaul. Apply just a few drops to your face and neck after cleansing and toning and nobody will ever know about that extra shot of tequila you downed when you should really have been getting an Uber.

5. Load Up On Hydration

Morning-after thirst is real. Not only for your entire sorry being, but for your skin, too. So as well as drinking plenty of fluids to reduce nausea and a banging headache, you need to rehydrate and moisturize your skin from the outside in.

If you have some kind of intensely hydrating mask at hand, that’ll go a long way to taking the thirst away from parched skin. Look out for ingredients that draw water to the surface. These are called humectants and include things like glycerin, aloe vera and the biggest crowd-pleaser of them all, hyaluronic acid.

Our Hyaluronic Acid Facial Serum contains all three of these big guns and believe us when we tell you that your skin is going to lap it all up! Apply it to damp skin to make the most of surface moisture, then finish with a rich day cream that contains botanical oils, ceramides and/or fatty acids to help seal it in for the rest of the day.

Our favorite post-party moisturizer? Undoubtedly Vitamin C Brightening Moisturizer which blends antioxidant-rich green tea with jojoba oil and a cheeky hit of vitamin C to really get your glow back on.

Now, who's ready for another night out? Anyone?

Don’t let fragile, wintry skin and boozy breakouts ruin your skin when the rest of you is ready to rock the party circuit.

It’s the season of champagne, bright lights, festive apps and Santa hats and we, for one, are thrilled. But as much as we love all the fun and fabulousness of the holidays, your skin can take a real beating. Cold, dry weather; warm, steamy bars; a little more alcohol and a lot less sleep can all add up to stress on your skin, compromising your barrier function and throwing your moisture levels out of whack.

Granted, if you have the skin of an angel, you might not notice issues with dryness, shiny foreheads or annoying breakouts during the party season. Well, lucky you because for the other 99.99999 percent of us, party skin often needs an extra bit of TLC to look and feel as high-spirited as our moods.

Here’s how to help get your skin on its merry way this festive season…

One Week Before

To truly get your skin in the right frame of mind for partying, you have to start looking after it early. A good week in advance, in fact. Of course, we know you have a great and consistent skincare routine up your sleeves, period, but there are three things you should really concentrate on in the week up to a big do.

1. Chemical Exfoliation

A great way to kick-start your skin into looking more plump, energized and fresh, is to embrace exfoliating acids. These are the AHAs, BHA and PHAs of the world and include powerhouses like glycolic, salicylic and lactic acids.

Try applying 6% AHA, BHA + PHA Liquid Exfoliant daily to cleansed skin to help boost cellular turnover, improve collagen synthesis and give sluggish skin a real kick in the booty.

2. Facial Massage

A simple facial massage is awesome for improving lymphatic drainage and blood flow. It gets everything moving thus helping to remove toxins while boosting nutrients and oxygen to the surface of the skin – super important for the party season when salty snacks and boozy beverages zap all the life from your skin. Simply work your hands all over your face and neck while cleansing each morning and night, taking your time to lift and smooth the skin in circular motions. You could also invest in a face roller or gua sha tool if they’re your jam.

3. Energizing Serum

While we wouldn’t suggest doubling up on your coffee intake (ever!), adding topical caffeine to your skincare routine will do your complexion all sorts of favors. An incredible antioxidant and with lots of anti-inflammatory powers, caffeine is a fantastic way to counteract all those free radicals that stress, lack of sleep and a poor diet produces. Gold star right there.

Caffeine also energizes your skin by tightening the blood vessels and stimulating circulation. Say hello to brighter, firmer skin and less puffiness and under eye bags as an added bonus. Get involved by applying Caffeine Facial Serum to your skin morning and night.

The Night Before

Big night out tomorrow? Then the following are some super effective ways to ensure your skin is clean, clear, beautifully hydrated and ready to partay!

1. Double Cleanse

We’re not massive fans of double cleansing – it just seems a bit excessive, as a rule. However, do it gently and on the odd occasion, and it can truly help to give your skin a proper ‘clear out,’ leaving you with a smooth foundation for some serious party makeup (if that’s your thing, of course!).

To double cleanse with success, first use an oil-based makeup cleanser to remove makeup, sebum and any other oily stuff from your skin. Then, go for a water-based cleanser to get rid of other surface debris while boosting your complexion with skin-loving ingredients like vitamin C, minerals, aloe vera or plant extracts. We love Charcoal Clarifying Cleanser for a party season detox.

2. Facial Steam

Steaming your face increases perspiration to help remove toxins and boosts blood flow to get oxygen and lots of nutrients flowing to your skin. Win-win. What’s more it’s arguably the easiest and cheapest (aka: free!) way to give yourself the results of a spa-like facial in the comfort of your own home.

Simply place your face over a bowl of recently boiled water (although not freshly boiled, that’ll be too hot!). Place a towel over your head to trap in the steam and hold your face over the surface of the water without getting too close for about 10 minutes. Just remember to always follow with moisturizer. Speaking of which…

3. Layered Hydration

Before bed, baby your skin with as much hydration as it will take – without overloading it with heavy coats of rich creams that might block your pores, of course. That can be disastrous. The best way to crush this? With layers. First up, smooth on a moisture-magnet serum like Hyaluronic Acid Facial Serum then wait a few seconds before applying moisturizer over the top. We have tons to choose from but a current favorite comes in the form of Renewing Longevity Moisturizing Cream which contains skin-reviving bakuchiol (just like retinol, but gentler on the skin!), plus snow algae to boost radiance and protect your skin from any party stress factors!

The Day Of

OK, it’s crunch time. Hopefully, if you’ve kept to your routine and added in a few choice extras, your skin is ready to glow – who needs makeup, anyway!? However, if you still need a little pick-me-up, try these last-minute glow-getting tricks.

1. A Morning Scrub

First things first: don’t overdo it with the exfoliation, people. If you’ve been applying a chemical exfoliant in the run-up to party time, a facial scrub might be a tad excessive. However, if you’ve not had time to get ahead of the exfoliation game, a face scrub is game-changing for instantly smoother, brighter-looking skin. Grab our Vitamin C Gentle Face Scrub as a matter of urgency, and smooth it all over your face and neck, using gentle circular motions to work it all over.

2. Vitamin C

We rate very little above topical vitamin C when it comes to rejuvenating ingredients that get the job done. So, apply the best vitamin C money can buy after cleansing  and feel smug in the knowledge that your skin has started off the day right. Sure, it may end the day a little tipsy and full of sugar and salt, but at least you started well and, hey, we have just as many great tricks for hungover skin as we do for party prepping!

Try our Vitamin C Super Serum+ for a punchy pack of skin brightening goodness.

3. Ice Globes

A favorite with makeup artists for prepping celebrities’ skin for red carpet events, ice globes are glass or metal wands that have balls on the ends and are kept in the fridge or freezer. They're kind of like rubbing ice cubes all over your skin without the watery mess or potential skin damage.

Awesome for depuffing the eye area, ice globes also work wonders on facial redness, inflammation and sluggish skin. Cleanse your skin first, then apply serum before working them over the skin for 10 minutes or so. Use upwards movements to lift your skin and add radiance, or downwards strokes to encourage lymphatic drainage and reduce swelling. But make sure you don’t press too hard as this could drag and damage your skin. 

Finish with moisturizer and you are ready to, well, get ready!

Incoming… under-the-tree beauty treats and skin-tastic stocking fillers, oh my!

December is here and the clock is ticking to crush the perfect gift for everyone in your life. So if you’re still making your list and checking it twice, we’ve put together a fabulous bunch of beauty must-haves to get you set up for gifting success. Because skincare is ideal for anyone who has skin and wants to look after it. So, yes, that’ll be your entire gift list.

Looking for a fun stocking filler for your significant other? NP. Want to put a smile on mom’s face and a pep in her step with a gorgeous bundle of skin-rejuvenating greats? We’ve got your back. In fact we defy you not to know someone to love every single one of the below. And heck, when in doubt, who better to gift than your good self? Go on, you deserve it!

Caffeine Facial Serum

You know ‘that’ person who has to have the latest products and always embraces the newest trends? Maybe that’s you, maybe it’s your bestie, but whoever it is, our new Caffeine Facial Serum has their name all over it.

Great for giving skin a much-needed energy zap (which is essential over the holidays when things can get a little stressful!), this facial serum helps boost collagen, improve blood flow to the skin’s surface, reduce inflammation and kicks some serious free radical butt. Caffeine is obviously it’s main mo, but it also contains niacinamide to help strengthen and fortify your skin’s very important barrier function; matcha tea and EGCG for antioxidant protection, and ginseng which offers further energizing powers to truly double down on flagging skin.

Soothing Cleansing Milk

A cleanser might not be the obvious gifting choice for the holidays but, trust us, our Soothing Cleansing Milk will bring joy to anyone on your gift list. The perfect cleanser for this time of year, its careful combination of oat and rice milk not only soothes and nourishes dry, winter skin, but it also contains tons of minerals, vitamins, gentle acids and antioxidants to encourage healthy cell turnover and even healthier skin as a result.

To say we’re huge fans of this baby would be the understatement of the year. So if you’re wondering what to get us this holidays. Ha, we joke, of course. Or do we?...

Age-Defying 3-Pack Bundle

Aging is both a privilege and a total pain in the butt. Most importantly, getting older should be embraced because not everyone has such luck. But when you look in the mirror and get annoyed by your ever increasing wrinkles or pesky sun spots it can be hard not to wish you could turn back time.

Full disclosure, we can’t turn back time. But, and it’s a big but, one of the best gifts you can give anyone who cares about defying the laws of skin aging is our Age Defying 3-Pack. This incredible trio includes the award-winning Vitamin C Facial Serum for daily antioxidant protection and amazing brightening powers, plus two of its best friends: Retinol Facial Serum for overnight rejuvenation and Hyaluronic Acid Facial Serum to hydrate and provide your skin with the nutrients it needs to stay youthful-looking, for longer.

Vitamin C Gentle Facial Scrub

Who doesn’t love a good face scrub? Answer: nobody. The thing with scrubs, however, is that some of them are just no good. Whether they’re made with crushed up nutshells that can cause micro tears in the skin (eek!) or they come packed with harsh alcohol that dries up your skin lightning fast (ditto!), finding a scrub that a) does the job, but b) cares for your skin is no mean feat.

Our Vitamin C Gentle Facial Scrub, however, is literally one of the best. How so? Because it’s packed with skin-loving ingredients like antioxidant-rich yuzu lemon and hydrating aloe vera and uses ultra-fine Bora Bora white sand to exfoliate skin gently but effectively. It’s fast becoming one of our biggest sellers and firmly deserves a place in every holiday stocking.

Longevity Regimen Bundle

Around a year ago we launched an entire new range to help the skin age healthily and beautifully. And we called it Longevity. Because, well, the name speaks for itself, right? Chock full of game-changing ingredients like bakuchiol (nature’s kinder-to-skin alternative to retinol), plus coffeeberry and lingonberry stem cells which are both so rich in antioxidants they’re almost too good to be true, the range included an eye cream, moisturizer and serum to give the skin a complete regimen of goodness. And it quickly became a mega hit.

Truth is, who’s your absolute favorite person on your gift list? Because whoever that is, they deserve to receive this gorgeous Longevity Regimen Bundle which includes all three formulas under the tree.

6% AHA, BHA + PHA Liquid Exfoliant

Do you have someone on your list who’s bang on it when it comes to skincare ingredients and can recite the exact difference between AHAs and BHAs without taking a breath? Then 6% AHA, BHA + PHA Liquid Exfoliant is the stocking stuffer for them.

Launched back in 2022, this leave-on exfoliating toner harnesses the powers of glycolic acid (the AHA), salicylic acid (the BHA) and a lesser-known PHA called gluconolactone. Together, these create a little bit of exfoliating magic, helping to improve skin turnover, encourage healthy collagen production, balance sebum and care for your skin without the irritation often experienced with powerful exfoliants. It's a genius in a bottle. See what we did there?

Daily Essentials Trio

Sometimes you just want to treat the loves of your life to some good, honest skincare. And we get that. Which is one of the reasons we created this Daily Essentials Trio which bosses three of the most important steps in your skincare routine ­– serum, eye cream and moisturizer. This bundle of joy doesn’t just contain any old serum, eye cream and moisturizer, however, but delights in the wonders of our best-selling Peptide Eye Gel, Vitamin C Facial Serum and Vitamin C Brightening Moisturizer.

Great for all skin types and perfect for gifting, you might want to pop an extra in your cart in case you’re loathe to give it up so easily. Which is highly likely.

Tea Tree Super Cleanser+

When it comes to hard-working cleansers that pass the ‘don’t be too harsh on my skin’ test, our Tea Tree Super Cleanser+ passes with flying colors. So good for breakouts (holiday season or not!) and even better for balancing extra oily skin, it targets dirt and debris with every wash, leaving the skin feeling clean and fresh all day long.

What’s more it smells divine. And yes, that matters.

Hyaluronic Acid Eye Cream

Hyaluronic acid is one of skincare’s biggest wins. Sure it likes to hog the spotlight but wouldn’t you if you could draw in up to 1,000 times your weight in water? That’s pretty impressive stuff right there.

We use HA in many of our skincare formulations but if you’re looking for the cutest stocking stuffer, our Hyaluronic Acid Eye Cream is right up your alley. Lush, lightweight and so very lovely, this eye cream is ideal for waking up tired, hard-working eyes while tackling things like dark circles, fine lines and dehydration.

What’s that they say about the best things coming in small packages? Proof in point.

Collagen Boosting Skin Supplement

Collagen is the key to great skin and we don’t know anyone who wouldn’t want to receive some of that this holiday season. So why not help build their collagen supplies from within with our Collagen Boosting Skin Supplements? Purposefully crafted to promote natural collagen production and thus improve the look and feel of the skin, it contains vegetarian collagen only (you’ll find none of that cow stuff in here, thank you very much!) plus biotin for glowy skin and vitamin C for, well, even glowier skin.

Glowing skin for the holidays? Hells yeah!

Tired, stressed out skin can be a real party pooper. So get ahead of the game and up the skincare love with these simple beauty hacks.

Are you guilty of neglecting your skin during the party season? OK, so maybe ‘neglect’ is too strong a word. But if you’re already experiencing beat up skin that looks like it needs a fortnight in the Caribbean, chances are your skin is feeling the burn of one late night too many.

The holiday season can be stressful enough, however, so why add to your woes by putting your skin under so much pressure that it repays you with a whole bunch of unwanted holiday gifts like redness, dry patches, pimples and dullness? If you ask us, that’s just one stress too much.

We say a big ‘NO’ to stressed, partied out skin. Not by declining all the invitations. Heck no! But with the following skin-loving hacks that require zero effort (check) but offer maximum pay-out (check).

1. Double Cleanse Before Bed

Our motto is that if your cleanser doesn’t feel like it’s doing a good enough job on its own, then you need to think about the formulation you’re using. However, like all good rules in life, this motto is made to be broken! And during these times double cleansing can be a real lifesaver.

At this time of year you’re likely to be wearing more makeup, more often thanks to a crazy social calendar. Not only that but the combination of late nights, more booze, less sleep and more rich food is going to quickly make your skin feel and look super tired. And this is when problems quickly arise. If you’re a rosacea or eczema sufferer, for example, flare-ups will occur lightning fast. If you have oily skin, on the other hand, your sebaceous glands can go wild, producing more oil than ever and possibly leaving you with breakouts just when you don’t need them. You see where we’re going here…

One of the best ways to keep your skin under control during the holidays is to treat yourself to a pre-bedtime double cleanse. As you sleep, your skin goes into full recharge mode, regenerating new skin cells and repairing environmental damage. But how can it successfully do this when it’s covered in makeup and grime? The short answer is that it can’t. Instead, it’ll punish you with poor, rough texture; dull, dry skin and dark, puffy bags under your eyes.

Double cleansing can take on many forms but it basically means cleaning your skin twice to remove both oil-based debris (makeup, sebum and sunscreen) and water-based grime like sweat. Your first port of call is to massage some kind of oil-based cleanser into your skin to remove the oil-based surface debris. Then you wash with a cream, gel or lotion to finish cleansing and treat your skin according to your skin type or concerns. It’s a fairly simple process – although a little lengthier than regular cleansing – but in times of need it can work wonders for your skin and pores. Just remember, it's unlikely to be necessary every night, and stay away from overly harsh, perfumed or alcohol-heavy products. Keep it gentle with our range of awesome cleansing giants.

2. Laugh In the Face Of Free Rads

When you’re putting your body under more stress than normal, free radicals like to have a wild party of their own!

But what are free radicals? Well, without getting too sciencey on you, free radicals are unstable, highly reactive atoms or molecules that form in your skin when it’s subject to things like sun damage, pollution, alcohol, stress or a poor diet. Due to their unstable nature, free radicals seek out electrons from other, unsuspecting molecules in your skin to try and stabilize themselves. This is bad news because it creates even more free radicals, leading to what's known in the skincare biz as oxidative stress. This is probably all you need to know about those little free radical devils but needless to say, oxidative stress can cause serious damage to all the good stuff in your skin – namely collagen and elastin.

The good news is that antioxidants are able to donate electrons to free radicals to neutralize them and stop them screwing up the other, more important components in your skin. Your body has its own, hard-working antioxidant defense system but (isn't there always a but?!) aging weakens it. No surprises there! This means there inevitably comes a time when your skin needs help from other sources like an antioxidant-rich diet or topical antioxidants in your skincare routine such as vitamin C, niacinamide, green tea and vitamin E.

Our party season go-to is Vitamin C Super Serum+. And the best news is you only need to use it two or three times a week for awesome results. We suggest you get on board, immediately!

3. Layer Up With Hydration

Dehydration is an absolute b*tch for letting your skin down, making it look dull and feel horrible. Of course, a little amount of dehydration is a given if you’re a fan of overdoing the G&Ts and don’t counteract it with plenty of water. So try to sip on H20 as much as possible.

Just as importantly for helping to curb dehydrated skin is to apply products that draw water to the surface layers. Our favorite humectants (the water magnets of the skincare world) are hyaluronic acid, glycerin and aloe so keep your skin in good supply of these through twice daily use of treatment serums and good quality moisturizers.

We have many superpowered serums like Hyaluronic Acid Facial Serum which is incredible for pumping up moisture, but we also love Multi-Vitamin Facial Serum which is one of the finest for boosting radiance and uplifting a gloomy, dehydrated complexion.

4. Perk Up Tired Eyes

What’s the first area of your skin to, without fail, give the partying game away? The skin around your eyes. The reason for this is that the skin here is slightly different to the rest of your face. It contains fewer sebaceous glands (cue dryness) and is around ten times thinner which makes it way more susceptible to the visible signs of tiredness and premature aging. Also, thanks to its natural thinness, underlying tissue and blood vessels become more prominent when you’re tired, causing shadows and dark circles.

But that’s not all. The skin around your eyes also contains a limited amount of fat and muscle which means collagen and elastin are even more important for maintaining strength and support. When your collagen and elastin become compromised thanks to too much partying, basically the poor skin around your eyes stands no chance of remaining its best.

So what can you do about pooped-out peepers? First, try to get early nights whenever you can. Obvs. Drink plenty of water day and night to reduce dehydration, and always keep a fabulous eye treatment in your refrigerator to apply morning and night to cleansed skin. Our new Depuffing Longevity Eye Cream is a real hero, or you could try Peptide Eye Gel which works like a dream on tired eyes.

5. Exoliate A Tad More Than Normal

Exfoliating too much can send your skin into a state of frenzy, but if you have strong skin and you feel like it needs a bit of a kick in the booty, a little extra exfoliation can work wonders.

If you like to use a scrub, try exfoliating once more a week during the party season, or try our new AHA, BHA and PHA Liquid Exfoliant which contains glycolic and salicylic acids as well as a gentle hydrating exfoliant called gluconolactone. It’s super effective yet gentle enough to use every day. Can we get an Auld Lang Syne for that?!

6. Feed Your Skin From The Inside

Finally, while you’re putting all manner of salty snacks and sweet treats down your throat, remember to save some room for plenty of good, nutritious foods. Fresh fruit and veggies are a given in any healthy diet, but also up your intake of lean protein and omega-3 fatty acids to help regulate oil production and nourish your skin. You’ll find omega-3s in things like oily fish, seafood, nuts and seeds.

While we’re on the subject of looking after your skin from the inside, now’s also a great time to try our new Collagen Boosting Skin Supplement which helps to promote quality natural collagen production while improving hydration and fighting off those naughty free radicals.

It’s the perfect antidote to living the good life ;)

‘Tis the season for parties, rich food, late nights and eggnog. Great! But, get this, the holidays can be hella hard on your skin.

It's true, living the good life can really mess with your skin. So, let’s nip that in the bud toute de suite by learning about the biggest holiday skin sinners, shall we?

1. Alcohol

A glass of wine every now and again and a few G&Ts on a Friday night are not going to cause your skin to totally freak out (there are far stronger forces to blame there) but frequent and excessive drinking, which is often par for the cause over the holidays, can definitely take its toll on your poor complexion.

So, exactly how does alcohol affect the skin – specifically in the short term? Well, for starters alcohol is a diuretic. This means it makes you pee more, causing you to lose more water than you would on a regular day without the booze. Losing an excessive amount of water can make you quickly feel dehydrated which is a bummer on the skin, sapping it of essential moisture, increasing dryness and dullness and intensifying the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles quicker than a flash.

Alcohol also screws up your sleep patterns (more on that in a minute), inflames the tissue and causes your blood vessels to dilate, exacerbating facial redness and making your skin feel hot and angry. Sure, this is not a massive deal in the moment (although it can ruin your makeup!) but continue to drink and over the years that temporary flush can become much more of a permanent fixture. No fun.

Your Holiday Action Points

Drink more water. Try to down a glass of water for every alcoholic beverage you drink. This’ll help minimize dehydration.

Give yourself alternate days off. This allows enough time for alcohol to leave your body. Damage limitations and all that.

Choose clear alcohol. Clear drinks like vodka and tequila leave your body far quicker than darker ones.

Hydrate your skin from the outside in. Use a moisture-binding serum like Hyaluronic Acid Facial Serum daily.

2. Rich Food

Everyone knows the benefits of a well-rounded diet that’s heavy on the fresh fruit and veggies and high in fiber and protein. And for the best part of the year it’s not that difficult to ensure you’re balancing lots of the good, healthy stuff with a few of the naughties.

But the holiday season is a whole different matter. Candy is constantly on offer while rich, heavy dinners are a given – not to mention the desserts. Oh the desserts!

Being informed of some of the effects of rich, festive food, however, goes a long way to helping you to resist over-indulging. Regular indulging, of course, is fine – it IS the holidays, after all. But completely overdoing it? Maybe not.

The main food fiends when it comes to the wellness of your skin are sugar, salt, fried foods and refined carbs. No surprises there, right? Sugar and processed carbs like white bread and pasta, for example, have been proven to lead to the accumulation of advanced glycation end products (AGEs). AGEs are harmful compounds that form in the skin when you bombard your body with too much sugar. This excess of the sweet stuff attacks your skin cells, latching onto collagen and elastin, and causing them to stiffen and weaken. You might as well just invite lines, wrinkles, sagginess and dullness to your holiday parties.

Your Holiday Action Points

Be mindful when you cook. Substitute white sugar with honey, don’t brine your turkey, reduce the amount of salt you add to your cooking, bake instead of fry your foods and choose wholemeal breads and brown rice.

Snack wiser. Instead of filling up your snack bowls with salted pretzels and heavily seasoned chips, choose unsalted nuts instead. Also lay out lots of berries to pick at. Then you won’t feel so bad for indulging on chocolate! 

Combat free radicals. Give free radicals a run for their money by applying topical antioxidants on the reg. Our hot holiday fave is Vitamin C Super Serum+.

3. Hot & Cold Temperatures

Winter equals cold weather and a real lack of humidity in the air. And this can mean only one thing for your skin – dryness.

In complete contrast, you are then faced with warmer temperatures inside, thanks to roaring fires and cranked up heating. This also sucks moisture from your skin and, not only that, but extreme temperature changes cause tiny capillaries in your skin to contract and dilate, resulting in redness and inflammation. Good grief!

Your Holiday Action Points

Turn the heat down in your home. It might feel cozy to crank up your heating, but try not to go too crazy. The ideal home temperature should be somewhere around 70 degrees Fahrenheit.

Limit hot baths and showers. Scorching hot water strips away the protective lipid layer from your skin’s barrier, sucking away moisture and leaving you with surface dehydration. Turn down the temperature and limit bath time to 15 mins.

Stick with super gentle cleansing. Harsh cleaning products will do your skin no favors, so go for mild formulations that care for your complexion. We love Soothing Cleansing Milk for nurturing holiday skin.

4. Stress

Are your holiday menus going to suit everybody's tastes and dietary requirements? Will your bestie love her gift as much as you want her to? And, shoot, you forgot to get those last-minute stocking stuffers for the kids! There are so many things to get stressed about during the festive season that, frankly, it’s a miracle any of us survive it.

Thankfully, we do live to tell the tale. However, your skin can really suffer during the holidays thanks to emotional stress. You see, stress throws your hormones totally out of whack. When you feel stressed, your nervous system releases a whole bunch of hormones into the bloodstream (think cortisol and adrenaline) which causes your heart to pump faster, your breath to quicken and your muscles to tense and get ready for action. This is great when you want to nail a scary job interview or shine on a first date, but when it becomes a regular thing, these stress hormones go into constant overdrive and your body has no chance to relax and go back to normal. This plays havoc with your emotions, your sleep and can result in any number of physical issues like headaches and nausea and often more serious concerns like heart or digestive problems. Then, of course, there’s your skin.

An overload of cortisol, the ‘stress hormone’ makes your sebaceous glands produce more oil (cue greasy skin and pimples). It also impairs your barrier function, accelerates inflammation, depletes collagen and interferes with your skin’s healing process. Not ideal for those pimples we just mentioned.

Your Holiday Action Points

Make lists. Lists are great, not only for helping you to remember everything you need to do/buy/make, but also for clearing your mind. Especially before bed. And especially at this time of year.

Take time out. If you’re feeling frazzled, go for a ten-minute walk or take yourself off to a private space to breathe and relax. It’s amazing what a little me-time can do for the soul.

Calm inflammation with soothing skincare. Aloe vera, green tea, rose water and niacinamide are awesome for stressed skin. Try a spritz of Rose Water Refreshing Facial Toner for instant zen.

5. Zero ZZZs

It’s party time. Yay! Good on you, enjoy yourselves. But… and it’s a big but… try not to overdo it at the expense of your sleepy time. Skin hates that.

The reason sleep is so important for the health of your skin is that while the brain goes into rest mode your skin gets kinda busy. Blood flow increases to nourish your skin with valuable nutrients; antioxidants kick in to help your skin recover from the perils of the daily grind; cell turnover accelerates to bring fresh, healthy skin cells to the surface, and collagen production revs up big time. And as you know, collagen is extremely important for your skin, maintaining strength, structure, firmness and volume.

Without the recommended seven to nine hours of sleep each night, your skin is going to miss out on all that good recovery and rejuvenation time. And it will suffer because of it, furnishing your complexion with anything from dull, sallow skin to full-on acne breakouts. You have been warned.

Your Holiday Action Points

Get an early night whenever you can. Ideally you should go to sleep and wake up at roughly around the same time each night. But heck, it’s the holidays. So don’t pass up the opportunity for partying, just get more sleep on those rare nights in.

Make your bedroom a sleeping paradise. Invest in some blackout curtains, get a humidifier, wear earplugs if noise is an issue and ensure your room is the perfect temperature for sleeping (65 degrees Fahrenheit according to The Sleep Foundation).

Treat your skin overnight. Ensure you never wake up with dry, sad skin by gently cleansing your face and neck then slathering Vitamin C Deep Hydration Night Cream all over.

Check everyone off your shopping to-do list with these awesome skincare gifts. Because everyone wants the gift of great skin, right?

‘Tis the season for gifting. Yay! Or… maybe not! While some people thrive on nailing the perfect gift for friends, family, neighbors and colleagues, others find gift shopping to be the worst part of the festive season. And we hear you. The holidays can be tough on us all.

But no need to panic because we’ve got your back. So if you’re in a bit of a festive frenzy right now and still have a ton of people to buy for, allow us to help you put a lid on your gift list and get your stockings stuffed with these fabulous skincare gifts.

1. AHA, BHA + PHA Liquid Exfoliant

Winter skin can be a real pain in the booty, especially when you throw in those extra festive skin enemies like rich, salty food; candy treats and eggnog. Hello dullness, my old friend! Or fiend, if you will. Thankfully, that’s where skin exfoliation comes to the rescue. Help your loved ones banish sad, holiday skin with this brand new (extra points right there!) and supremely crafted chemical exfoliant that laughs in the face of dead skin cells. Love that for them. And you, for that matter.

2. The Exclusive Kylie Bundle by Kylie Cantrall

This bundle of skincare joy will not be around for long, so nab it now and make someone very happy this holiday season. Containing three glow-getting top-sellers picked out by Kylie herself it includes our brand new Soothing Cleansing Milk, Rose Water Refreshing Facial Toner and everyone’s favorite (Kylie included!), the mighty Vitamin C Facial Serum. Skin friendly, with just a touch of red carpet glamor, it’s the ultimate throuple!

3. Tea Tree Super Cleanser+

Loved by everyone for its ultra-refreshing scent and skin-cleaning prowess, this high powered super cleanser is the perfect stocking stuffer for all. Why the ballsy statement? Because, for one thing, tea tree oil is a total skincare champ when it comes to balancing the skin. And when it’s combined with age-defying MSM, hydrating aloe and soothing chamomile it cannot fail to deliver. And, FYI, it never does. Fail, that is.

4. Multi Vitamin Facial Serum

Treatment serums that hone in on single, kick-ass ingredients like vitamin C and retinol are great if you know what your gift recipient is in to. But if you don’t? Then you need something a little more ‘one and done,’ if you get the drift. And have we got the best multi-use serum ever. Crammed with no less than 11 plant-derived vitamins, minerals and skin enhancing electrolytes this lightweight serum is packed, we repeat, packed with all the feels.

5. Depuffing Longevity Eye Cream

Looking for the cutest little stocking stuffer that’s tiny but ever so mighty? Then look no further than this newest addition to our eye cream range. Depuffing is its name and… well… depuffing is its game! Harnessing the invincible powers of coffeeberry extract to help reduce under-eye baggage, it also contains age-defying lingonberry stem cells, plus our new BFF bakuchiol – nature’s gentler alternative to retinol. Our advice? Add two to cart – one for them, one for you.

6. Super C Duo

This dynamic duo is like Santa and Rudolph – the perfect holiday couple. With a double dose of sodium ascorbyl phosphate, or ‘the gentlest, most effective vitamin C’ as it’s known to its friends (that includes you!) we love it for so many reasons. Fading dark spots, brightening dull skin, softening fine lines, it’s the whole kit and caboodle.

7. Firming Collagen Day Lotion

Know someone who is all about preventing the visible signs of skin aging? Well, aren’t we all? This was why we were psyched to launch a complete line of preventative healthy aging products earlier this fall. And this moisturizing whizz kid has already become a fan favorite. With a unique blend of collagen peptides (vegan, of course!), plus ceramides and nutrient-rich green algae, it’s the ideal day cream for restoring firmness while protecting collagen and supporting youthful-looking skin.

8. Vitamin C Deep Hydration Night Cream

Anyone who knows anything about skincare is well aware that day lotions don’t always cut the mustard when it’s time for bed. The reason is that your skin has different needs when you’re asleep, requiring more intense moisturization, support and restoration, rather than sun protection and oil control. Two words: night cream. Better than that, three words: THIS night cream. Soft, satiny and ultra-hydrating, fans call it their ultimate bed partner. We’ll take that.

9. Charcoal Clarifying Cleanser

An absolute legend for all ages and genders, this deep cleansing face wash is ideal for balancing oily skin and drawing toxins out of gunked-up pores. Something we all need during the holidays, for sure. Its super powers are all down to activated coconut charcoal which is a highly absorbent black powder that comes from burnt coconut shells. This might not sound particularly appealing but on the contrary. Activated coconut charcoal is awesome at binding itself to toxins, oil and bacteria,  whisking them clean away and furnishing you with the ultimate in fabulous skin, all year long. Because great skin is not just for the holidays.

10. SPF 30 Mineral Sunscreen with Vitamin C

Nobody wants to see the damaging effects the sun can have on their skin. It’s not cool and it’s not pretty, ranging from everything from deep-set lines to hard-to-shift hyperpigmentation. The good news is that sunscreen is the cat’s whiskers for shielding skin from the wicked ways of the sun. So spread the love and watch the thank you messages flood in by popping this broad-spectrum sunscreen in everyone’s stocking this holiday season.