True Radical Honesty From Our Community

Eating chocolate and greasy fries won’t necessarily give you pimples, and a week in the sun won’t make them vanish, either. But there are certain things that really can help prevent and treat acne breakouts. Here, we’ve rounded up ten of the best…

Acne is the most common skin woe in the whole of the United States. Not dark under eye circles, not sun spots, not even wrinkles, but acne. According to the American Academy of Dermatology (AAD), it affects up to 50 million Americans every year, and around 15 percent of women are plagued by some form of acne during their adult lives.

Sigh.

If you’ve had acne on and off for most of your teenage and adult life, you’ll have heard every last trick about how to avoid breakouts. Most of which were probably complete BS. So, we’re here to set the record straight once for all with our guide to the most tried and trusted ways to keep acne under control. 

1. Don’t Pick

The world’s fascination with popping pimples shows no signs of going away (thanks mainly to dermatologist Dr. Sandra Lee, aka Dr. Pimple Popper!), but attempting this at home is rarely a good idea. Sure, squeezing that white top might be hard to resist, but it can trigger inflammatory responses in your skin which can delay healing and potentially make your pimples worse.

Picking and prodding zits also introduces a bunch of new bacteria to your skin and quite frankly, it has enough to deal with already. Finally, if all that wasn’t enough, popping pimples creates trauma to your skin which can lead to scabbing, infections, pigmentation and scarring. Don’t do it. Just don’t.  

2. Keep Your Skin Clean

A primary cause of acne is blocked pores that get clogged up with oil, dirt and dead skin cells, and then become inflamed or infected with bacteria. This makes cleansing your skin twice daily extremely important – especially at night after sweat, sebum, makeup and sunscreen have built up on the surface of your skin.

Try our new Tea Tree Super Cleanser + which is ultralight, super refreshing and mega calming. It also douses your skin with a powerful blend of nature’s blemish-controlling superstar, tea tree oil, and our ultimate secret weapon for breakouts, MSM.

3. Wash Your Hands

While we’re on the subject of cleanliness, don’t underestimate the power of clean hands. Of course, you’re far too disciplined to pick at your pimples (see above), but even touching your face or leaning on your hands spreads unnecessary dirt, oil and bacteria all over your skin. It’s a tricky habit to kick because it’s usually an unconscious move, but the least you can do is wash your hands regularly to minimize the after-effects.

4. Keep Everything Clean

Not to keep banging on about cleanliness, but there’s more… Towels and pillowcases can also harbor bacteria if they’re not laundered regularly, so make sure you change these out on a weekly basis. And perhaps consider using a fragrance-free detergent if your skin tends to be reactive.

Also, wash your makeup brushes twice a week (especially if you wear makeup daily); shampoo your hair often to avoid oils from your hair transferring to your face, and wipe down your smartphone with a hand sanitizing wipe as often as you remember.

5. Use Retinol

Retinol is an anti-aging given, but it’s also a powerful tool for acne-prone skin. How so? Well, retinol helps unclog your pores by stimulating collagen production and encouraging cell turnover. It also promotes healing and, by keeping your pores clear, can help other skincare or topical acne medication penetrate more effectively.

Introduce Retinol Serum into your evening routine a few times a week and apply it to cleansed skin before moisturizing – you won’t regret it.

6. Wear Sunscreen

This might not be one of the most well-known anti-acne tricks, but it’s important, so hear us out.

In addition to the obvious protection from UV damage, sunscreen reduces redness and can help skin avert post-inflammatory hyperpigmentation (those dark spots that pimples often leave behind). It also reduces the likelihood of your skin becoming dry in the sun which keeps sebum balanced and under control.

So there you go, sunscreen for acne – surprisingly important. Just remember to avoid heavy, pore-clogging sunscreens that can cause breakouts or make the pimples you have even worse. Instead, try our new SPF 30 Mineral Sunscreen which is sheer, lightweight and oil-free.

7. Moisturize… But Do It With Care

Acne often goes hand-in-hand with oily skin which can get forgotten about when it comes to moisturizing. It’s a huge mistake to skip this vital step, however, no matter how oily or pimply your skin may be. If you fail to moisturize your skin, the surface will become dry and your sebaceous glands will overproduce oil to compensate. Cue excess oil which can block your pores and make acne worse.

Your best bet is to hydrate with a light serum like Hyaluronic Acid Serum, then follow with a non-comedogenic moisturizer that’s less likely to block your pores. Oh, and make sure you do this day AND night, especially if you use harsh acne treatments that dry out your skin.

8. Avoid Over Exfoliation

Scrubbing your face feels great, but it’s one of the biggest mistakes you can make, particularly if you’re prone to breakouts.

Exfoliation is great for boosting cell turnover and keeping your pores clean and clear, but too much can cause redness and inflammation – something you definitely don’t want to encourage if acne is already making your skin both of these things. Stick to once a week max, or better yet, allow chemical exfoliating ingredients like salicylic acid to gradually do the job for you.

9. Manage Your Stress 

As with seemingly everything, when it comes to acne, stress only makes matters worse. Research has pointed to a direct link between stress and acne, thanks to stress-related hormones like cortisol encouraging your sebaceous glands to produce more oil. Cortisol also reduces your skin’s natural levels of hyaluronic acid which makes your skin more dehydrated and further triggers sebum production. All this excess oil is a veritable playground for bacteria to breed and acne to worsen.

Of course, keeping stress under control is no mean feat, but breathing exercises, yoga, or taking a short walk each day may help clear your mind. Go for whatever form of relaxation suits you and helps take the pressure off, even if only for a few minutes. And remember to get your seven or eight hours of quality sleep while you’re at it. Sleep is SO important.

10. Strike Down Inflammation, Inside and Out

As helpful as skincare tips may be, acne is often an inside job rooted in internal factors influenced by diet and hormones. While addressing these triggers is an important part of getting chronic acne under control, it’s also key to hit back at topical inflammation. This beauty baddie not only exacerbates breakouts, it can increase the likelihood of hyperpigmentation and scarring, so it’s especially critical to diminish it as much as possible.

To help do this on the daily, look for skin saviors with anti-inflammatory clout like vitamin C in the form of sodium ascorbyl phosphate, as well as MSM and aloe, all of which have a reputation for mitigating inflammation and blemishes alike. You can find them teamed up in our Vitamin C Serum, as well as across several other TruSkin formulas—because we know how invaluable these good guys can be for all skin types.

Fine lines and wrinkles, dark spots and dry, dehydrated skin: three of the most common signs of aging skin, right there. So, let’s see what we can do to keep them to a minimum, shall we?

Skin aging happens to us all. Literally, every one of us. And while you can’t press a button and stop time (if so, we’d take age 32, please!), you can, for sure, take control of the rate at which you age – to a certain degree, of course. Looking after yourself with a healthy diet and regular exercise is a given. But what else can you do to specifically target your most niggling skin bugbears? Here, we take a look at three of the most common signs of aging skin…

1. Fine Lines & Wrinkles

What They Are: Fine Lines and wrinkles can crop up on your skin pretty early on in life. They happen when your skin’s support network (collagen and elastin) breaks down as you age, causing your skin to become thinner, weaker and less resilient. Kind of like deflating a balloon, your skin loses its plumpness, feels less taut and starts to wrinkle. Lines and wrinkles are usually most prevalent around your eyes, mouth and forehead where your face is the most expressive.

What Causes Them: Father Time is obviously a major factor here, but it’s not just getting old that breaks down collagen and elastin fibers. Exposure to the sun also speeds up this process like lightning. As does smoking; a poor diet that’s laden with salt, sugar, processed carbs and bad fats; environmental pollution, and repetitive facial movements such as smiling, laughing, frowning or squinting.

What You Can Do: One of the most important ways to prevent lines and wrinkles is to look after your skin’s barrier function through gentle cleansing and regular moisturizing. Your skin’s barrier is its outermost layer that protects it from external nasties, while reducing moisture loss and transporting essential nutrients and hydration to the underlying layers of your skin. This barrier is super important for the look, feel and health of your skin, so ensure you moisturize regularly, never over-exfoliate and cleanse gently twice a day, avoiding skin-drying chemicals and scorching hot water.

What To Use To Target Fine Lines & Wrinkles: Topical antioxidants are a joy for dealing with the signs of aging, and when it comes to those pesky lines and wrinkles, you can’t go wrong with Retinol Serum. Proven time and again for being one of the most effective ingredients for improving collagen synthesis and cell turnover, retinol is the boss when it comes to softening crinkly skin. And we don’t say that lightly.

2. Dark Spots

What They Are: Possibly even more frustrating than lines and wrinkles are those dark spots that seem to come from nowhere as you hit your 30s and beyond. Otherwise known as hyperpigmentation, dark spots occur when your skin’s production of melanin (that’s the pigment that gives your skin its natural color) goes awry, creating patchy areas of dark skin in all the wrong places. Dark spots can appear anywhere on your body but are commonly seen on your face, shoulders, chest and hands.

What Causes Them: Three things: the sun, hormonal fluctuations or some kind of skin trauma/injury like a bug bite, acne spot or eczema. These all interfere with the melanin-synthesizing cells in your skin (melanocytes), causing them to over-produce melanin which then gets unevenly distributed in the epidermis. The result? Blotchy, speckled skin.

What You Can Do: Exfoliation is a great way to remove dulling dead skin cells at a surface level, allowing for all the fresh, untarnished stuff to make its way to the surface. Chemical peels are great for this if you want something hardcore, but don’t dismiss at-home exfoliation which can also reap great results with patience and dedication. Just don’t overdo it or you could cause irritation, redness and an unnecessary thinning of the skin.

What To Use To Target Dark Spots: As well as being mildly exfoliating and a go-to for fighting off damaging free radicals that form in the skin thanks to sun exposure and pollution, studies have shown that vitamin C can help inhibit melanin production at a cellular level. This is great news for anyone looking to improve dark spots. Try our fan favorite Vitamin C Serum.

3. Dryness & Dehydration

What They Are: Similar… but very different, dryness refers to a lack of oil in your skin, whereas dehydration indicates a lack of water. Also, dry skin is a skin type that you’re born with, whereas dehydration is a condition anyone can experience.

What Causes Them: As you get older, the dermis and underlying layers of your skin get thinner and more fragile which makes it harder for your skin to retain moisture. Couple this with the natural loss of ceramides, hyaluronic acid, fats and lipids and it’s no wonder your skin becomes drier and more dehydrated. Your sebaceous glands also slow down through age which might be music to the ears of oily skin types, but for everyone else this is a one-way ticket to unwanted dryness.

What You Can Do: Fight back and make moisturizers, facial oils and hydrating serums your BFFs. Moisturize your skin after every cleanse, and choose products that contain both humectants (to help boost moisture content) as well as emollients and/or occlusives (to create a seal over your skin and help lock all that moisture in). Also, try to avoid using hot water on your skin which can strip all the healthy fats and oils away, causing further dryness and dehydration.

What To Use To Target Dryness & Dehydration: You can't beat a well-rounded formula like our Hyaluronic Acid Serum for boosting much-needed moisture in dehydrated skin. Hyaluronic acid is naturally present in your skin, but as you hit age 20 it tends to beat it faster than you can say 'pass the moisturizer'. Our awesome serum helps counteract natural HA loss and also lavishes your skin with aloe, glycerin and botanical oils to help dryness as well as dehydration. Just remember to apply moisturizer on top to make sure all that skin-loving moisture stays there.

Finally, there’s one other small but seriously important skincare trick for helping to prevent ALL of the above. You probably know where we’re going here, right? Yes, sun protection.

Excluding the natural aging process, the sun is responsible for between 80 and 90 percent of all visible signs of skin aging. Lines, wrinkles, dark spots, dryness, dehydration, the works. So, as well as using an awesome facial treatment that’s targeted to your specific concerns, you must always apply SPF 30 Mineral Sunscreen every morning. No excuses, no arguments.

Skin in total freak-out mode right now? Then it’s time to de-stress and give your poor complexion a break.

Stressed skin is one of life’s vicious circles. First, emotional stress sends your hormones out of whack, making your skin dry, oily, itchy or break out. Sad times, indeed. Then, to add insult to injury, you get the 'pleasure' of having to deal with cruddy skin and, heck, that just ruins your self-esteem and makes you feel even more stressed. As we said, a vicious circle.

It’s true, emotional anxiety has a massive impact on the look, feel and health of your skin. This is because when you feel stressed, your brain stimulates the release of various hormones (cortisol, to name just one) which upset the equilibrium of your body, disrupting your immune system, wreaking havoc on your skin’s barrier function, interfering with the healing process and triggering all sorts of problems, mainly irritation and inflammation.

If this is ringing too many bells in your head right now, chances are your skin and, more importantly, your emotional wellbeing are crying out for some much-needed TLC. Not sure where to start? No problem, we’re on it…

1. First, Try To De-Stress Your Mind

Chilling the heck out is easier said than done, but reducing (or at least attempting to reduce) your levels of emotional stress is a major step to mirroring the same effects for your skin. If things are all too much at work, for example, speak out, delegate tasks or learn how to say no. According to the Mayo Clinic, asserting yourself in the workplace – or, in fact, any situation – is one of the best ways to de-stress because it reduces internal conflict and helps you more successfully manage everyday life.

You could also keep a journal. It’s amazing how much of a relief it is to write stuff down and get things off your chest. And if you’re worried someone might get hold of your pent-up thoughts? Easy, write them down on a scrap of paper instead of a proper journal, then when you’re done, you can toss it in the trash.

Of course, these are just a couple of the many ways to help manage stress. There are many tricks for calming your mind and improving your emotional wellness, so if life is kind of overwhelming right now, please make sure you seek professional advice to identify its causes and help you learn to cope.

2. Practice Some True Self-Care

Can you honestly say you’ve been looking after yourself recently? Maaaybe… but probably not. The thing is, exercise and a healthy, balanced diet are awesome stress relievers.

Exercise stimulates endorphins which are known as ‘feel-good’ chemicals for good reason. Hint: they make you feel good! Try to up your levels of daily physical activity as much as possible. You might not be up for a 10-mile run at 6 a.m. every morning, but small things like a brisk walk, gardening, swimming, cycling or even doing some household chores will get those endorphins pumping and help lift your mood.

Yoga and pilates are also awesome stress relievers because they help dial back your sympathetic nervous system. This is your body’s ‘quick response’ system which produces that pesky stress hormone, cortisol. If you can, try to combine a mixture of heart-pumping exercise with more relaxing, muscle-strengthening activities for a complete, all-round regimen.

When it comes to your diet, too much sugar, salt, processed carbs and fried foods are absolute devils on your skin, causing harmful free radicals that break down collagen and accelerate inflammation. Instead, feed your skin with stuff it loves – namely antioxidant-rich fruit and veggies, oily fish, nuts and lean protein. Oh, and as tempting as it may be to deal with stressful situations with coffee and doughnuts, try not to make this a habit.

3. Give Your Barrier Function A Break

Your skin’s barrier function is its uppermost layer – the very top of your epidermis, which acts like a security guard to protect you from the outside world. It works super hard to stop moisture from getting out and nasty irritants from getting in.

When your skin is suffering, this is a sure-fire indication that your barrier function has been compromised. Many things contribute to this, not least of all stress itself, which depletes your skin’s natural production of healthy oils and alters its pH level.

Your skincare routine also has a vital role to play here.

Harsh cleansing with chemical-fueled products can completely strip your protective barrier of important proteins and lipids, so this is a massive no-no, for starters. Cleanse gently with mild, sulfate-free formulations like our Vitamin C Brightening Cleanser and only ever use lukewarm, never hot, water to wash your face.

Another thing: don't forget to moisturize after cleansing, which is VITAL for healthy, stress-free barrier function. Dryness is seriously damaging to your skin’s barrier, leaving it vulnerable to transepidermal water loss (TEWL) as well as external aggressors like pollution, UV radiation and the like. Choose smart, all-round moisturizers that combine ingredients to not only help draw water into your skin (eg. aloe, glycerin and hyaluronic acid) but also lock moisture in (eg. shea butter and stearic acid). Vitamin C Brightening Moisturizer is always a great shout.

4. Think About Everything You Put On Your Skin

Bombarding your skin with active ingredients like retinoids and glycolic acid can be way too much for some skin types to cope with. Sure, these ingredients are awesome for tackling lines, wrinkles, dark spots and acne, but you can most definitely have too much of a good thing.

If your complexion is feeling totally out of whack, it’s worth looking at your routine to see if it contains too many active ingredients that are potentially fighting against each other or are simply proving too potent for your complexion. Pare back on treatment serums (you really only need one in the morning and one at night, anyway) and consider dropping down your usage to two or three times a week. You never know, this could easily de-stress your skin with very little effort.

On the flipside, ingredients to include in your routine are those crammed with calming, hydrating or soothing benefits. Aloe, vitamin E and niacinamide are three that immediately come to mind and – bonus – you’ll find all of these ingredients in our Niacinamide Facial Serum. Just saying.

5. Optimize Bedtime

Getting your beauty sleep is essential for the health of your skin because overnight is when it repairs and heals itself from the slings and arrows of the day. Skip too many zzzs and your skin misses out on all that vital time in which collagen production ramps up to boost regeneration and antioxidants kick in to reduce damage and revitalize your skin.

As you know, eight hours of sleep is the recommended amount (or somewhere between seven and nine hours, according to the National Sleep Foundation) but it’s not all about quantity. In fact, the quality of your sleep is just as important.

To totally boss your best night’s sleep, ensure you nail this checklist:

• Go to bed at roughly the same time each night.
• Don’t go to bed hungry, full or having just drank a ton of caffeine or alcohol.
• Ensure your bedroom is dark, quiet and at a comfortable, slightly cool temperature.
• Avoid using your phone, laptop or tablet for at least an hour before bedtime.
• Take a few deep breaths as soon as you get into bed to lower your heart rate and make you feel relaxed.
• Gently cleanse, tone, treat and then moisturize your skin with Vitamin C Deep Hydration Night Cream to give your skin the best chance to rejuvenate itself.

Finally, remind yourself how well you’re doing at life – every single day. And when you look in the mirror, try to see the good stuff. A positive outlook on life is absolutely priceless for stress-free skin.

Who’s in the market for fresh, revitalized skin for spring? The real question is who isn’t?

If your skin is screaming ‘tired, worn-out and kinda lackluster', the good news is (hold on, there’s some good news?) you’re not alone. Google searches for ‘how to get naturally glowing skin’ and ‘how to keep skin younger and glowing’ continue to trend, proving that when it comes to covetable skin, freshness and radiance are everything.

Which figures. After all, fine lines, wrinkles, pimples and dark spots immediately appear less obvious if your overall complexion looks good. Refreshed, clean, glowy skin also knocks years off you, and don’t even get us started on how simply looking more wide-awake makes you immediately feel better and more raring to go. Oh, the power of being happy in your own skin…

So, how can you up your radiance game? Well, exfoliating your skin with a gentle scrub or rinsing your face with cold water are decent places to start. But to really get ‘under your skin’, if you will, and reap lasting benefits, you should think about incorporating some kind of active ingredient into your daily routine. Specifically, one that’s known for accelerating cell turnover and loaded with skin-renewing powers.

So, just what are these masterful ingredients? Let’s see, shall we?

Retinol

We could go on for weeks about the benefits of retinol on both aging and acne-prone skin (don’t worry, we won’t), but when it comes to skin renewal, we do have a few things to say. First, retinol is the best. And second? Well, do you need a second?

A derivative of vitamin A, retinol gets converted into retinoic acid when absorbed by your skin. And it’s this retinoic acid that works hard at a cellular level, kickstarting collagen and elastin production, boosting cell turnover and stimulating blood circulation to help make your skin thicker, firmer, stronger and brighter.

Of course, every silver lining has its cloud and retinol is a potent little beast that needs to be used with caution and care. The number one rule is that any new retinol product should be patch tested first to check for adverse reactions. Then, and only then, should you introduce it slowly into your skincare routine, starting with once a week and building to daily as your skin acclimates. This helps avoid irritation and gives your skin time to adjust to turning over at a faster rate.

Looking to refresh and revive your skin long-term? Then retinol has to be top of the list. It just has to.

Try: Retinol Facial Serum

Glycolic Acid

Exfoliating acids are another must for fresh, renewed skin and if you’re looking for the absolute queen, look no further than glycolic acid.

Glycolic acid is derived from sugar cane and belongs to a group of acids called alpha hydroxy acids, or AHAs. When applied to the skin, AHAs work by softening the bonds between dead skin cells, which encourages them to slough away more easily and make way for the newer, healthier cells underneath. Kind of like physically exfoliating your skin with a scrub... but minus the effort!

By improving desquamation (the fancy term for the shedding of dead skin cells), glycolic acid also stimulates cell regeneration, making your skin look and feel way better over time.

Glycolic acid has the smallest molecular size of all AHAs, making it one of the most effective and potent exfoliating acids out there. It’s trusted by pros and often used in chemical peels, but you can also find it in lower concentrations in loads of skincare serums and treatments. But remember, just like retinol, glycolic acid packs a punch, so it should always be applied with caution.

Try: Ocean Mineral Super Toner

Peptides

Peptides are a bit trickier to get your head around, but bear with us because they’re an absolute must for skin renewal.

Made up of short chains of amino acids, peptides help your skin produce proteins like collagen and elastin. How so? Proteins are similarly comprised of amino acids, which allows peptides to act like little messengers, searching out depleted proteins and ‘telling’ your skin to produce more collagen and elastin where it needs them most. Think of peptides as building blocks for the structure, firmness and elasticity of your skin.

There are hundreds of peptides out there – some of which are awesome and some which, frankly, aren't even close. Good ones to look out for are Matrixyl 3000 and palmitoyl tripeptides, which have been proven to boost collagen production in aging skin. Studies have even suggested that Matrixyl 3000 has the potential to almost double the amount of collagen your skin produces. Impressive stuff, don’t you agree?

Try: Peptide Anti-Aging Eye Gel

Vitamin C

You’re probably aware of how much we love vitamin C here at TruSkin HQ. After all, our entire skincare range stemmed from our award-winning Vitamin C Serum, which continues to be a fan favorite. And rightly so.

Vitamin C is one of the most researched and trusted antioxidants in skincare, but it’s so much more than a free radical neutralizer and fighter of environmental (cough, sun) damage. Of course, all this is super important for the feel, look and health of your skin because nixing free radicals helps keep your collagen and elastin levels at their peak, which simultaneously maintains efficient cellular turnover. But vitamin C has another trick up its sleeve for giving your skin that extra glow factor. And this is its ability to inhibit melanin production.

As we’re sure you know, melanin is the pigment that gives your skin (as well as your hair and eyes) its unique color. Sun exposure ramps up melanin production, which is why you tan. However, melanin can get a little out of whack sometimes, producing dark, uneven spots known as hyperpigmentation: bad news if fresh-looking skin is your mojo. Vitamin C helps keep melanin under control by inhibiting tyrosinase, an enzyme which catalyzes melanin production. Clever vitamin C.

Try: Vitamin C Brightening Moisturizer

Niacinamide

Otherwise known as vitamin B3, niacinamide is one of the gentlest active ingredients in skincare. But don’t let its gentle nature fool you because it more than holds its own when it comes to strengthening, renewing and energizing your skin.

Like vitamin C, topical niacinamide is another hardworking antioxidant that keeps skin-damaging free radicals in check. It also increases ceramide production in the uppermost layers of your skin to help strengthen your barrier function (very important, btw) and improve your skin’s resiliency. Ceramides are waxy lipids that work like glue to hold your skin together, keeping toxins out and moisture in. Like most of the good stuff in your skin, your natural levels of ceramides deplete as you get older, which is why boosting production is so important. In a nutshell, more ceramides = better hydration and fewer issues like dryness and itchy skin.

Niacinamide has also been proven to help brighten skin, although exactly how it does this is still not entirely known. Ooh, a mysterious one, we like that.

Try: Niacinamide Facial Serum
 
 
 

What does springtime mean for your skin? Well, it’s all about the three ‘r’s – refresh, revive and renew. Here’s how to get that working for you…

Often described as the most beautiful season of the year, spring screams glorious weather with oceans of daylight hours and blooming flowers. Heck, what’s not to love about that (darn allergies aside, of course)? But while slipping into tank tops and strappy sandals is a given as spring springs into action, switching up skincare isn’t such an obvious move.

The thing is, winter can be really harsh on your poor complexion. Months of cold, dry weather coupled with equally-as-dry indoor heat can lead to a buildup of dead skin cells coupled with dryness, dullness and dehydration. Not the ideal start to spring, right?

This means now is the ideal time to inject a little life back into winter-worn skin. Here’s how…

Revive Your Skin With Gentle Exfoliation

Arguably the best way to hit reset and give your skin an instant new lease on life is to up your exfoliation game. But don’t get us wrong, this isn’t a green light to frantically scour your face with a harsh, super-grainy scrub twice a day. That will do nothing but ruin your skin’s delicate barrier function and increase redness, dryness and sensitivities. Not cool.

To gently boost cellular proliferation – the fancy way of saying cell turnover – try a chemical exfoliator instead. Chemical exfoliants are usually split up into alpha hydroxy acids (AHAs) and beta hydroxy acids (BHAs), and include the likes of glycolic, lactic and salicylic acids. When applied to your skin, they work by breaking the bonds between your cells, helping them slough away more easily. Obviously, it’s a bit more technical than that but you get the idea...

When used correctly, chemical exfoliants are much kinder to your skin than physical ones (think scrubs, loofahs and cleansing brushes), but they still offer awesome, long-lasting results, clearing away dullness and encouraging brighter, fresher skin.

Try our Ocean Minerals Super Toner after cleansing. This jam-packed toner contains glycolic acid, which is extracted from sugar cane and is the most researched, widely used and effective of all AHAs. Kind of a show-off, for sure, but we love that in our skincare ingredients.

Tea Tree Super Serum+ is another fabulously low-maintenance formula if you find your skin gets oilier (and blemish-ier) as temperatures and humidity levels start to rise. Why is it such a must? It contains salicylic acid to gently exfoliate and mop up excess oil. And to add a little ‘spring’ to your skin, it also contains the ultimate renew crew—retinol, niacinamide and vitamin C. Just remember, it’s a potent little formulation, so always patch test it first and apply just two or three nights a week. Add SPF during the day and your clear-skin refresh is all set!

Eat Your Way To Wide-Awake Skin

A great skincare routine is all well and good, but if you don’t look after yourself from the inside out, your skin will pay the price. Of course, drinking plenty of water to flush out the system is a given, as is cutting down on the bad stuff (fried food, processed carbs, sugar, salt and alcohol). But thankfully this is much easier come spring when your desire for ‘comfort food’ takes a dive.

A hearty intake of fresh fruit, veggies, whole grains and healthy fats is essential year-round but it's especially important when you want to kickstart a flagging complexion. You see, fruit and vegetables are rich in antioxidants, which are vital for strengthening your skin and protecting it from environmental aggressors like pollution, smoking and the sun.

Try to include a rainbow of colors in your diet to get your fill of a whole array of phytonutrients, and most importantly, ensure you get plenty of vitamin C to really get your glow on. Oranges are the obvious choice here, but kiwis, strawberries, blueberries, bell peppers and sweet potatoes are also great sources of the big C.

Try Skincare, Served Chilled

Let’s get one thing straight, you don’t need to keep your skincare products in a fancy beauty fridge. It doesn’t make them more effective and there’s very little evidence to suggest it makes your products last longer. In fact, most formulations contain some kind of preservative to make them last as long as you should need them, anyway.

However, some products just feel better when they’re cold. A refrigerated eye cream or gel, for example, can feel wonderfully soothing on the skin around your eyes, plus the coolness helps reduce puffiness as an extra bonus. We’re major fans of keeping Peptide Eye Gel in the fridge at this time of year, btw.

Jade rollers also feel awesome when kept in the fridge or freezer, and the cold temperature of the stone helps constrict blood vessels to really amp up the skin-brightening effects.

Finally, you might want to try ice globes to boost circulation, minimize enlarged pores, reduce inflammation and accelerate cell turnover. These are a great way to get your complexion souped up for spring and in turn, they help soothe, tighten and brighten your skin.

Power Up Your Routine With Topical Actives

Let’s harp on vitamin C again for a second because as fantastic it is in your diet, it’s just as great in your skincare routine. One of our favorite antioxidants for neutralizing free radicals and fighting oxidative stress, vitamin C is a must when you want a little extra pep in your skincare step. The reason it’s such a fabulous glow-getter is that it inhibits the production of melanin in your skin, which works hard to reduce discoloration and correct an uneven skin tone. It also increases collagen synthesis to help reduce surface dullness while strengthening and smoothing the skin.

We blend vitamin C with all manner of amazing active skincare ingredients including hyaluronic acid to hydrate, vitamin E to soothe and niacinamide to reduce inflammation and help minimize pores. Check out our range of serums here to find the perfect one to suit your springtime skincare needs.

Switch Up Your Makeup

Winter makeup equals heavier textures and darker, richer tones. Which is great when the weather is gloomy and the holidays require some major party vibes. However, if you want to lift your skin and add brightness to your face as spring approaches, you need to bust out the color and lighten your makeup load.

First up, think about your base and ensure it’s not too thick. When it comes to spring skin, it’s all about barely-there textures and lighter tones to allow your skin, rather than your foundation, to do the talking. Sheer may sound scary at first and it’s hard to stray from a tried-and-tested makeup routine but give it a go; you won’t regret it. Can’t bear the thought of packing away your full-coverage foundation for another year? Try mixing it with a little moisturizer or BB cream to lighten it up just a touch.

As for the rest of your face, swap out smoky eyes and red lips for rose gold and coral tones, glossy lips and graphic eyeliner in pastel or neon shades. All of which are BIG trends for spring/summer 2022, don’tcha know…

What on earth is crepey skin and can you prevent or treat it before it’s too late? Let’s see, shall we?

Aging skin is a fact of life and we like to think we’re very much ‘pro-aging,’ rather than anti-aging. After all, unless you’re some kind of Harry Potter-esque whiz kid, time simply cannot be stopped. It just can’t. This means that no matter what you do or how awesome your skincare routine is, the telltale signs of aging will always creep up on you. Whether it’s lines around your eyes, the odd dark spot on your temples or a penchant for early nights and hot milk over late nights bars and hard seltzers, aging is life. And life is a precious thing.

Of course, all this being said, you can’t just let nature take its course and hope for the best. Looking after yourself by eating well, exercising and employing a kickass skincare regimen is vital if you want to prolong your life and look amazing as part of the deal. And a kickass skincare regimen is definitely something we can help you with.

Take crepey skin, for example. It might not be a concern you read about all that often due to fine lines, wrinkles and dark spots taking center stage, but crepey skin can be just as frustrating. Plus, it's much more widespread, affecting many areas of your skin – not just your face.

So, what is this annoying little phenomenon and what can you do about it? Read on for all the answers...

First, What Is Crepey Skin?

Crepey skin is usually found on the back of your hands, top of the inner arms, under your eyes, on your neck and on your elbows and knees. It’s defined by very thin skin and, like its name suggests, looks like crepe paper. Unlike fine lines and wrinkles, which are usually more dispersed, crepey skin consists of many shallow, tiny lines that are concentrated in one area of your skin. This area will also look thin and is the kind of skin that, when gently pinched, doesn’t retract back to normal as quickly as you might hope.

What Causes Crepey Skin?

Similar to lines and wrinkles, crepey skin is that which has lost its natural elasticity due to the degradation of collagen and elastin. And this happens as part of getting older. In fact, after the age of 20, your skin produces one percent less collagen each year, making it progressively thinner, more delicate and susceptible to signs of aging. Your elastin fibers also diminish, as does the amount of oil your skin produces, which all adds up to dryness and the inevitable crinkling that comes with it.

But your age isn’t the only factor at play here. Unlike dynamic wrinkles which are mainly down to years of repetitive facial movements, the number one cause of crepey skin is sun damage, which is a devil for breaking down your levels of collagen and elastin. Pollution, stress, dry skin, hormonal fluctuations and smoking also have their own way of crinkling up your skin. And don’t forget excessive weight changes that can stretch your skin, making it thinner and more crepe-like.

5 Ways To Deal With Crepey Skin

1. Double Up On Sun Protection

Ask any skincare expert for their number one way to prevent crepey skin (and in fact, EVERY SINGLE visible sign of skin aging) and they will all agree sunscreen is it. Apply a broad-spectrum sunscreen with at least SPF 30 every day (winter, summer, spring and fall). And this doesn’t just mean your face, but all areas of exposed skin and especially those thin, fragile places that are prone to creping like the back of your hands, arms, neck and décolletage.

Another way to help shield your skin from the damaging effects of the sun is to apply a facial serum that contains topical antioxidants like vitamin C, vitamin E and niacinamide. Antioxidants work to nix free radicals before they get a chance to do their worst on all the good stuff in your skin, including collagen, elastin and DNA. Try our bestselling Vitamin C Serum under your moisturizer for awesome environmental protection.

2. Don’t Smoke

Do we really need to tell you how bad smoking is for your skin? Okay then, here we go. Simply put, tobacco contains over 4,000 nasty chemicals that decrease blood flow to your skin, thus starving it of oxygen and all the nutrients it needs to heal and repair itself. These toxins also destroy collagen and elastin, which is bad news for the strength and suppleness of your skin.

Don’t fancy dealing with weak, thin, crepey skin that doesn’t snap back as well as it should? Then say a big fat 'no' to cigarettes.

3. Boost Collagen With Retinol

Retinol is one of those superpowered skincare ingredients that has the ability to ‘communicate’ with your skin at a cellular level, making it function better. This may sound like marketing nonsense, but decades of research don’t lie.

When absorbed by the skin, retinol triggers and activates certain genes to increase collagen production and stimulate the skin to turn over more efficiently. This not only helps soften, thicken and plump up the skin but offers no end of benefits for aging skin, making lines and crepiness look way less obvious.

Retinol is probably already in your facial skincare arsenal, but if you’re noticing a little crepiness creeping up elsewhere on your body, don’t be afraid to apply a retinol-based treatment on these areas. Just remember, retinol is potent so always patch test it first. It’s also deactivated by sunlight so apply it at night as part of your pre-bedtime routine. And Tip #1 is key here: always wear sunscreen whenever retinol's part of your routine.

Try Retinol Moisturizer on your face, neck, décolletage, hands, arms or anywhere else crepey skin is bothering you.

4. Maintain A Balanced, Healthy Weight

Major fluctuations in your weight will cause your skin to stretch, retract and, over time, lose elasticity. And as you know, skin that lacks a certain amount of bouncebackability is likely to crepe faster than you can say ‘pass the SPF.’

Of course, a low percentage of body fat means you’ll have less fat around your face and eyes to hold everything together and keep your skin looking plump and crinkle-free. So, be wary of trying to be super skinny just as much as becoming overweight. Maintaining a balanced weight that’s somewhere in the middle is ideal. Both for your skin and your health.

5. Make Moisturizer Your BFF

Dry, dehydrated skin will do nothing but exaggerate crepiness, so make sure you moisturize well and often. This is especially important as you get older when your skin starts to produce fewer natural oils to protect and nourish your barrier function.

Look for creams and lotions that not only help draw in moisture with ingredients like glycerin and hyaluronic acid, but also work hard to seal that moisture into your skin with emollients like shea butter and botanical oils. This will reduce dehydration as well as soften, plump and reduce the appearance of crepiness. Bonus: Try an all-encompassing moisturizer like our Vitamin C Brightening Moisturizer, which is the ideal all-round product for the job.

PS: Vitamin C Deep Hydration Night Cream is also a total winner and works as a fabulous overnight hand treatment. Simply smooth any leftovers from your face and neck over the back of your hands, then pop on a pair of clean cotton gloves to allow all those skin-loving ingredients to work their magic as you catch some valuable zzz's.