DYK, TruSkin Vitamin C Serum Is Knocking It Out Of The Park?

We’re thrilled to announce that two of our favorite products have joined forces to bring you one of the most exciting advancements in skincare, ever. Is it a serum? Is it a sunscreen? Wait… surely it can’t be both?

Protecting your skin from the perils of the sun is the single most important thing you can do for healthy skin aging. We know that. And you know that, too. Because you can apply the best retinol formulation in the world every night before bed, and you can slather on all the daily antioxidants your skin can take, but if you don’t shield your skin every morning with broad-spectrum, high SPF sun protection, you may as well throw the rest of your skincare in the trash.

Granted, that may sound dramatic, but it’s totally true. And there’s a ton of research to back it up. According to Dr. Deborah S. Sarnoff, president of The Skin Cancer Foundation, for example, more than 90 percent of age-associated wrinkles are related to cumulative sun damage. Studies have also shown that individuals who use sunscreen daily are 24 percent less likely to show signs of visible skin aging. 

The thing about sunscreen, however, is that it rarely comes with the glamor or feel-good factor of other skincare products like serums and facial essences. In fact, thanks to the thick, heavy formulas of yesteryear, sunscreen ends up being the poor cousin that nobody really likes. We just stick with it because we know it’s the right thing to do.

Of course, due to more advanced technology, most modern day sunscreens are nothing like their ancestors. Our SPF 30 Mineral Sunscreen with Vitamin C, for example, comes with brightening benefits, moisturizing properties and feels so good on your skin, you don’t even know it’s there. 

We hate to sit on our laurels, however. Yes, our sunscreen is great and nothing will ever take that away. But one word: options. We love coming up with innovative ways to help you care, protect and cherish your skin, so this month we’re thrilled to bring you our latest offering. 

And it’s a BIG one.

Say hello to SPF 30 Mineral Sunscreen Facial Serum, an incredible, multi-use serum and sunscreen in one beautiful, feather-light formulation.

What Is SPF 30 Mineral Sunscreen Facial Serum?

Pretty ground breaking, even if we do say so ourselves, SPF 30 Mineral Sunscreen Facial Serum redefines the sun protection game. How so? Because instead of being a classic lotion, spray or cream, this high factor, broad-spectrum sunscreen delivers all the skin-shielding qualities of a regular sunscreen, but with the extra qualities of a treatment serum. 

Quick reminder: facial serums have a smaller molecular structure than moisturizers which makes them lighter, more fast-absorbing and able to deliver active ingredients exactly where they’re needed in the skin. They really amp up your skincare routine by targeting specific concerns like dehydration, dark spots and wrinkles. Moisturizers can do that to a certain degree but at the end of the day, their main job is to hydrate and moisturize the skin.

Wouldn’t it be awesome, then, if your serum could treat your skin AND safeguard it from the slings and arrows of UV radiation all at once? Well, SPF 30 Mineral Sunscreen Facial Serum does all that. And more!

What Makes SPF 30 Mineral Sunscreen Facial Serum So Great?

A veritable multi-tasker, this innovative treatment serum is your one-stop shop for healthy, glowing, always protected skin. And it’s foundation comes from non-nano zinc oxide, a hard-working broad-spectrum mineral sunscreen that’s safe, effective and reef-friendly. 

Zinc Oxide: The Protective Powerhouse

Sunscreens are generally categorized into two types: chemical and mineral. Both have their pros and cons but we believe that mineral sunscreens like zinc oxide trump their chemical friends because they block UV rays at a surface level (chemical ones absorb them). Furthermore, they have no negative impact on the environment (chemical sunscreens are questionable) and they're perfectly safe for all skin types (chemical ones have the potential to irritate sensitive skin). 

Our new serum is formulated with just over 16 percent zinc oxide which provides your skin with the American Academy of Dermatology’s recommended minimum of SPF 30. You’re welcome.

That’s one gold star for SPF 30 Mineral Sunscreen Facial Serum, right there. But it’s not over yet, because this feather-light serum is also packed with some of the finest skincare ingredients we could find.

A SAP Of Potent Vitamin C

We’re huge advocates of vitamin C here at TruSkin. But not just any old vitamin C. For us, the queen of the Cs is sodium ascorbyl phosphate, or SAP as we like to call it. This stable form of vitamin C is far kinder to the skin, promoting brightness and radiance without the potential irritation of the pure stuff. It also retains all of the antioxidant qualities you want from a topical vitamin C. And that’s exactly what we live for. PS: did you know, vitamin C and sunscreen make each other work harder and more effectively? They’re basically the perfect skincare partnership.

Prickly Pear Brings Calm To The Table

A great face serum should also deliver support and strength to your skin which is why this one is infused with prickly pear extract.

Rich in antioxidants and with high water retention properties, prickly pear works hard to soothe, hydrate and minimize irritation and facial redness. It’s also super high in linoleic acid, a non-comedogenic omega-6 fatty acid which helps to condition and deeply moisturize the skin’s important barrier function.

Max Out Moisture With Sunflower Extract

Derived from the seeds of the helianthus annuus plant, sunflower extract is chock full of fatty acids and antioxidant-rich vitamin E. This makes it a worthwhile addition to any treatment serum. 

We couldn’t resist blending it with SAP and prickly pear to further strengthen and protect the barrier function while doubling up the skin’s ability to retain moisture. The emollient qualities of sunflower extract also help it fill in tiny cracks that often appear in the skin when it becomes dry, rough and flaky. This reduces transepidermal water loss (TEWL) and leaves your skin with a beautifully soft, smooth feel.

Finally, A Suits-Everyone, Universal Tint Tops It Off

You know that tell-tale white cast that some mineral sunscreens leave behind on your skin? We eliminated that risk entirely by giving our SPF serum an incredibly sheer tint that blends seamlessly with all skin tones.

Because, yes, we think of everything.

SPF 30 Mineral Sunscreen Facial Serum is out NOW. Check it out right here and say hello to a new era in sun protection.

Let’s get real, expensive skincare does not always equal better skincare. In fact, affordable brands are often the true heroes in your routine.

Ever asked yourself, is your $200 moisturizer truly worth it, or is it all glossy packaging and clever marketing? The truth can be a bit of a gray area, but at the end of the day, skin doesn’t give a hoot about hefty price tags. What it cares about is ingredients that actually ‘do’ something. For example, a great moisturizer should boost hydration and seal moisture into your skin. Sunscreen needs to protect your skin from both UVA and UVB radiation. And a good cleanser should gently but effectively clean the skin without causing irritation or stripping away its important barrier function. And honestly, products are perfectly capable of doing this without breaking the bank.

So, why are some products 10x the price of others? And, the most important question of all, do so-called ‘premium’ products honestly work any better?

What Makes Expensive Skincare So Expensive?

There are many reasons why luxury skincare products come with eye-watering price points. Some are valid, but not all of them are for the good of your skin. Here are the most common reasons you might have to shell out a little bit extra...

1. Fancy Packaging

Packaging is extremely important in the luxury skincare market. Shiny metallic boxes, beautiful glass bottles, gold embossing, they’re all used to create the illusion that what’s inside is of the highest quality and therefore worth paying more for. Unfortunately, that’s not always the case. 

2. Clever Marketing

Double page ads in Vogue or huge TV commercials cost money – especially when a brand has bagged a big celebrity name to flaunt its wares. Well, this money needs to comes from somewhere. Guess where? Yes, your pocket.

3. Proprietary Ingredients 

Proprietary ingredients are what set certain skincare products apart. But just because a product contains a unique ingredient this doesn’t necessarily make it more beneficial to your skin. More often than not, it’s the clinically proven ingredients like retinol, vitamin C, glycerin and niacinamide that do all the heavy lifting. 

4. Potency Of Active Ingredients

While affordable skincare products are often formulated with the same ingredients as their pricier cousins, it’s true that sometimes they don’t contain as much. And this can be reflected in the price. Strong retinols, however, can irritate certain skin types, which doesn’t always make higher price points the best option. Working with your skin and using products that are beneficial, but don't sensitize or irritate, is important here.

What REALLY Matters When Buying Skincare

Don’t get us wrong, we’re not here to totally bash luxury skincare. If you can afford an expensive, bells and whistles moisturizer and it makes you feel good while, crucially, benefiting your skin, then no harm done. Oftentimes, even just the ritual of smothering your body in a beautifully expensive body butter makes it worth every cent.

However, if you’re really stretching yourself to buy something just because the latest A-lister told you to do so, but you’re not really seeing visible results, why bother when there are so many results-driven products out there that come at a fraction of the cost?

Instead of focusing on premium price tags, here are some smarter shopping tips for building an effective, affordable skincare routine…

Focus on Science-Backed Ingredients

Ingredients that have been clinically tested to benefit the skin are the single most important factor in any skincare product. Superheroes created scientifically in a lab include retinol, vitamin C, peptides, niacinamide, vitamin E, glycerin, hyaluronic acid and ceramides. Then you have all the natural botanicals that also work wonders on your skin. Think jojoba oil, green tea, aloe vera and tea tree oil to name just a few. Do your research and look out for these big hitters and you’ll know that a product is going to truly get things done. 

Check The Running Order Of The Ingredients List

Skincare products don’t generally offer up the exact concentrations of their ingredients, but the label will give some of the game away. How so? Well, skincare brands are required by the FDA to print their ingredients in order, starting from the highest in concentration, working down to the lowest. When it gets down to 1 percent or less, however, they can be listed in any order. 

All this is good to know because if a vitamin C serum lists its vitamin C way down the ingredients list, hovering around the bottom, this shows that it contains very little and potentially won't be as effective as one that lists vitamin C nearer the top. Make sure the good stuff is in the top half of a product’s ingredients label. It doesn't need to be at the absolute top (some active ingredients are way too powerful for that!), but top half is a good rule to follow.

The vitamin C in our Vitamin C Facial Serum, for example, is third on the list after water and aloe. That’s good stuff, right there – and it won't make your wallet burst into tears, either.

Understand Your Skin Type & Needs

Way more important than buying into fancy beauty brands with eye-watering price tags, is to be aware of your skin type and find products that work for you. Do a bit of homework getting to know your skin, then you can focus on the things you’d like to improve. Research ingredients that are proven to help certain concerns ­– eg. hyaluronic acid is fantastic for hydrating thirsty skin whereas tea tree oil can work wonders on breakouts –  then do even more homework by looking into formulations that include those ingredients (in decent concentrations). This helps target your routine to suit your needs without buying into fluff your skin can seriously do without.

Don’t Be Duped By False Promises

Creams that promise to be ‘better than Botox’ are never to be believed – no matter their price. The truth is that skincare can only do so much. A 24k gold-infused moisturizer that costs you hundreds of bucks, for example, is unlikely to moisturize your skin any better than one that was $20. Because yes, gold is super indulgent but at the end of the day, it doesn’t moisturize your skin. It’s all the other stuff inside (which didn’t cost the manufacturer $$$s) that does all the talking, not the fancy fillers and inflated price.

Our advice? Stick to science-backed ingredients that are proven to benefit your skin. 

Remember, The Right Product For You Is The One You Regularly Use

Doing your research and making informed decisions are extremely important because, while we’re big advocates of effective skincare that doesn’t cost the earth, there are some fantastic, pricey products out there… as well as some not-so-great inexpensive options.

Research, research, research. Trust us, you’ll know when you find ‘the one’ because you’ll look forward to using it. And that means you'll use it consistently and regularly and therefore be rewarded with the best, most visible results.

Want to crush lit-from-within skin this spring? Then you’d better start your glow-getting routine immediately.

We don’t know about you, but this time of year is when we generally start thinking about getting our skin prepped and primed for spring. After all, brighter sunshine, longer days and warmer temps mean more time spent outside and so we want our skin to reflect the joys of springtime weather – bright, radiant and full of life.

Don’t get us wrong, we’ve done everything we can to keep our skin moisturized and looking good all winter long, but it’s not always easy, especially after the holidays when the focus has been more on wine and cheese than topical antioxidants and deep moisturization.

So what’s on the ‘must do this’ list for getting skin glowing and ready for spring? Follow these pointers and you’ll be well on the way. 

1. Focus On Moisture

Winter is notorious for drying out the skin. You can blame the weather, for sure, because dry, cold air sucks all the hydration from the skin’s uppermost layers. But there are plenty of other things going on that ruin your skin’s moisture mojo. Central heating has to take some responsibility, as must things like hot baths and comfort foods.

If your skin is still feeling somewhat thirsty after battling the elements all winter long, stick with what you’ve likely been doing for the past few months. It’ll pay off eventually – promise. Invest in a humidifier for your bedroom to boost the moisture content in the air as you sleep and make sure your diet includes plenty of water-rich foods like cucumber, watermelon and tomatoes, as well as omega-3 fatty acids found in oily fish and seeds.

As for your skincare routine, we love to layer a hydrating, nourishing serum under moisturizer as this supercharges the skin’s levels of moisture, without it needing to rely on super-heavy creams that can weigh it down.

Hyaluronic Acid Facial Serum is always a smart choice but you could also try our much-loved but often underestimated Peptide Facial Serum which combines three of the best hydrators we know – aloe, glycerin and panthenol – alongside collagen-enhancing peptides. Apply your serum of choice under moisturizer morning and night and your skin will soon have a brighter pep in its step. Plus, it'll feel downright amazing as an extra bonus.

2. Get Friendly With Exfoliating Acids

Chemical exfoliants are awesome for gifting your skin with a smoother (and therefore brighter) surface. Unlike facial scrubs which use grains like fine sand or salt and require physical motion to work, chemical exfoliants simply sit on your skin and go about their business with no effort at all. They work by breaking down the bonds between dead skin cells so they’re able to slough away quicker and more efficiently. Simple as that. 

Furthermore, if you choose wisely and opt for a kind-to-skin formulation that harmonizes different kinds of chemical exfoliants, you may even be able to use it every day. Take our 6% AHA, BHA and PHA Liquid Exfoliant, for example. This hard-working, but never too hard-on-your-skin toner accelerates cell turnover with a perfectly balanced blend of glycolic acid (AHA), salicylic acid (BHA) and gluconolactone (PHA). And, yes, we know that might sound like a lot of exfoliating acids for one face, but fear not, we made sure to include just the right amount of each to gently exfoliate without leaving your skin feeling stripped or dry.

It’s the perfect product to give your skin the coveted glow you’ve been seeking since September said goodbye.

3. OD On Vitamin C

One of our favorite skin mottos is ‘when in doubt, reach for topical vitamin C.’ And do you know what? It’s never let us down. In fact, vitamin C is what’s known at TruSkin HQ as the ultimate brightening powerhouse. Not only is it one of the most trusted and tested antioxidants (reminder: antioxidants fight free radicals and keep your collagen levels in check) but it’s also thought to inhibit melanin production which means fewer dark spots, less patchy areas and a more glowy, even-looking complexion all round.

Of course, we don’t literally want you to OD on vitamin C. Some forms can be extremely potent and even a little irritating if you use them too much and apply them too often. So you have to tread carefully. Our advice? Introduce new products slowly into your routine, patch test them first, and stick with sodium ascorbyl phosphate (SAP). SAP is a salt form of the pure stuff which makes it more stable and therefore much gentler.

You'll find vitamin C, and more specifically SAP, in a ton of our skincare formulations so you really can pick and choose depending on your skin’s needs and preferences. Serums are the obvious choice, but since you're likely concentrating on hydration with your facial serum right now, how about trying our Vitamin C Brightening Cleanser instead? With a name like that, it would be rude not to.

4. Think Of Bedtime As TLC Time

You might be under the impression that overnight skincare is a bit pointless when you’re tucked up in bed doing nothing but dreaming of the teenage skin you wish you still had. But on the contrary, your skin does its best repair work when you’re asleep. Cell turnover peaks, collagen production revs up, blood flow increases and your body’s natural antioxidants system kicks in to help neutralize any pesky free radicals that may have built up during the day. Leave your makeup on and go to bed with dirty, unmoisturized skin, however, and all this good stuff becomes basically redundant.

To encourage the magic to happen, cleanse your face and neck gently but thoroughly before bed and start a slow-building retinol regime to naturally accelerate cell turnover and collagen synthesis. Our Retinol Facial Serum has your back here as it’s also infused with vitamin E and hyaluronic acid to boost radiance and hydration both in the short- and long-term.

Mimic your morning routine by always following your serum with moisturizer. In this instance try Vitamin C Deep Hydration Night Cream which contains that all-important, glow-getting vitamin C, as well as ‘nature’s beauty mineral,’ MSM which is one of the most underrated but overachieving ingredients for healthy skin. And we don’t say that lightly.

5. Make Massage A Must

We can think of little better for waking up your skin than a morning massage. The benefits of a facial massage are undeniable. For starters, it boosts blood flow and therefore allows more oxygen and nutrients to rush to the surface of your skin. Hello big-time glow! It also improves lymphatic drainage to help remove toxins away from the skin, reducing things like puffiness and inflammation. Not to mention how relaxing and stress-reducing a morning facial massage can be.

Don’t worry, though, we don’t expect you to learn all the tricks of the massage trade just like that. You can actually do this facial massage quickly and easily in mere minutes. You can also do it while cleansing, or applying facial oil – it totally depends on your jam. 

Simply work your chosen product all over your face and neck, using the pads of your fingers, then sweep your fingers down your nose a few times, across your cheeks from the center outwards, then up and around your forehead. After your forehead, take your hands down to the middle of your chin and use sweeping motions to lift the skin up and out towards your ears. Finish with your neck, using the palms of your hands to perform light strokes from the base of your neck up to your jawline. Repeat this as many times as you like, using medium pressure to work the skin and get everything flowing.

Now, how long until March, again?