True Radical Honesty From Our Community

Face serums are a must for anyone interested in maximizing their skin’s potential and targeting those little annoyances like dryness, lines, dark spots or excess oil. But that’s the simple part: it’s choosing a serum to suit your skin that can be a bit of a minefield…

If you’re yet to introduce a serum into your skincare routine, let us be the ones to tell you – the right one could change your life. Yes it’ll add another step to your beauty routine, but honestly, what’s an extra minute or so between friends? And when you see what the right one can do for your skin, you’ll wonder how you ever lived without it.

Lightweight and super-powered, serums pack a real punch thanks to their small molecular makeup. What does this really mean? Simple: small molecules allow for a deeper penetration of active ingredients and therefore more effective results for your skin. A serum is able to get right under your skin where regular lotions and moisturizers dare not, and in all honesty cannot, go. This means they are way more effective at targeting specific issues like discoloration, fine lines, wrinkles and any other bugbear you care to mention.

But how do you know where to start? Erm, right here, with these six, cleverly formulated serums that cater for the most common skincare types and concerns.

1. Normal or Dry Skin Types: C-Plus Super Serum

One of our favorite all-rounders, think of C-Plus Super Serum as your go-to for maintaining healthy, more radiant skin. Packed with vitamin C, along with niacinamide, retinol, hyaluronic acid and MSM it reads like a veritable who’s who of clinically-proven skincare ingredients. And if you’re worried about this cocktail of active ingredients playing havoc with your skin, don’t be. C-Plus Super Serum is surprisingly gentle and free of common irritants like synthetic fragrance, silicones, parabens and sulfates. It’s a bit of show-off, we know, but deservedly so. Use it two or three times a week for the best results.

2. Oily Skin: Tea Tree Clear Skin Super Serum

A customer must-have for reducing breakouts and balancing excess oils while maintaining a certain kindness to aging skin, Tea Tree Clear Skin Super Serum has been touted as “pretty life-changing” by one particular fan. Yes, truly.

Research shows that tea tree oil boasts anti-bacterial, antiviral, anti-fungal and anti-inflammatory properties, making it an effective treatment for mild to moderate acne… and a great, natural alternative to benzoyl peroxide. Tea tree oil can also help balance oiliness, minimize enlarged pores and may even help relieve dryness. We combine it with salicylic acid, retinol and plenty of other age-defying ingredients to produce this gentle but oh-so-effective serum that your skin will love. Use it to spot treat troublesome breakouts, or apply it all-over, two to three times a week before moisturizing.

3. Dry Or Dehydrated Skin: Hyaluronic Acid Serum

Hyaluronic acid (HA) has been having a moment in skincare for quite some time now. And its popularity is not going away. A key component in your skin's natural makeup, HA has the unique capacity of retaining up to 1,000 times its weight in water. We’ll just let that sink in for a minute. One. Thousand. Times.

This sponge-like quality makes HA extremely important for keeping your skin moisturized and healthy, and it's why it rightfully takes its place at the top of ingredients your skin can’t get enough of. Hyaluronic Acid Serum harnesses the powers of this water-loving ingredient and blends it with vitamins C and E, plus jojoba oil to help lock moisture into your skin. A real find for dry, dehydrated or ANY skin type, if you ask us.

4. Aging Skin: Retinol Serum

Speaking of ingredients that can literally do no wrong, let’s give a big shout out to retinol. Proven time and time again to be one of the most effective ingredients for reducing the visible signs of aging, retinol is a topical form of vitamin A that activates certain genes in your skin to boost collagen production and stimulate your skin cells to turn over more efficiently. This helps soften wrinkles and dark spots, and it's dynamite at making your skin look, well, damn good.

Our Retinol Serum combines retinol with HA, vitamin E, aloe and green tea – an awesome combination known to help hydrate, protect, nourish and reduce irritation. Priceless.

5. Sensitive Skin: Niacinamide Serum

Sensitive skin and active ingredients don’t often make for a match made in heaven. However, niacinamide is one of the exceptions to this rule. A proven antioxidant, niacinamide boasts all the usual benefits of your favorite free radical-fighters (ie: an improvement in dark spots, lines, wrinkles, blemishes and firmness), plus it helps regulate inflammation and improve your barrier function to strengthen and protect your delicate skin. And all this with few to no side-effects. Yes, there really is a beauty god.

Niacinamide Facial Serum might only be a year old but it’s already a favorite with customers looking for an antioxidant serum that brightens and balances skin gently, yet effectively.

6. Dull Or Sun Damaged Skin: Vitamin C Serum

We don’t like to blow our trumpets too much, but our awesome Vitamin C Serum continues to turn heads and now boasts over 65,000 reviews on Amazon. In fact, it’s the number one best seller in facial serums. Just saying.

One of the most effective and highly researched antioxidants in skincare, topical vitamin C works hard to boost collagen, fade dark spots and protect your skin from the damaging effects of the sun. Depending on the type of vitamin C used, it can be a tad too good to be true for some skin types, but we use sodium ascorbyl phosphate (SAP) in our formulations which is more gentle than the pure stuff… but equally as effective. This classic serum combines SAP with vitamin E, hyaluronic acid, MSM and a whole host of botanicals for a glow-boosting treat you'll want to use time and time again.

PS: Before We Go…

Our serums have been carefully curated to suit all skin types, but still, they contain a lot of potent active ingredients so they should always be applied with care. The golden rules? 1. Do a patch test first. 2. Introduce one slowly into your routine (two or three times a week) before applying it every day. And 3. Always finish with your favorite moisturizer to lock all those ingredients into your skin.

Done and done.

When your face’s age says 25, but your neck looks more like 55, something’s got to change.

Your neck deserves so much better than the lousy skincare it gets. We’re sure you lovingly apply your eye cream, antioxidant serum and moisturizer to your face morning and night. Heck, even your hands are probably treated to a slathering of hand cream a few times a day. But your neck? Not so much.

The skin on your neck has fewer sebaceous glands than that on your face, which means it can’t produce as much sebum (oil) to keep it soft, nourished and lubricated. On the one hand this is great news because your neck will rarely suffer from blocked pores and pimples. However, in the fight against the visible signs of aging such as dry skin, fine lines, wrinkles and sagging, a lack of oil is not good.

Couple this with the fact that your neck is exposed to the elements just as much as your face, and, well, you can see where we’re going here.

The upshot of this is you need to employ a better skincare regime for your neglected neck. And fast. Here’s how…

1. Continue Your Skincare Past Your Jawline

As we mentioned, the skin on your neck has very few oil-producing glands. It’s also thinner than the skin on your face which means it contains less collagen and is therefore more prone to dryness, wrinkling and sagging.

All this means that your neck will probably age faster than your face, so whatever skincare routine you apply to your face, don’t stop there. Cleanse and tone your neck twice daily, exfoliate regularly and apply treatment serum and moisturizer down your neck and over your décolletage area.

Humectants like hyaluronic acid, glycerin and aloe vera are particularly great for the dry neck area as they draw water to the surface of the skin. As are emollients like shea butter and jojoba oil which smooth over cracks and lock in moisture. Our Retinol Moisturizer contains all these, plus retinol which is ideal for boosting collagen and elastin while treating tone, texture, lines and wrinkles.

2. Apply Products in Upwards Motions

When it comes to applying products to your neck, how you apply them is just as important as what you use. Don’t drag or frantically rub moisturizer down your neck as this will do nothing but push folds into your skin and increase your chances of prematurely aging your neck with saggy, loose skin. Instead, work against gravity by applying your serum and moisturizer in light, upwards strokes to lift the skin rather than drag it down.

3. Protect Your Neck Every Single Day

Protecting your skin from UV damage is vital if you want to avoid all the aforementioned signs of aging, plus pigmentation issues like sun spots. Again, we like to think you’re vigilant about applying sunscreen to your face, but your neck needs it too, because it’s exposed to the sun just as much as the rest of your face, plus it has less natural oils to protect it from environmental damage.

Firstly, up your antioxidant vitamin C levels by applying a C serum all over your face and neck. Vitamin C works like a dog to protect your skin from those damaging free radicals which are so often caused by UV exposure. It also inhibits melanin production to not only prevent your skin from developing dark spots but to help treat those that are already there. Which is nice.

Apply C Plus Super Serum to your neck two or three times a week, and a broad-spectrum moisturizing sunscreen every morning. The American Academy of Dermatology (AAD) recommends going with SPF 30 or higher. And we agree.

4. Stop Looking Down At Your Phone

Looking down at your phone for hours at a time is not only bad for the muscles in your neck, but this repetitive movement will also increase your risk of developing bands of wrinkles around your neck. To help prevent what is not-so-lovingly known as ‘tech neck,’ bring your phone up to your face and try to keep it at eye level as much as possible. The same rule should also be applied to your computer monitor and laptop. Eye level all the way, baby.

5. Practice Some 1-Minute 'Necksercises'

Exercising your neck is a great way to improve muscle tone and boost blood circulation to the skin, therefore allowing more oxygen and nutrients to reach the skin cells and help reduce the signs of aging. And all it takes is a few minutes each day – which you can totally do while working at your desk, cooking dinner or watching TV…

One of our favorite exercises for your neck, or 'necksercises' if you will, is to tilt your head back and point your chin up to the ceiling. Then, keeping your mouth closed, make a chewing motion with your mouth 10 times in one direction and 10 in the other. Simple. You could also follow this with pouting your lips 20 times as if you were kissing the sky for an added extra workout. Do this every day to help keep your neck trim and firm. 

6. Keep Perfume Away From Your Neck

While spritzing perfume on your neck is something we’ve have been doing for centuries, it’s actually not that smart. Most perfumes contain alcohol, you see. In fact, depending on the type of perfume you use, it could contain anything from 70 to 95 percent alcohol. Eau de toilette, for example, is generally only about 5-15 percent fragrance with the rest being alcohol mixed with the tiniest amount of water.

As you know, alcohol is very drying on the skin, so unless you’re using a pure, oil-based scent, you’re better off keeping it away from your neck area where it could cause further drying and crepiness. A better idea is to spray your fragrance at the top of your forearms or spritz it over your clothes where it will sink into the structure of the fibers and take longer to evaporate.

Not to be confused with something you’d take for an upset stomach, peptides are a worthy ingredient in skincare formulations. And here’s why…

Skincare ingredients are a bewildering bunch and nothing creates more confusion than peptides. Actually, retinoids can be just as tricky to get your head around, but they’re a whole different topic that we’ve already covered before. And anyway, we’re here to talk about peptides.

We’re sure you’ve seen the countless big bucks skincare commercials shouting about peptides, polypeptides, pentapeptides and the like. You know the ones we mean, right? Glitz, glamour and often a Hollywood celebrity thrown in for good measure? Well, hands up if you’ve no idea what the heck they’re talking about, let alone know why you might need to include peptides in your skincare life.

Good news: we’ve come up with the peptides goods, right here, right now. Want the lowdown? Then read on.

What Are Peptides?

According to Merriam-Webster, the definition of peptides is ‘any of various amides that are derived from two or more amino acids by combination of the amino group of one acid with the carboxyl group of another... usually obtained by partial hydrolysis of proteins.’

Wow, that’s cleared that up then. Not.

More simply put, peptides are chemical compounds made up of short chains of amino acids. Amino acids are basically the building blocks of life and are used by the body to make proteins which perform an infinite number of bodily functions, all of which you need to survive. Think growth, healing, the breaking down of food and so on.

While peptides are short chains of between two and around 50 amino acids, proteins are much longer molecules, made up of multiple peptides.

Science lesson over. Well, almost…

Peptides In Skincare

As you know, your skin contains many essential proteins: namely collagen, elastin and keratin. These proteins are the absolute foundation of your skin, giving it support, structure, strength and resilience. Sadly, as your skin ages it starts to lose all these important proteins. In fact, you lose about 1 percent of your collagen every year after the age of 30 which is when the visible signs of aging start to really creep in.

Applying peptides to your skin helps counteract this loss of collagen because peptides act like little messengers to encourage your cells to produce more of it. Your skin sees these peptides as signals that you’ve injured or wounded your skin which kick-starts the cells to produce more collagen and therefore heal itself by restoring a healthy barrier function while firming, strengthening and plumping up your skin. Clever, right?

So, Do Peptides Offer True Benefits For Your Skin?

As with most active skincare ingredients, not all peptides are created equal. Many are unstable, some are too large to be able to penetrate your skin and others just don’t do much. However, there are plenty of peptides that offer true results for a whole host of skin concerns including fine lines, wrinkles, dark spots and hormone-related breakouts.

Matrixyl 3000, for example, is a combination of two peptides that has been independently proven to boost collagen in your skin. In fact, one study showed that Matrixyl can almost double the amount of collagen your skin produces making it one of the most impressive peptides out there.

How To Introduce Peptides Into Your Routine

The best thing about peptides is they’re very well tolerated by the skin. This means they're a great option for almost all skin types and are ideal for treating the delicate skin around your eyes.

If you fancy incorporating some effective peptides into your routine, look specifically for serums, eye treatments and moisturizers that list them in their ingredients. Different peptides target different concerns, but many skincare products combine two or more to offer a complete anti-aging package. Search for fancy names that end in 'peptide' and/or begin with 'palmitoyl,' but remember, products that get left on your skin will be way more effective than those that are washed away. Also, stick with formulations that are packaged in opaque, airtight containers. Many peptides degrade when in contact with light and air, rendering them kinda useless.

Our Eye Gel and Eye Cream are both formulated with peptides, including palmitoyl tripeptides-1 and -5, plus the mighty matrixyl 3000. Collagen loss is very noticeable around the eye area due to the skin being so much thinner than the rest of your face. This means wrinkles, lines and dark circles are going to appear in super fast time and it's why including peptides in your eyecare routine is a really smart plan.

Apply your favorite eye treatment twice a day for the best results, gently patting or smoothing it around the eye area with your ring finger so you don’t put too much pressure on the skin.

And as with any new product that contains active ingredients, always, we repeat always, do a patch test first. Not sure how? We can help you with that, right here.

Word is, when it comes to the varying forms of topical vitamin C, cloudiness is a sign of brighter days ahead. Bear with us while we explain…

Vitamin C is one of the most effective ingredients in skincare. That’s a bold statement, we know, but ask any dermatologist to list their favorite topical antioxidant and we’d bet our lives that vitamin C would be the words on everyone’s lips.

Along with hyaluronic acid and retinol, vitamin C is part of a veritable 'Justice League' of skincare ingredients, offering undeniable benefits for a whole host of skincare concerns. From adding radiance and reducing fine lines, through to improving acne and poor texture, vitamin C works. It just does.

This may sound simple enough, but the thing is, you’ll rarely see the words ‘vitamin C’ on a product’s ingredients list. And you might think this is because skincare manufacturers are out to get you with complicated names, but it’s really not that personal. It’s simply because vitamin C comes in many forms – each with different levels of efficacy, stability, look and even smell. We use a form of vitamin C called sodium ascorbyl phosphate (SAP) across all of our serums and vitamin C products because it works for most skin types and we truly believe in its ability to get the job done without causing irritation. There’s so much more to it than that, but first, let’s have a quick look at vitamin C shall we?

The Facts About Vitamin C In Skincare

Normal skin contains its own relatively high levels of vitamin C whose role is to support, strengthen and protect your skin. A natural and potent antioxidant, vitamin C helps neutralize damage caused by environmental pollutants. It also promotes collagen production and aids healing. However, aging and exposure to UV and pollution causes your levels of vitamin C to dramatically decrease, taking with it the soft, plump, strong and youthful-looking skin you used to know and love.

All this is why vitamin C has made such a name for itself in topical skincare – because a) your skin needs it and b) you naturally lose it through both intrinsic and extrinsic aging.

Simple, right? Ha, not so fast, because this is where things get a little complicated. There's not just one form of vitamin C used in skincare, you see. There are many – some great, some not so much. And the key is to know which ones to look out for.

Many brands use l-ascorbic acid which is the purest and probably the most widely studied form of vitamin C. But l-ascorbic acid comes with its problems. It’s notoriously volatile which means it degrades lightning quick when exposed to light and air. It’s also super potent – sometimes too potent for the skin to handle. Because of these issues, many derivatives of pure vitamin C have been formulated for use in skincare. And this is where the mighty sodium ascorbyl phosphate comes into play.

What Is Sodium Ascorbyl Phosphate?

Along with a lengthy list that includes magnesium ascorbyl phosphate, ascorbyl-6-palmitate and sodium ascorbate, sodium ascorbyl phosphate (we’ll call it SAP from now on) is a derivative of l-ascorbic acid. This means that yes, SAP is slightly less effective than its purer sister but – and this is a major but – it has way more of an edge.

SAP is basically a salt form of vitamin C and one of the most stable versions of the pure stuff. Its sodium molecule is the key as it acts like a natural preservative which stops it from degrading on contact with light, air and water, therefore offering more benefits to your skin. In fact, SAP has been clinically proven to improve the tone and texture of your skin. It also works hard to boost radiance, fight photoaging, fade dark spots and reduce acne. Can’t say fairer than that, right?

But that’s not all. In order for your skin to experience the full benefits vitamin C has to offer, SAP has to be converted back to ascorbic acid once applied to your skin. This may sound like a bad thing, but ascorbic acid is a very active, powerful ingredient, which, when applied directly can cause negative side-effects such as dryness, stinging and redness. Having your skin convert SAP back into ascorbic acid after application, however, reduces these chances of irritation and makes the active ingredient much more tolerant by most skin types – even sensitive.

In our opinion, SAP beats l-ascorbic acid hands down, which is we harness its powers in all of our vitamin C products as well as in C-Plus Super Serum, Hyaluronic Acid Serum and Tea Tree Clear Skin Super Serum.

Why Do TruSkin Vitamin C Serums Look So Cloudy?

This is a question we get asked a lot – especially when it comes to our best-selling Vitamin C Serum. And the answer is simple: the cloudiness (or milkiness if you prefer to think of it that way) is all down to that sodium molecule.

Think about when you add salt to water: it immediately becomes cloudy, right? Well, same principal. The cloudiness is not because your serum has oxidized or become ineffective, it’s simply the salt. And it’s the salt molecule that makes this particular vitamin C derivative more effective and better tolerated by your skin.

One of our mottos here at TruSkin HQ is that cloudiness is a sign of brighter days, or more specifically brighter skin, ahead! Get it now?

How To Include SAP In Your Daily Skincare Routine

Whether you’re an avid C fan or just starting out, SAP can offer your skin outstanding results – as long as you use it correctly. 

The most important rule is to start slowly and do a patch test first. Even though SAP is suitable for most skin types, it’s still an active, potent ingredient so you should always perform a patch test on a discreet area of skin before starting a full facial routine. Not sure how to do that? We can help, right here.

Once you’re sure your skin isn’t going to react, gradually introduce your chosen product into your routine two or three times a week as your skin gets used to the active ingredients. Then you can work up to daily use.

Finally, remember, active ingredients like sodium ascorbyl phosphate work on a cellular level, deep within the skin. This means that yes, it might offer you instantly softer, more radiant skin, but its true benefits will need time to fully take effect. We recommend continually using our C products for at least 28 days for those brighter days to really set in.

Retinol often gets a bad rap for drying out your skin and making it super sensitive to the sun. But not everything you hear about retinol is gospel. Here, we sort out the facts from the fiction… 

Retinol is almost unbeatable for reducing the appearance of lines, wrinkles and dark spots. It’s also super effective for clearing up your zits. Even so, retinol sure does get it in the neck. And we think that’s kind of unfair for a skincare ingredient that’s been clinically researched for decades and proven to be one of the best, most effective ingredients you could (and should) be using on your skin.

Sure, haters gonna hate (hate, hate, hate, hate) and yes, like all active skincare ingredients, retinol is not for everyone. But we think it at least deserves a fair deal. So, here, we get to the bottom of the untruths.

Because there's no room in this blog for fake news.

Myth #1: Retinol Is Not As Good As Tretinoin

The Truth: Depending on your skin type, both can be very effective.

The Details: Retinol and tretinoin both belong to the same family: retinoids. Retinoids are active, topical forms of vitamin A that activate certain genes within your skin to stimulate it to turn over more efficiently. Tretinoin (or retinoic acid) is the purest, fastest-working form and therefore the most potent which is why it’s only available on prescription. Retinol, on the other hand, is a gentler version that does the same thing but must be converted into retinoic acid by your skin before it takes effect. Research shows that, because of this conversion, retinol is 20 times less potent than tretinoin, but while it’s less powerful and takes longer to work, this makes it way less irritating and better tolerated by different skin types.

Tomayto, tomahto.

Myth #2: Retinol Is A Terrible Idea For Sensitive Skin

The Truth: Retinol can be an effective treatment for most skin types ­– as long as you use it wisely.

The Details: When it comes to nailing the use of retinol, it’s all about understanding your skin and building up a tolerance. It may be tempting to dive head first into a super strong retinol formulation, but this can have dire effects in the form of redness, irritation, dryness and peeling. And this is where retinol’s bad rap comes from – people using one that’s way too potent for their skin, and applying it too often from day one.

The best way to incorporate retinol into your daily routine is to start with a low concentration and apply it just two or three times a week until your skin adapts. Then you can up your frequency and/or potency accordingly.

Skin still not happy no matter how much you’ve tried? Then retinol might not be for you, so think about alternative active ingredients such as niacinamide, lactic acid or vitamin E.

Myth #3: You Shouldn't Use Retinol Until You're At Least 30 Years Old

The Truth: It’s never too late to start applying retinol, but during your 20s is the sweet spot.

The Details: Most experts agree that retinol is perfectly safe to start using in your 20s when the first signs of aging begin to appear. As the old saying goes, prevention is better than cure, right?

According to Scientific American, your skin produces 1 percent less collagen every year from the age of 20. Collagen is what gives your skin structure and strength, so promoting the quantity and quality of your collagen levels is super important if you want to maintain youthful skin. And what’s the best way to do this? With a topical retinol that's been proven to increase the production of collagen and boost your skin's elasticity.

Myth #4: If Retinol Makes Your Skin Breakout, Stop Using It Immediately

The Truth: Redness, dryness, and breakouts can be part of the skin purging process.

The Details: Unlike allergies or acne, skin purging is when your skin temporarily reacts to a new product or ingredient in your routine, causing it to exfoliate and bring congestion to the surface. Skin purging often creates annoying flare-ups, but this means that whatever you’ve applied to your skin is actually working, so bear with it. More good news: pimples caused by skin purging don’t last as long as regular acne and they’ll heal much quicker, so a little patience will go a long way.

Reckon your breakouts are something more than a temporary reaction to your retinol treatment? Then it's best to seek advice from your dermatologist.

Myth #5: Never Apply Retinol In The Morning

The Truth: Retinol does not cause sun damage, so it's fine to use in the morning and/or night as long as you apply SPF daily.

The Details: Yes, it’s usually advised to apply retinol at night, but this is not because retinol makes your skin more sun-sensitive, but because most retinol formulations are deactivated and made less effective by sunlight. Oh. 

That being said, retinol will thin the top layers of your skin and decrease its ability to protect itself, so you should always apply a daily sunscreen with a broad-spectrum of SPF 30+. But that’s a given anyway.

Myth #6: You Should Never Use Retinol Around Your Eyes

The Truth: Retinol is a totally safe skin treatment for your entire face and neck.

The Details: The skin around your eyes is thinner and more fragile than the rest of your face, for sure, but this doesn’t mean it can’t tolerate retinol. In fact, your eyes are more prone to the visible signs of aging, so a gentle retinol treatment to help boost collagen in this area can work wonders on those fine lines and wrinkles. The potential for irritation is definitely greater than elsewhere on your face, however, so remember not to apply it too close to your eyes and start with just a once or twice weekly application when using it for the first time. You could also apply a moisturizing eye cream afterwards – as long as it doesn’t also contain active ingredients, of course.

Say goodbye to overly complicated skincare and makeup that takes hours to apply, because this year is all about embracing your natural glow. Unrealistic beauty standards? So last year. And we are 100 percent down with that.

According to the Pinterest Predicts 2021 report, this year is all about a newly coined beauty trend called skinimalism – see what they did there? Skinimalism is not only a clever little word blend (or portmanteau, if you will), but it’s a movement we believe everyone can get on board with: natural, fresh-faced beauty and a clean, simple skincare routine that allows your ‘real’ skin to do all the talking.

Skinimalism is the kind of trend that some beauty brands who want you to ‘buy big or go home’ shudder at. But as a company with a conscience; one that truly believes in enhancing your skin with effective yet affordable products, we’re all over it. We never test on animals, source many of our ingredients from nature and formulate all of our products right here in the US, so while we cut down on our carbon footprint, you get to feel better about the products you put on your face.

But while cleaning up your beauty routine is an important first step, how else can you make sure your skin screams "I'm a natural beauty," rather than "it took me three hours to look like this, but I’m finally Insta ready"?

Here’s how to crush skinimalism and enhance your fresh-faced glow. Because beauty trends may come and go, but gorgeous, natural skin will always be in.

Know Your Skin Type

Understanding your skin is super important when you’re trying to nail the ‘less is more’ approach to beauty. After all, if your products are in constant battle with your skin type, you’re never going to be able to maximize your skin’s potential.

Next time you cleanse your skin, leave it completely free of makeup or skincare for a few hours, then study it in the mirror. Look for redness, dry patches or shininess and touch it – with clean hands of course – to test for further rough patches, bumps or oiliness. By doing this every few months (and especially as the weather changes) you’ll understand your skin so much better and be able to hone your skincare routine accordingly. 

Learn The 3-Step Basics

It’s easy to get bogged down with new beauty products, tools, tricks and techniques and in doing so, forget about the basics. But the simple three-step cleanse, tone and moisturize routine has stood the test of time for a reason: it works. Obviously, you can (and ideally should) include a few other products to target specific concerns and protect your skin from environmental damage, but if you’ve not got your fundamentals sorted, you may as well not bother with the rest.

When it comes to cleansing your skin, do this gently, twice a day and always before bed to thoroughly remove makeup, oils, dirt and debris that can build up throughout the day. Choose your cleanser depending on your skin type and avoid anything that’s laden with unnecessary chemicals and preservatives to help maintain the integrity of your skin’s natural protective barrier. After cleansing, follow with a gentle toner like Daily Facial Rose Water Toner to hydrate, balance, soften or brighten your skin ­– again, depending on your needs. But remember, toners should prep and treat your skin, not strip away your natural oils.

After toning, for sure, add in your extra serums and treatments, but don't forget to finish with moisturizer to lock in hydration and create a protective seal on the surface of your skin. If you have oily skin, stick with light, gel-based formulations and if you’re dry or dehydrated, go for a rich balm or cream. Reckon you’re somewhere in the middle? Then lotions are right up your alley. Smooth moisturizer all over your face and neck while your skin is still damp, using light upwards motions for the best results.

Basic stuff? Yes. But important? Absolutely.

Strip Back Your Daily Routine

Next, it’s time to rethink everything else that goes into your routine such as treatment serums, eye cream and night cream. We know it’s tempting to try and target all your skincare concerns at once with a whole plethora of lotions and potions packed with varying degrees of AHAs, retinol, antioxidants and botanicals, but hold on there because this is against everything you’re working towards – and more importantly, you skin will hate you for it. Yes, you might be a dab hand at whisking up the perfect dirty martini, but skincare cocktailing with powerful, active ingredients is a much finer art. Many ingredients cancel each other out, while others work totally against each other and often cause irritation and redness. So, best leave it to the pros, yes?

Most experts agree that skincare routines containing countless steps and more products than you can count on two hands is completely unnecessary. So, think about your main skincare concern – be it lines, sagging, acne, dark spots, dryness, whatever – then invest in a single daily treatment serum that can tackle your needs in one. Check out our range of carefully curated serum blends if you’re looking to up your skincare game simply but effectively. That is what skinimalism’s all about, after all.

Use Makeup To Enhance Not Hide Your Skin

Paring down your beauty regimen does not stop at skincare: your makeup can always benefit from a little fine-tuning as well.

The main thing to remember is that skinimalism is all about revealing the real you, so while it's tempting to cover your flaws with concealer and foundation, there really is no need. Swap out your heavy base for tinted moisturizer and instead of spending hours perfecting overly contoured cheekbones and eyebrows, go for a touch of creamy blusher on the apples of your cheeks and leave your brows well alone.

Lastly, stop worrying about the odd blemish or fine line... and smile. Your perceived 'flaws' are totally normal and the world wants to see them.