Youthbomb: A Threesome I Can Get On Board With | AD
Ad: this post is sponsored by Beauty Pie as part of my ongoing partnership.
There was a blog post due to come out this week; the title of the draft post was Did A Sexier Power Couple Ever Exist? and it was a six hundred word near-delirious rave about the wonders of Beauty Pie’s Youthbomb Concentrate and Youthbomb Collagen Peptide Cream, specifically when used together. A more face-plumptioning, skin-elasticating combo has not yet crossed my path – it’s a revelation and I have been zipping through bottles and pots of it like a woman possessed.
But I had been sitting on this draft post for five weeks or so, wondering whether this week was the right time to publish it or perhaps that week would be better, and the reason for my deliberating was because Beauty Pie had sent me a sample of a product that had thrown a right old spanner in the works. A new addition to the Youthbomb line-up that took the range from Power Couple to what can only be described as… Expert Threesome.
Now look, there’s no judgement here, but I’ve never been convinced by the idea of threesomes. Zero temptation. It’s enough mental and physical load trying to partner up with one person, let alone two. Surely one is always left out in the cold – and if not, then the people shacking up must have a hell of a lot more coordination than I do. I can’t even reverse a car if the stereo is playing because my ears take up too much brain-space.
So human threesomes: it’s a no for me. But when it comes to Beauty Pie and their new Youthbomb product? Yes, yes, yes. Ohhhh yes. (They’re going to be absolutely thrilled to bits at this off-piste intro, I just know it.) They’ve formulated what I think is their most potent, results-driven product yet, the Double Retinol-Action Skin Overhaul Serum*, and it joins the high performance 360 Radiance Concentrate and the Biologic Collagen Peptide Cream to form a trio of absolute show-stoppers.
If you’re sick of wondering what will actually work on your tired, slightly slack, dullish skin and you just want straight-shooting results then this is your range. It was amazing before, but the new serum just takes things to a whole new level of good.
Whereas the excellent Radiance Concentrate (find it here online*) focused on the use of peptides and a cocktail of other powerful actives to firm, brighten, give glow and aid hydration, and the Biologic Cream added to all of this with eighteen actives in a massively rich, skin-plumping base, the brand new serum slides on in to the Youthbomb line-up with a double-dose of the industry’s gold-standard ingredient: retinol.
The Double Retinol-Action Skin Overhaul Serum uses two types of retinol – microencapsulated retinol and granactive retinoid – to tackle just about every skin-ageing concern you can come up with. If you haven’t read the dossier on why retinol is so loved in the skincare world then let me precis it for you: it works on wrinkles, fine lines, uneven skin tone, dullness, lack of firmness, crepey-ness and other things I haven’t remembered and the results are both profound and visible. I say this as someone who has been testing out various brands and various strengths of retinoid for quite some time.
The difference with Beauty Pie’s new Skin Overhaul Serum? Not only does it contain the retinoids for all of the above benefits, it has a dose of lactic acid in the formula along with niacinamide. Lactic acid to gently exfoliate the skin surface (which helps the other actives to penetrate more easily) and niacinamide to strengthen the skin barrier, which in turn leaves skin healthier and less prone to sensitivity and flare-ups.
Buy Double Retinol-Action Skin Overhaul Serum*
I feel like the new serum is a more rounded approach to high intensity retinoid usage, with some exfoliation for efficacy and then ingredients to strengthen and hydrate to keep the condition of the skin tip-top and minimise any risk of aggravation.
Saying that, this is one serious product and it’s not the sort of thing you’ll just want to barge in and apply if you have no prior experience with using retinoids. It’s Beauty Pie’s most powerful retinoid product yet and it’s perfect for those who have been using the Super Retinol range (which is absolutely brilliant) and want to step it up to the max. Even then, start off twice-weekly at first and then build up to more regular usage. As with my other strong retinoids, I’m happy using this every other night, using my “off” days to pack in my hydrating and calming products.
And so, back to the Expert Threesome. It calms my mind-eye-coordination anxieties to know that the three products never actually have to work together; it’s an either-or situation with the concentrate and the serum, one or the other, always followed by the glorious Collagen Peptide Cream.
(Which has become one of my most-used moisturisers, by the way. The Japanfusion Power Elixir (here*) was always my favourite, for its ability to turn my face into a sort of turgid, wobbling waterbed, but the Youthbomb cream takes this benefit and supercharges it with an additional eighteen actives. So if it’s just the insane levels of hydration you want, then go for the Japanfusion Power Elixir* which, with membership is a very pleasing £16. But if you want more in the way of firming, brightening, skin-evening-out prowess then absolutely look to the Youthbomb one which is a superpowered cream, an ultimate moisturiser. It’s £44 with membership, here*.)
Some rules I have when using the Double Retinol-Action Skin Overhaul Serum: I apply at night to cleansed, dried skin and then leave about half an hour before using my Youthbomb Cream. It’s just a routine I’ve always followed with my retinoids, to allow them to get to work a bit before applying another product. In all honesty, I often forget to apply the moisturiser and I haven’t had dry-feeling skin in the morning, ever, but I also do love the instantly cushiony, elastic results that I get with the cream so it’s nice to remember to use it. Another rule: SPF the next day. Absolutely non-negotiable. The Beauty Pie Featherlight SPF50 is excellent, leaves no residue and has high protection against both UVA and UBV rays. It’s £13.50 with membership here*.
(Just a reminder on how membership works: Beauty Pie produce luxury products at some of the world’s best beauty labs but then they sell direct to you. So there’s no inflated cost for selling through a middleman. No overly-fancy packaging (though I think they’re packaging is just lovely, very high quality and chic), no shop overheads, just luxury products without the luxury price tags. You can see when you browse the site that they have the membership price and then the equivalent retail price, calibrated against similar products available from the luxury beauty brands. For example, the Youthbomb Double Retinol-Action Serum* has an equivalent luxury retail price of £170 (if you’re a skincare aficionado then you’ll be able to think of a couple of examples straight off the bat!) but with membership it’s £44. Which is amazing for a serum of this potency and calibre. It’s easy to sign up, and if you do then make sure you use the code RUTHSENTME to get money off the annual membership! You can find more membership info here*.)
So in short: Beauty Pie have launched what could be their most complete, all-dancing powerhouse product yet. It’s the hero, the big gun, the show-off and my skin has welcomed it with open arms. I love that it gives an instant glow, thanks to the lactic acid and I really appreciate the added hydration in the formula as I can tend to feel slightly dry after a high-strength retinoid.
You can find more info and a full ingredients list for the Youthbomb Double Retinol-Action Skin Overhaul Serum here*. If you’re already on the retinol train and looking to upgrade your ticket (oh my God, sorry) then this one is most definitely – wait for it! – First Class.
I’ll leave you now, my work is done. I’ve managed to shoehorn references to threesomes and train tickets into a skincare post. It’s a skill.
Many thanks to the Beauty Team for having the best sense of humour, I absolutely love working with them.
The post Youthbomb: A Threesome I Can Get On Board With | AD appeared first on Ruth Crilly.
©2022 “
Why I Use An Eye Cream (Again)
Eye cream really divides opinion in the beauty world. Some people swear by it (the usual argument being that skin around the eyes is different – thinner – than elsewhere and so you want a dedicated formula to suit) and some people think that you should just use whatever you’re using on your face and take it right up around the eyes. Why spend on a separate product that is going to do virtually the same thing, especially when eye creams are notoriously more expensive per ml than the equivalent face version?
I have now been in both camps. I started off very firmly in the Eye Cream Supporters Team, defected to the other side for a while and then meekly crept on back to my original people hoping they’d never notice I’d left.
I had been a solidly pro-eye cream since my modelling days. I used to love the way that the makeup artists would pat-pat-pat it in, give it a little de-puffing massagery, take it lightly onto the lids, push up the eyebrows to waken you up and give everything a little lift. And of course they could have done this whole routine using a face cream, and often did, but it was notable that they gave such care and attention to the eye area. And that’s because if there’s one place that’s going to look haggard/hungover first then it’s around the eyes.
The skin is thinner, the area is altogether more delicate – prone to puffiness, to circles, to sensitivity. Which brings me onto my next pro-eye cream argument: formulation. The eye needs are significantly different to the face needs, a lot of the time. You can have puffy eyes when the rest of your face looks fine. Why would you de-puff the whole thing with a cooling gel? The eyes will be fine but the face will feel tight and uncomfortable. You might want to blast your face with high-strength retinoid, but that same product under the eyes might be drying or too strong to tolerate.
And so there you have, in a nutshell, my two main reasons for using a dedicated eye cream: application, formulation. If I use a separate product then for some unfathomable reason it does make me pay particular attention to the way that I pat-pat-slide the product on. If I just treat my eye area as another part of my face then I don’t tend to do any sort of special love, I just sweep over it at the same time as my cheeks. It’s a cheek extension.
And if I have an eye cream with the perfect formulation, day in, day out, for my eye area then why would I not use that? Then the rest of my face can do what it wants – be radically exfoliated, be filled to bursting with hyaluronic acid, be self-tanned or retinoided – and my eyes will have a steady, appropriate treatment that tackles whatever the concern might be. For me it’s fine lines and, er, deeper lines. Lines, basically.
The reason I defected to the anti-eye-cream camp, momentarily? Research. And laziness. I was honing my routine (morning: vitamin c serum/moisturiser/SPF, evening: retinoid every other night, or hydrating serum/moisturiser on the “off” days) and the eye cream seemed a step too many. (Never mind all of these mists and essences that are all the rage: I simply cannot see how they could have much more benefit than a good serum and moisturiser combo. Maybe that’s my next bit of research.)
So I started using whatever face stuff I had to hand all over rather than using an eye cream and then the serum, moisturiser, whatever. But I’ll tell you what started happening, and I noticed this after around three months or so: my eyes were significantly more crepey and dry. It was a marked difference. And I realised that not only was I not really taking the products into the eye area with the same thoroughness as I would a separate eye cream (really tired of typing eye cream at this point, please make it stop), if I used a strong retinoid or an exfoliating face product then I was missing out the eye area almost completely!
And so, without really realising it, I had gone from giving my eyes a twice-daily mini-facial of their own to giving them…not much at all. My eye cream routine was a (little ten second) workout, my “eyes as part of a face” routine was the equivalent to doing no exercise whatsoever. Walking to the car from the front door. Some effect, but really, negligible.
I’m back using an eye cream, safe to say. Every night, at the very least. Sometimes in the morning I skip it, because I am far more pressed for time and my eyes tolerate vitamin c serum very well anyway, so it’s not so much of an issue. But in the evening: eye cream ahoy. And it’s almost always one with retinol. Why? Well. It’s pretty much the top rung of the ingredients ladder and, when it comes to eye creams, you can almost guarantee that the retinol will be easily tolerated and the formula gentle. So if you’re seeing fine lines creeping in around the eyes, the skin is starting to crease or go fine and papery, then retinol is your friend. Smoothing, firming, plumping. Won’t help massively if puffiness is your problem, but there are great eye creams for that, too. That’s a whole separate post, when I’ve recovered from having to type out “eye cream” so many times.
Here are three retinol eye products worth the spend:
[Ad info: no paid or sponsored content, featured items may be press samples and affiliate links are marked *. I have an ongoing partnership with Beauty Pie.]
Olay Retinol Max Eye Cream – £44 but currently £19.55 at Amazon here*: a beautifully formulated, non-greasy eye cream that absolutely does the trick if you want to see a difference in skin texture. Olay test to the high heavens to make sure that products are easy to use and suitable for the mass market so you can be pretty sure you’re not going to make your eyes fall out with this one. Though start carefully – once every few nights – just to ease yourself in.
Beauty Pie Super Retinol Eye Cream, £13 with membership here*: this contains slow-release retinol and loads of hydrating ingredients so it’s a comfortable cream that’s nourishing in feel but – like Olay’s – non-greasy. Use the code RUTHSENTME for money off annual membership – you can find out more on how the membership works here*.
Murad Retinol Youth Renewal Eye Serum, £82 here*: the priciest option, but Murad really go to town with their retinol range, combining three types of retinol and formulating a product that is as effective as humanly possible whilst minimising adverse reactions. The eye serum (which feels more of a light cream) can be used all around the eyes and on the lids. Seems slightly weird and scary, but I have tested that claim thoroughly and it’s fine and it works. Bravo. It’s a very good investment, if you can make it.
Here’s a video of me saying all of the above:
The post Why I Use An Eye Cream (Again) appeared first on Ruth Crilly.
©2022 “
Murad Retinol Youth Renewal: The Game-Changing Eye Serum
This isn’t my first time at the rodeo when it comes to writing about Murad’s brilliant Retinol Youth Renewal range. I covered the relaunch at around this time last year (you can read that post here if you fancy) and it’s one of the ranges I refer to by default when people ask me for retinol recommendations. The main reason being that it’s powerful stuff, offering up proper, visible results, yet it seems to be tolerated by all but the most sensitive skin.
I mean you still have to go slow and steady with the range – it tingles, it goes straight to work, it’s not messing around – but if you’re sensible and don’t try to go from Total Retinol Virgin to Nightly Retinol Fiend in the space of a fortnight you’ll be A-OK. My preference, if I haven’t used retinol products for a while, is to start off with every four nights for a couple of weeks, move to every three nights for another couple and then stick to every other night for the duration of however long I manage to keep it up for. (I tend to back off a little during the warmer months.) This tends to keep any dryness or itchiness at bay – if I go straight in with all beauty guns a-blazing then you can guarantee that my face will be falling off by week two!
I digress. I’m supposed to be talking about Murad’s Retinol Youth Renewal Eye Serum here and the fact that it’s a total game-changer when it comes to using retinol around the eyes. If the rest of the range (a face serum, a sumptuous, buttery night cream) has been sensitively formulated then this eye serum takes things one step further. Not only can it be taken all around the eyes, including the lids, it includes non-greasy moisturisers to provide lightweight hydration for up to twenty-four hours. I love the fact that it’s safe to be used on the lids – every year my eyelids are more and more wrinkly and it would be nice to nip that in the bud for a while, before they start to resemble little testicles.
My eyes are notorious when it comes to overreacting to strong ingredients yet they have no problem with the Murad eye serum even when used nightly. Now you might not be an eye cream sort of person, preferring to use your usual face cream or treatment all over instead. What I will say about strong retinol products is that I find they are sometimes a bit…enthusiastic…to take up to the eye area. Many a time have I woken up to see my little red “burn” patch has reappeared beneath my right eye – a relic from my modelling years when someone changed my eye makeup fourteen times in eight hours and basically took the top eight thousand layers of skin off – and so I try to be careful and relatively discerning when it comes to treating the eye area.
More on Murad Youth Renewal Eye Serum
And so, in conclusion, if you are looking to invest in a results-driven eye treatment that has been specifically formulated for the eye area then Youth Renewal Eye Serum is a fine place to start. It is an investment – the eye serum is £72, night cream is £70 – but the firming and plumping benefits are noticeable.
Murad use a three-pronged approach to delivering the retinol, with an “instant”, fast-acting retinoid, a slower release retinol and an ingredient to sort of “prep” the skin for the retinol so it’s a pretty sophisticated formula with a gentle, non-aggressive touch. Powerful enough for tackling the established lines and wrinkles and loss of firmness but also great for preventative measures too.
You can find the whole Youth Renewal range online here – if you use the code RUTH25 then you get 25% off*!
*excludes winter sale items, kits and new product launches.
The post Murad Retinol Youth Renewal: The Game-Changing Eye Serum appeared first on A Model Recommends.
©2020 “
Three-Step Skincare for Under £20
Here’s a post that will please your purse (Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers!): three brilliant skincare products that form a very good, albeit very basic skincare routine, and the whole thing comes in at less than twenty pounds.
I did film this for IGTV (link here if you want to watch) but here’s the gist of the routine: an effective-yet-gentle cleansing balm, a hydrating serum and a soothing moisturiser that won’t leave a greasy residue. If you’re taking things back to basics then you don’t need much more than this.
(Although a sunscreen is absolutely essential if you’re going to be outside. Can’t stress that enough. I did write about my three favourites recently – here – but I’m trying to test more budget-friendly options as and when I get a chance to.)
If you’re new to skincare routines and haven’t a clue where to begin, what with all of the acids and the peptides and the antioxidants and the emollients and the pre-cleanses and post-peels and the prescription-strengths and the over-the-counter-strengths then I always try to pare things back to this: cleanse properly, moisturise properly and you’re off to a good start.
To be fair, my actual routine isn’t that much more complicated:
AM: Cleanse, Antioxidant Serum, Moisturise/Sunscreen
PM: Cleanse, Retinol Serum, Moisturise or Cleanse, Hydrating Serum, Moisturise
(You can read about my current skincare routine here)
You can see that I’ve just swapped the hydrating serum about a bit, because that’s my “treat” step of my routine and if I want to protect (under the sunscreen) then I use an antioxidant and if I want to prevent (as in lines and wrinkles and loss of tone) then I use my retinol. If I was worried about breakouts then my treatment serum would be a BHA (though the retinol works amazingly well for this too, I find) and if I was feeling dull and lacklustre and generally a bit meh in the skin department then I’d probably plump for a glycolic acid serum or toner.
I realise I’ve just massively complicated what was supposed to be a very basic post, but maybe it will suddenly all make sense! Cleanse properly – to remove dirt and sunscreen and so on – then use a serum to treat whatever concern you have and finish off by sealing it all in with a moisturiser.
Which is the premise of this very cheap and simple routine. So we have the Ordinary Squalane Cleanser which I’ve reviewed before here and you can get online for £5.50 here*. It’s just beautiful. Silky and soft but with enough gutsy hold to survive a few minutes of facial massage. Rinses off absolutely clean with no residue yet is supremely hydrating and excellent for absolutely all skin types.
Next, the Inkey List Hyaluronic Acid (find it online here* for £5.99); hyaluronic helps the skin to hold onto moisture and really gets it looking plump and fresh. There are loads of good, cheap options out there but I like the Inkey List one a lot and it’s so budget-friendly.
Finally, short and sweet, the Calming Moisturiser from Simple, which is £7.99 here*. I love the packaging! It looks like a travel-sized moisturiser but is, in fact, the same volume – 50ml – as most high-end moisturisers on the market. Those huge pots from Clinique? Same amount of stuff inside. I find this bottle very travel-friendly (when travelling was still a thing) and I like that I don’t have to stick my nails into a pot.
And there you go: three steps, basic, quality skincare, all for less than twenty quid. I do very much enjoy finding brilliant budget buys, so please do keep your own recommendations coming. Especially for good, non-chalky sunscreens at affordable prices…
The post Three-Step Skincare for Under £20 appeared first on A Model Recommends.
©2020 “
My Current Skincare Routine: Spring 2020
Here’s the skincare routine I’ve been following for most of the season and I have to say that it has kept my face looking quite spectacularly fresh and bouncy, considering the stress levels and overarching sense of fatigue that has dominated the past few months. (And the fact that I’ve been gorging on Mint Magnums with ever-increasing frequency.)
So the tweaks I’ve made seem to have seen me through spring without any significant dramas – though I think it’s also pertinent to note that I’ve been taking my Vitamin D every day, which always makes a huge difference to my skin, hair and nails. (To be more accurate, I took Vitamin D tablets for the first few weeks of lockdown, but when the weather turned glorious and stayed that way, I ended up spending most of my time outdoors and so I haven’t been quite so diligent at taking the supplement. Regardless, I always find the difference remarkable. My default state, in terms of vitamin D levels, seems to be “chronically deficient”.)
Anyway, no more blathering on: here’s my current routine. There’s a product list as long as my arm for this particular update (below the video pane), but not because it’s complex; I just wanted to give a few options for each step – something spendy, something sensible. Favourites old and favourites new.
My Current Skincare Routine: Spring 2020
In a nutshell:
Morning: Cleanse + Antioxidant + Moisturiser/SPF
Evening Night 1: Cleanse + Retinol
Evening Night 2: Cleanse + Hydrating Serum + Rich Moisturiser
My morning routine remains relatively unchanged. In fact I never really do anything funky or different in the morning, mainly because I don’t have the time to spare. Or even the time to think things through properly. As such, it’s usually a cleanser-serum-moisturise situation, although I’ve been outdoors a lot and so you can tag “sunscreen” onto the end of that list.
The cleanser tends to be light and splash-off and I love the Curel Foaming Wash* at the moment. The antioxidant du jour is Paula’s Choice Triple Algae Pollution Shield* and you can find out about my current most-used sunscreens here.
My evening routine alternates between two versions, neither of them very difficult or lengthy. After a thorough cleanse with a balm, usually twice, I’ll either apply my retinol product (see list beneath the video pane) or I’ll go in for the hydration marathon. Well, not really a marathon – just two steps. More of a hydration sprint. In the Dads’ race at school sports day.
The sprint consists of a hydrating serum and then a rich moisturiser, just to get things juicy and plumptious.
That’s it. The odd glycolic peel pad, but not so much at the moment because I’m outside for most of the day, and now and then a face mask, mainly because I’ve started drinking a herbal sleepy tea in the bath before bed and a face mask just feels right.
There’s a lot more in the way of explanation for everything in the video, so you should absolutely watch that. I don’t even waffle, which is nothing short of a miracle, especially as being locked in with two small children has completely melted my mind. Locked in? Locked down!
You can find all my cleanser reviews here
Sunscreen reviews are here
Paulas Choice Triple Algae Pollution Shield*
La Roche Posay Pure Vitamin C10 Serum*
The Inkey List Vitamin C Serum*
Link to Vitamin C Products featured here
Lumene Arctic Hydra Care Moisture & Relief Rich Day Cream*
Lumene Arctic Hydra Care Moisture & Relief Rich Oleo Serum*
La Roche-Posay Anthelios- Shaka Fluid sunscreen*
The Body Shop Skin Defence Multi Protection Lotion*
Elizabeth Arden 8 hour Great 8 Daily Defence Moisturiser*
Coola Classic Face cucumber mineral sunscreen*
Beautypie Plantastic Apricot Butter Cleansing Balm*:
Kate Somerville Goat Milk Cleanser*
Superfacialist Rose Hydrate Calming Creamy Cleanser*
Kate Somerville Dermalquench Liquid Lift Retinol Serum*
The Inkey List caffeine eye cream*
Lumene Arctic Hydra Care Moisture & Relief Rich Day Cream*:
Lumene Arctic Hydra Care Moisture & Relief Rich Oleo Serum*
Beautypie Japanfusion Supreme Cream*
La Roche-Posay Hyalu B5 Hyaluronic Acid Serum*
The Inkey List Collagen Booster Firming Peptide Serum*
Beautypie JapanFusion Bio-Ceramide Moisture Mask*
Drunk Elephant F balm Electrolyte Waterfacial*
Dermalogica Multivitamin power recovery mask*
The post My Current Skincare Routine: Spring 2020 appeared first on A Model Recommends.
©2020 “
Testing Retinol With My Mum – Age 39 v Age 69! | AD
Well this is a very joyous revisit; I’ve reviewed Murad’s brilliant Retinol Youth Renewal range before, but they’ve reformulated and relaunched it and it’s now even more of a find.
I say find, but this skincare trio (there’s a serum, an eye serum and a sumptuous night cream) is hardly a secret – the Retinol Youth Renewal Serum is the number one retinol product in the US! Nevertheless, I bring you this news, that two of the products have been reformulated and all three have had an appearance makeover, and I also bring you (why am I writing this like a medieval bard?) an updated review.
Actually two updated reviews, because in an unprecedented feat of spectacular organisation, my Mum and I have been testing the new range at the same time. Yes that’s right; my Mum (seventy next year) and I (forty this year) have been syncing our nightly skincare routines and applying eye serum, serum and night cream every other night and recording our thoughts.
Shop 25% off Murad with code RUTH25
I have to say, before we go any further, that my Mum is meticulous when it comes to researching what she puts on her face. She Googles every ingredient on the list, she looks at other reviews and she reads the instructions on the box twice. How on earth then, she managed to end up applying the serum in the morning instead of the night and the other products twice a day every day for weeks, I have no idea.
It’s surely testament to the quality of the formulations that her face didn’t slowly peel itself off from her head, like in a Tom & Jerry cartoon – I should add that Mum does have quite sensitive skin, and my own (comparatively hardy) face has had bad reactions to far less potent treatments.
Murad do make a point of the formulations being suitable for sensitive skin – they urge caution, obviously, but the newly reformulated eye serum can now even be used on the eyelids. The lids! Imagine. I can tell you that it was something of a leap of faith, patting a retinol serum into my eyelids, but there was no stinging, no irritation whatsoever. The serum was instantly hydrating but not greasy (basically my Mum’s idea of a Holy Grail beauty product) and I did rather like the idea that something might get to work on my lid crepe.
Lid crepe. It sounds like a disease. I’m absolutely not wanting to add any sort of extra skin “concern” to the list of ones we’re already supposed to worry about, but I do quite like it when you use a lid primer and it makes things all smooth and velvety – the Murad Retinol Youth Renewal Eye Serum makes them feel a little bit like that.
Although obviously there are longer term benefits! In fact, I’ve just realised that this post launched into a whole thing about Murad’s Retinol Youth Renewal Range but didn’t really explain what an earth retinol is, to the uninitiated. My Mum had no clue why retinol was so special, even after she’d done her Google research. Mainly because she’s so sceptical, which is a good thing. But in the case of retinol, you can almost entirely place your scepticism to one side, because this is an ingredient that really and truly delivers.
With the right strength and a good formulation, retinol can help to smooth out fine lines, even skin tone, work on deeper lines and creases and make skin generally look plumper and more elastic. Murad’s range takes things one step further by using their tri-active retinol technology; a retinol booster to kind of prep the skin and make it receptive to the main ingredient, then a time-released retinol to deliver a steady level to the skin and then a fast-acting retinoid, which is much more powerful than the retinol itself.
Triple-whammy effects and boy does it make the products feel racy and exciting! I properly get the tingle with Murad’s range, the sort of tingle that makes you wonder what state your face is going to be in the next day – will I look as though I’ve drunk four litres of rosé and passed out on a Magaluf beach at midday in August? Thankfully not – no irritation, no redness, not even any discernible dryness, perhaps because the super-serums are always followed by the rich and buttery night cream.
The night cream has also been tweaked; still with the tri-active retinol technology, it now contains Niacinamide and Picolinamide to strengthen skin’s protective barrier. I like that it’s not just shooting high-powered and transformative ingredients at your face – it’s looking out for the longterm comfort and quality of the skin.
The Retinol Youth Renewal Night Cream was the product my Mum loved the most – she’s always hunting for creams that are incredibly rich and moisturising but that don’t leave a greasy residue. She hates grease. Especially around the eyes. I can’t even count the number of times she’s told me this fact over the years – I sometimes feel as though I should make it into a poem and put it on her birthday cards – but it’s a big issue for her. It goes in her lashes and then into her eyes, it’s all most upsetting, but not, she was delighted to report, with any of the Murad trio.
So yes, the night cream was her favourite – she likes to be able to use one product and be done with it – but she did marvellously well at testing all three. She has noticed a good difference to the firmness of her skin, especially under her chin and on her neck, and in turn the wrinkles there are improved. These are her exact words:
“I LOVE THIS AND IT HAS WORKED A DREAM ON MY NECK AND CHIN (whether it was aided with serum also, not sure)
Yes, it is so lovely and smooth to apply, smells lovely, absorbs well, and it has so, so much improved my neck, jowl and chin wrinkles, both the fine and the deep ones. Thankyou Murad.
Could you tell me whether I can just use night cream alone and get those results? Also can I try on lovely hubby, His face is craggy ?
Lots of love
Ruth’s Mum”
I need to tell my Mum that the serum increases results by three times when used alongside the cream – in fact, if I had to choose one product from the range on results alone then I’d probably plump for the serum, just because it’s the most potent. This is the one product that hasn’t been reformulated – it’s still maximum tingle, minimal fall-out and a lightweight, easily-absorbed texture that’s a joy to use. Same tri-action deal with the retinol, retinoid and the skin-prepping element for quick and visible results.
Now you may already be a fan of this range, in which case you’ll appreciate the tweaks, I think! If you’re not then prepare to be charmed – the Retinol Youth Renewal range is the sort of skincare line that’ll have you doing double-takes in the mirror, especially if you have (or are starting to get) those vertical lines between your eyebrows and horizontal ones to the sides of your eyes.
It’s been so interesting testing the same products as my Mum – we’re (obviously) at different stages in terms of how our skin is behaving and what we expect from our skincare, yet both of us couldn’t be more pleased with the results. I love a smoother, plumper, fresher-looking face that allows me to use minimal makeup and my Mum appreciates the firmness and feeling of elasticity that using retinol has given to her skin.
If you would like to try Murad’s Retinol Youth Renewal range then you can get 25% off with the code RUTH25 here. In fact this gets you 25% off everything on their website! I can highly recommend their range of sunscreens, especially if you are going to be using retinol, and they have an amazing anti-blemish line.
If you’d like to read my review of the original line then that’s here – you can also take a nifty little skin consultation quiz on the Murad website, that’s here. For some reason I find these online evaluations quite addictive!
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My Current Skincare Routine: Winter 2020
I’ve made some quite significant changes to my skincare routine since Christmas and so I thought it might be time for an update. This wasn’t the easiest update video to film, mostly because the issue of the hero product’s price-tag was hanging over me like a spectre the entire time I was talking about it!
But I have had really quite brilliant results from this particular wonder cream and so I managed to get over my fear of being pelted by rotten eggs – or whatever the online equivalent is – over the price. I like my skincare routine updates to be genuine and accurate recordings of the products I’m using and what they seem to be doing to my skin and so it would actually be quite weird for me to not mention a high-performing product just because it’s out of the usual budgetary range…
I’m going to let you watch the video to find out what I’ve been using (strong strong retinol and less of the other types of active ingredient) but before you tune out, thinking, “I don’t want to listen to a video”, hear this: I’ve actually got proper, professional closed captions on this video. I’m trying it out to see whether people find them useful and actually turn them on – Youtube do caption their videos automatically, I think, but the transcriptions can be very hit and miss and are often woefully inaccurate.
So, if you’re in the office/feeding a baby/pretending to be on the toilet and can’t listen aloud, just set the video running with your sound off and click the little CC symbol on the bottom of the screen. That’ll bring up my painstakingly transcribed captions. (Full disclosure: paid someone else to do it, I barely have time to edit the videos let alone caption them. It takes bloody ages.)
Anyway, let me know whether it’s useful – or, should I say, more useful than the standard captioning – if you regularly make use of the subtitle functions. You can find a (spoiler alert) list of the products I’ve been using if you scroll down past the video screen, but please do take a moment to watch, because that’s where the magic happens!
I’ll be back with a full, standalone review of the Medik8 retinol product because the results warrant it and the pricing is sure to be a talking point…
My Current Skincare Routine
Morning – Cleanse, Hydrating Serum, Moisturiser
Cleanse Products I’m Using:
Skinceuticals Cream Cleanser, £31 here*: http://bit.ly/2H6Vw6L
Bioderma Micellar Water, £19.50 here*: http://tidd.ly/e9f2529
Murad Pre-Biotic Cleanser, £38 here*: http://bit.ly/3bo2hPj
Serums I’m Using:
Alpha-H Skincare Hyaluronic 8 Serum, £38 here*: http://bit.ly/2vjOJnK
La Roche-Posay Hyalu-B Serum, £38 here*: http://tidd.ly/16cfb4b1
The Inkey List Hyaluronic Acid, £5.99 here*: https://amzn.to/3boRJiY
Inkey List Collagen, £8.99 here*: https://amzn.to/3boRHrm
Moisturisers I’m Using:
The Body Shop Carrot Day Cream, £14 here*: http://bit.ly/2Hje7Nb
Dr Sam Bunting Flawless Moisturiser, £25 here: https://drsambunting.com/products/flawless-moisturiser
La Roche-Posay Toleriane Fluid, £16.50 here*: http://tidd.ly/facc95e1
SPF I’m Using:
Elizabeth Arden Great 8 SPF35, RRP £36 but is currently £24 on Amazon here*: https://amzn.to/3bmfd8z
PM – Cleanse, Hydrating Serum, Moisturise
As above but no SPF and a proper balm cleanser, I’ve been using:
Emma Hardie Moringa Light Gel, £34 here*: http://tidd.ly/99e8c9bc
Pestle and Mortar Renew Gel, £38 here*: http://tidd.ly/1c6393b6
PM Treat
Every three or four nights (I’m working my way up to every other night!) I use the R-Retinoate below. Sometimes I follow with a bit of moisturiser, often I just use it alone!
Medik8 R-Retinoate Intense, £210 here: https://www.medik8.com/r-retinoate-intense.html
Medik8 also do the Crystal Retinal in different strengths, the 10 is MEGA! I used the 6 without any fallout (as in my face falling off) whatsoever and thought it was brilliant – it’s £59 here: https://www.medik8.com/crystal-retinal.html
For an incredibly strong retinol (1%!) without the humungous pricetag then do look at PaulasChoiceUK here*: http://bit.ly/2ScPYhn It’s £12 for the smallest bottle or £53 for the 30ml size and it’s really bloody potent.
With all of these, please start off slowly and with a moisturiser first if you’re being extra cautious – the moisturiser acts as a sort of buffer. I use the retinol products above straight onto clean skin, but only once every three nights. Once I want to increase the effect I will use every other night but with a hyaluronic acid serum beforehand or even a moisturiser beforehand!
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